Vegas Golden Knights should move Cody Eakin at Trade Deadline

We are edging ever closer to Thanksgiving which means that the NHL Trade Deadline will soon be here, and the Vegas Golden Knights could be busy.

I mean, it is almost certain that the Vegas Golden Knights will be active in and around the Trade Deadline in order to bolster their roster ahead of the postseason.

After all, just look at the last two years when the Knights have made a host of aggressive moves in order to dramatically improve their team.

There was the Trade Deadline in 2018 when the Golden Knights gave up first, second and third round picks to acquire forward Tomas Tatar from the Detroit Red Wings ahead of what turned out to be a stunning run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in the franchise’s inaugural year.

And Vegas went one better at last season’s Trade Deadline after going all out to trade for one of the most coveted assets out there in Mark Stone, before signing the forward to an eight-year, $76,000,000 contract.

So don’t expect it to be any different this season. Because, and this is worth keeping in mind, the Golden Knights will have some cap space flexibility come Feb. 24, 2020, and they could of course move some pieces in order to add to that.

And that brings us onto a possible scenario that we think needs to be discussed – the Vegas Golden Knights should consider trading Cody Eakin at the Trade Deadline.

We’re going to delve into both the pros and cons before giving our final verdict on why we think it makes perfect sense to move Eakin…

Pros To Trading Cody Eakin

First and foremost, Cody Eakin is going to be an unrestricted free agent next summer so it makes this decision easier when it comes to trying to get something for the forward rather than risk losing him for nothing in the off-season.

And, following the emergence of rookie Cody Glass this year, it is fair to suggest that Eakin has become expendable now.

I mentioned this in another piece on Tuesday but Eakin has become somewhat of a road block for Glass and his progress this season.

Why’s that? Because, entrenched in the third line center role, Eakin has ensured that Glass has been stuck on the wing for large chunks of the season.

A natural center, Glass has shown what he’s capable of after scoring the vast majority of his seven points (three goals, four assists) as the second line pivot between Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone.

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Now, granted, Glass has fared okay on the wing but he’s struggling as of late because of the struggles of the third line, which has become somewhat of a poisoned chalice for the Golden Knights.

As a result, trading Eakin would allow Glass to be promoted back up to the second line where he can play top six minutes, bumping Paul Stastny down to the third line and thus automatically strengthening the Knights’ strength in depth at the center position.

And, by trading Eakin for either a role player, picks or a prospect and shedding the forward’s $3,850,000 cap hit, the Knights would have some cap space to go out and trade for a left wing to slide in on the third line alongside Stastny and Alex Tuch.

Because, let’s face it, with just one point in 11 games Brandon Pirri has hardly got it done this year, while Valentin Zykov‘s future with this franchise is unclear following his 20-game suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

Or, it could allow them to go out and trade for the puck-moving defenseman they so desperately crave, maybe somebody like Tony DeAngelo of the New York Rangers?

However, getting back to Eakin, he has regressed somewhat this season after carving out career-highs in goals (22) and points (41) in 2018-19.

Through 15 games this season, the 28-year-old has no goals and just three assists with a plus/minus rating of -6, and he ranks low in a plethora of possession metric stats.

So, cutting ties with a player who appears to be on the slide and freeing up some cap space would be a big win for the Vegas Golden Knights, who have other holes on the roster they need to plug.