Vegas Golden Knights deliver late stunner with Lehner trade

For the second year in a row, the Vegas Golden Knights have pulled off a stunning move at the Trade Deadline by making a deal for Chicago Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner.

A year removed from sending ripples through the hockey world by trading for elite forward Mark Stone, the Vegas Golden Knights have done it again.

After being quiet for the majority of the day, the Golden Knights pounced at the last minute to once again shock the rest of the NHL.

The deal has since been confirmed with the Golden Knights getting goalie Robin Lehner and prospect forward Martins Dzierkals from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for goalie Malcolm Subban, defenseman Slava Demin and a 2020 Second-Round Pick.

Furthermore, the Knights will send a 2020 fifth-round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for retaining 44 percent of the 50 percent of Lehner’s salary that the Blackhawks retained.

In other words, the Vegas Golden Knights will take on $1,400,000 of Lehner’s salary, with the goalie a UFA in the summer.

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As first reported by Darren Dreger of TSN, the Knights have traded for Lehner who was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last year with the Islanders, posting a 25-13-5 record with a 2.13 Goals Against Average and a .930 Save Percentage.

Lehner’s stellar play, along with that of Thomas Greiss, helped the Islanders to boast the best defensive record in the NHL while reaching the Second Round of the postseason.

Lehner was signed by the Blackhawks in the summer as a free agent with a $5 million cap hit, and he has impressed for Chicago at points this year with a 16-10-5 record and a 3.01 Goals Against Average to go along with a .918 Save Percentage.

Although the 28-year-old has allowed 32 goals in his last nine starts, he was playing on a Hawks team that is clearly going through a transitional period.

He was also the winner of the Bill Masterton Trophy last year after being incredibly open about his battle with mental health, becoming a fierce advocate for that cause.

Lehner is one of the best goalies in the National Hockey League and he, along with Marc-Andre Fleury, will give Vegas an elite goaltending tandem in the league.

As the experts say, you can’t win a championship without elite goaltending and the Golden Knights now have two goalies capable of backstopping them to glory.

Lehner is a clear upgrade for the Knights with Malcolm Subban, who did show glimpses of his potential, inconsistent during his time with Vegas.

Through 19 starts this year, Subban had posted a 9-7-3 record with a 3.18 Goals Against Average and a .890 Save Percentage for the Golden Knights.

Plus, the Vegas Golden Knights are clearly in win-now mode and having two of the best goalies in the NHL will give them a significant advantage over a handful of teams in the postseason.

Look at the Boston Bruins last year who rode a hot goalie tandem in Tuukka Rask and Jaroslav Halak all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights will be hoping they can achieve the same with Fleury and Lehner guarding the net.

Granted, it isn’t yet clear how Head Coach Peter DeBoer will rotate his goalies but, one thing is for sure, Vegas can now ease Fleury’s workload knowing that they can lean on Lehner to pick up more of the load if needed.

There will also be questions over the future given that Lehner is a UFA in the summer and Fleury has two-years remaining on his current deal with an average annual value of $7 million.

But, for now, the Golden Knights have once again mastered the NHL Trade Deadline and they are a better team now compared to what they were this morning.

And, while I still believe they should have addressed their lack of secondary scoring, elite goaltending can carry a team a long way in the postseason.

But, overall, the Golden Knights have again emerged as big winners at the Trade Deadline after significantly bolstering and upgrading their roster.

We will have much more on this trade and what it means for the Vegas Golden Knights as more details leak through.