Grading the Vegas Golden Knights’ offseason

Grading The Offseason

Rookie defenseman Jake Bischoff, who will get a chance to win an NHL roster spot out of training camp, was signed to a new three-year contract with an average annual value of $716,667. Locker room leader and face of the franchise, Deryk Engelland was also brought back to Sin City on a one-year deal carrying a base salary of $700,000, as the Knights continued to fill their roster out.

There was then a rather bizarre trade just to shake things up a little bit as the Golden Knights sent David Clarkson‘s albatross of a contract and a fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs for goaltender Garret Sparks. It was a deal that served a multitude of purposes for Vegas, not least shedding Clarkson’s $5,250,000 annual cap hit and adding some competition for the backup goalie job in Sparks, who went 14-8-2 with a 3.09 Goals Against Average and a 0.898 Save Percentage for the Leafs in 2018-19.

All that was left to be done was to resolve the Nikita Gusev situation, a saga that was finally brought to an end earlier this week. However, it wasn’t the outcome Vegas fans wanted after Gusev was dealt to the New Jersey Devils for two draft picks. It was a bitter pill to swallow for anyone connected with the Knights given that Gusev is projected to produce roughly 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) should he replicate 80 percent of his production in the KHL when he makes the transition to the NHL.

Vegas Golden Knights’ Offseason Grade: B

Unfortunately, the offseason for the Vegas Golden Knights will now be viewed through a certain prism following the decision to trade Nikita Gusev to the New Jersey Devils. However, in this case, it is important to look at things in a vacuum.

The biggest and most imperative task this summer was to thrash out a new deal with William Karlsson, who is of paramount importance to this franchise’s hopes of winning a Stanley Cup. That particular box was ticked at a price that worked for the Knights in terms of working within the constraints of the salary cap.

Yes, Vegas did have to make sacrifices by trading away Colin Miller and Erik Haula, but it was either that or risk the potential of losing Karlsson, which would have dealt an almighty hammer blow to this franchise and their championship aspirations.

Also, the Golden Knights did a good job of filling out their roster with depth players and bringing back locker room leader Deryk Engelland, who is a real glue guy for this team and can act as a mentor for the glut of young defensemen in the farm system that are ready to make the leap to the NHL.

So, overall, although the prospect of a 2019-20 roster without Nikita Gusev on it is a disappointing outcome, it shouldn’t dramatically alter how we assess this offseason. The Vegas Golden Knights are in win-now mode, they have a loaded and deep roster, a crop of young studs waiting in the wings, a deep farm system, a treasure chest of draft picks and they are dealing with the realities of living in a salary cap world well. They have battled all summer long to squeeze back under the cap ceiling, a mission they’ve accomplished, and as such we feel a B Grade is fair when it comes to judging the offseason.