Expectations are high for the Vegas Golden Knights heading into 2019-20 and rightly so given the abundance of riches they have on the roster at their disposal.
Fans and experts alike are of the opinion that the Vegas Golden Knights should be contending for a Stanley Cup this year and, given their heavily loaded team as it is currently constituted, that should be the expectation heading into training camp.
But it should also be the expectation for the foreseeable given how this team is constructed in terms of contracts. President of Hockey Operations, George McPhee has done an outstanding job when it comes to locking down the core of this roster to long-term deals.
William Karlsson, Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Tuch, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore and Marc-Andre Fleury are all under contract until at least 2021, with the vast majority signed through 2025.
Those players listed above are the heartbeat of this team and the fact that they are committed to this franchise for the long-term is a massive home run by the front office, who have ensured that they are in the best possible position to compete for multiple Stanley Cups during this lengthy window.
That is why sacrificing depth players in the ilk of Erik Haula and Colin Miller, coupled with the decision to trade Russian wildcard Nikita Gusev to the New Jersey Devils, in order to lock William Karlsson down to a long-term deal was the right thing to do.
After all, Karlsson has proved time and time again that he is instrumental to this team and, given the fact that he is still only 26-years-old, his prime years are ahead of him which further hammers home why the front office were right to make the center their biggest priority this off-season.
And you can’t argue that fact because the proof is in the pudding. Yes, Karlsson did endure a slight slump in his production last year, but he has combined with Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault for 381 points over the last two years, in addition to a further 75 points in the postseason.
Plus, when you consider that the deadly trio of Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Mark Stone will likely take over as the Vegas Golden Knights’ top line in 2019-20, that should ease the pressure off Smith, Karlsson and Marchessault which could lead to a resurgence in their production this year. And that is only a good thing.
Also, there is the added golden carrot at play here which is the fact that the Golden Knights will have over $15 million of cap space to play with next summer, which will give them the opportunity to add another star to their core.
It is an important factor to consider because, as good as this Knights roster is, there are some obvious flaws that need addressing. They have lacked secondary scoring since entering the NHL, they need to bolster the blueline and they also need to start the process of searching for the long-term replacement for goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
That is a scary thought for the rest of the NHL when you consider how loaded this roster already is, and the fact that the majority of the core that are signed to long contracts are either in the midst of their peak years or are rapidly approaching their prime.
And, throw into the mixing pot the tantalizing ingredients that are high-end prospects in Cody Glass, Nic Hague and Peyton Krebs, then you get the picture that this franchise is set up perfectly to contend for multiple championships for the next five or six years at the very least.
A lot has been said about the business done by President of Hockey Operations George McPhee and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon this off-season, and some of the arrows fired are warranted, but you can’t overlook the fact that this team has been built in a way that sets it up for sustained success over a significant period of time.