We are mired in the dog days of summer now although the Vegas Golden Knights have refused to stop this offseason.
Are we complaining? No, of course we aren’t! After all, a sportswriter’s worse nightmare is when the lull of the offseason kicks in but, thankfully, we at Vegas Hockey Knight have been kept very busy during the months of no hockey.
Last week in particular was a busy one and we’ve decided to revisit recent history and take a look back at some of our best pieces from the last week, plus some stories you may have missed. Let’s get started…
Vegas Golden Knights do a deal with the Devil as Nikita Gusev is traded
Last week got underway with some pretty big news after the Vegas Golden Knights took a leap of faith by trading Russian stud Nikita Gusev to the New Jersey Devils for a third round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and a second round selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
It was a move that sparked a lot of debate among Golden Knights fans and experts on Twitter, with the vast majority dismayed by the fact that the Vegas front office parted with an asset that was one of the most productive scorers in KHL history with 147 goals and 253 assists for 400 points in 458 games.
However, the Golden Knights were backed into a corner and, ultimately, decided that the collective was more important than the individual and decided trading Gusev was a small price to pay when it came to looking after the rest of the locker room.
Site Expert Andrew Steele-Davis broke down the trade in-depth and explained what it meant for both the Vegas Golden Knights and the New Jersey Devils.
Keeping perspective after Nikita Gusev trade
Our Andrew Steele-Davis decided to pen his thoughts in the wake of the Nikita Gusev trade to the New Jersey Devils, which seemed to whip the Golden Knights fans into a frenzy and not in a good way.
In this piece, Andrew tried to look at it from both sides, explaining why the Golden Knights were right not to sacrifice team chemistry for the sake of one player, while understanding why any success Gusev enjoys in New Jersey will have implications for Vegas, as summed up by this paragraph:
"“Should Gusev follow in the footsteps of fellow countrymen Nikita Kucherov and Artemi Panarin and indeed flourish in the NHL, then it will be tough viewing for Vegas fans. I would almost compare it to going to a bar and seeing your ex making out with someone who is a clear upgrade.”"
Beautifully put, if we say so ourselves.
George McPhee deserves credit
Another editorial piece as our Site Expert Andrew Steele-Davis puts forward his case as to why he believes Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee deserved credit for sticking to his guns when it came to trading Nikita Gusev to the New Jersey Devils.
Many Vegas fans were upset that McPhee decided to trade away a player who racked up 400 points in 458 games in Russia, but the front office executive was loathe to trade away the likes of Cody Eakin and Ryan Reaves and, as a result, break up the strong locker room chemistry that has been cultivated in Vegas, for the sake of one player who, let’s face it, is as yet an unproven commodity in the NHL.
McPhee has hit more home runs than foul balls during his reign as General Manager of the Golden Knights and, even if this trade does turn out to be a loss, the 61-year-old deserves credit for sticking to his guns and not setting alight the foundations he’s put in place for this franchise.
"“The front office and coaching staff have done an outstanding job when it comes to cultivating a locker room culture and chemistry that many say is one of the best in the NHL. It is evident to see how close this Golden Knights team is as it is currently constituted, so why risk potentially chipping away at that by moving one or two glue guys for the sake of one player?”"
2018-19 Vegas Golden Knights Report Cards
We are coming to the end of our Report Cards but, in the meantime, catch up on the latest Vegas Golden Knights player evaluations:
5 players who should be Captain
We did a feature last week looking at five players who could become the first Captain in franchise history of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights are one of seven teams in the NHL without a Captain along with the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks.
Andrew Steele-Davis ran through the five potential candidates that tick a lot of the boxes when it comes to being an official leader of an NHL franchise. Check out the list here:
Grading the Vegas Golden Knights’ Offseason
As already mentioned, it has been a busy offseason for the Vegas Golden Knights who have retooled their roster ahead of another expected push for the Stanley Cup in 2019-20. Franchise center William Karlsson was re-signed, while depth players in the ilk of Deryk Engelland, Brandon Pirri and Tomas Nosek were also brought back to Sin City.
There were some notable departures, however, with Colin Miller, Erik Haula and Nikita Gusev all being traded in a bid to get back under the salary cap ceiling of $81.5 million for 2019-20. Andrew Steele-Davis did a deep dive on the Golden Knights’ offseason and awarded it a final grade.
Life after Marc-Andre Fleury – Malcolm Subban?
We welcomed a new writer to the stable last week in Brock Lammers and his debut piece was a deep dive on whether or not Malcolm Subban should be the long-term heir to the throne to Marc-Andre Fleury.
You can check out Brock’s piece here:
Who will fill out the third-line?
There are still some questions that need answering ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights getting the 2019-20 NHL regular season underway on Oct, 2. One of those burning questions is who will fill out the third-line for the Knights this year?
It is pretty clear at the moment that Cody Eakin will center the third-line with Alex Tuch on his right, but who will slot in on the left? Our Andrew Steele-Davis did a deep dive on the potential options, including a look at the most obvious candidate in Brandon Pirri.
BONUS CONTENT!
And here’s one more for you before we say goodbye. PuckProse, our friends on the FanSided Network who do an excellent job of covering all aspects of the NHL, took a look at the top 3 burning questions facing the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of 2019-20.
It makes for very interesting reading and looks at how Alex Tuch, Mark Stone and Marc-Andre Fleury could all impact the team this year. You can read the article in full here:
Thanks for reading! We hope you are enjoying our plethora of offseason content this summer and, don’t worry, because it won’t be long until hockey is back!