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Grading the Vegas Golden Knights’ offseason

By Andrew Steele-Davis

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 23: Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the third period against the Detroit Red Wings at T-Mobile Arena on March 23, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 23: Reilly Smith #19 of the Vegas Golden Knights celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the third period against the Detroit Red Wings at T-Mobile Arena on March 23, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JUNE 21: (L-R) President of Hockey Operations George McPhee, Peyton Krebs, 17th overall pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, and general manager Kelly McCrimmon pose onstage for a photo during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JUNE 21: (L-R) President of Hockey Operations George McPhee, Peyton Krebs, 17th overall pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, and general manager Kelly McCrimmon pose onstage for a photo during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The puzzle is now complete following the Vegas Golden Knights’ decision to trade Nikita Gusev earlier this week, and they are now likely done for the offseason in terms of conducting any more business.

Nikita Gusev was the last major question mark remaining for the Vegas Golden Knights, but that saga is now over after the Russian stud was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a third round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and a second round selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

It appears likely that the Golden Knights are done in terms of fine-tuning their roster for 2019-20, although they are expected to re-sign restricted free agent Jimmy Schuldt, which should still keep them below the salary cap of $81.5 million for next year.

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All in all, it has been a busy and rather significant offseason for the Vegas front office who entered the summer fresh off the back of suffering postseason heartbreak knowing that they had a rather lengthy to-do list to get through and complete. One box they didn’t have to tick was to go out and acquire a proven NHL star, a job they had already completed in the months prior after signing free agent Paul Stastny last summer and trading for Max Pacioretty, while Mark Stone was added at the Trade Deadline.

As a result, this offseason was all about tweaking the roster rather than overhauling it and the Golden Knights didn’t have to enter the high-stakes of free agency where superstars such as Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene were available, instead opting to make low-key depth signings with Patrick Brown, Tyrell Goulbourne, Brett Lernout and Jaycob Megna all being brought aboard to bolster the depth chart.

The biggest objective for the Golden Knights this summer, however, was always to lock down franchise center William Karlsson to a long-term contract, a mission that was accomplished on June, 23, after the two parties agreed to terms on an eight-year, $47,200,000 contract.

It was a huge win for both franchise and player with the Knights keeping hold of one of their star assets through 2026-27 on a team-friendly deal with an average annual value of $5.9 million, while Karlsson got the years he so desperately craved in order to remain in Sin City for the long-term.

After tallying 134 points (67 goals, 67 assists) in 164 regular season games for the Knights, in addition to a further 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 27 postseason contests, Karlsson has shown what he’s capable of, morphing into an elite two-way forward in the NHL and, at 26-years-old, the best is probably still to come for the forward.

Just before news of Karlsson’s new deal was announced, the Vegas front office and scouting department saw their hard work pay off after enjoying a hugely fruitful 2019 NHL Entry Draft. They encountered a stroke of luck in the First Round when high-end talent Peyton Krebs dropped into their laps, with the playmaker projected to be a potential top-six forward in the NHL.

LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 29: Vegas Golden Knights Layton Ahac (44) controls the puck during a scrimmage game at the Vegas Golden Knights Development Camp Saturday, June 29, 2019, at City National Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 29: Vegas Golden Knights Layton Ahac (44) controls the puck during a scrimmage game at the Vegas Golden Knights Development Camp Saturday, June 29, 2019, at City National Arena in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Marc Sanchez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

In addition to selecting a potential future star in Krebs, the Golden Knights also significantly replenished their farm system with seven intriguing prospects, adding Kaedan Korczak (D), Pavel Dorofeyev (F), Layton Ahac (D), Ryder Donovan (F), Isaiah Saville (G), Marcus Kallionkieli (F) and Mason Primeau (F) to the farm system.

Add the latest batch of prospects to a talent pool already able to boast studs in the ilk of Cody Glass, Nic Hague and Zach Whitecloud, then it is safe to say that the Golden Knights have a strong pipeline in place when it comes to young prospects and that should put them in a strong position for the foreseeable future. After all, you can’t be successful in team sports like hockey unless you draft well.

The Draft was followed by a slew of moves and trades as President of Hockey Operations George McPhee and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon bid to get Vegas back under the salary cap ceiling. First, Erik Haula was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for depth center Nicolas Roy and a conditional fifth round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, before defenseman Colin Miller was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a second-round pick in 2021 and a fifth-round selection in 2022.

Giving up Miller and Haula would have been tough given the fact that the pair played instrumental roles in Vegas’ run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, but both players regressed in 2018-19 for entirely different reasons. Miller suffered a dip in his performances and was a healthy scratch for a portion of the playoffs, while Haula’s year was brought to a premature end after having to undergo knee surgery. In return, the Golden Knights added more draft picks to their treasure chest while gaining a bottom-six forward in Nicolas Roy, who brings depth and considerable size to the center-ice position.

Free agency then arrived but, as already mentioned, it was a fairly quiet period for the Vegas Golden Knights who avoided the big hitters and instead signed a glut of depth players to fill out the roster of AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves, re-signing bottom-six forwards Brandon Pirri and Tomas Nosek to new deals and agreeing to terms on a one-year deal worth $850,000 with backup goalie Malcolm Subban.

All three will have a role to play for the team in 2019-20 and it could be a big year in particular for Pirri, who will now likely slot in on the third-line following the decision to trade Nikita Gusev. Pirri certainly has offensive upside and he will be relied upon to provide secondary scoring by the bucketload. There were some losses during the free agency period, though, with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare being the most notable player to depart after signing with the Colorado Avalanche. Daniel Carr, who was crowned the AHL’s MVP last year after tallying 71 points (30 goals, 41 assists) for the Chicago Wolves, signed with the Nashville Predators.

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