Vegas Golden Knights: Trade Deadline Live Blog

Today is the day! It is the NHL Trade Deadline and it should be a busy day for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Christmas has arrived for hockey fans and the Vegas Golden Knights and the rest of the NHL face a busy day ahead.

Today is of course the NHL Trade Deadline and the Golden Knights will be buyers right up until the 12:00 p.m. PT cutoff point.

It has already been a busy few days for the Vegas Golden Knights who traded for veteran defenseman Alec Martinez from the LA Kings on Wednesday, in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft and a 2021 second-round selection.

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The Knights then traded forward Cody Eakin to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday for a 2021 conditional fourth-round pick, which could morph into a third-round pick if Eakin either re-signs in Winnipeg or if the Jets make the postseason.

That move freed up some cap space for the Knights and they are expected to make at least one trade today, with Jesse Granger of The Athletic reporting that Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Erik Gustafsson is a target.

The Golden Knights also need some secondary scoring help, although they will need to shift another contract or two off the books first in order to address multiple needs.

As of now, the Knights are projected to have around $5 million in cap space and it will be interesting to see how they use that, if at all, today.

It will also be a manic day around the National Hockey League with all teams waiting for some major dominos to fall.

All eyes will be on what the New York Rangers decide to do with pending UFA forward Chris Kreider, while Ottawa Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau and New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri will be names to keep an eye on too.

And, we at Vegas Hockey Knight will be keeping you all up to date with all the latest on Trade Deadline Day, both involving the Vegas Golden Knights and the rest of the NHL.

SUMMARY

What a day! After waiting a while, we were rewarded as the Vegas Golden Knights once again hit a home run at the NHL Trade Deadline.

It started with the blockbuster trade for goalie Robin Lehner, with Malcolm Subban heading to the Chicago Blackhawks, before the Knights also traded for forward Nick Cousins from the Montreal Canadiens.

And then, to top it all off, defenseman Nick Holden signed a new two-year deal with a $1.7 million average annual value.

This was a huge win for the Vegas Golden Knights who improved their roster significantly, and they now have an elite goaltending tandem for the postseason.

Nick Cousins will be a useful addition to the bottom six and Nick Holden deserves an extension given his improved play this year.

We will have much more on all of today’s deals both today and throughout the course of the rest of the week.

In the meantime, thank you for joining us for today’s coverage!

Let’s now turn our attention to today’s deals…

It is still early in the day but nothing from the Vegas Golden Knights as of yet. It will be interesting to see if they address their lack of secondary scoring today, which is a huge need in my opinion.

We’re some way in to today but there is still nothing from the Vegas Golden Knights, although there is still time.

To keep yourself entertained, read our thoughts on if it is possible the Golden Knights could pull off a stunning trade for Joe Thornton.

MOVEMENT!

And here we go!

The Vegas Golden Knights have pulled off a sensational last-minute move by trading for Chicago Blackhawks goalie Robin Lehner.

This is a stunner.

A second-round pick and a prospect is the return for Lehner, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.

OFF THE MARKET

HUGE news.

Chris Kreider, the biggest trade chip heading into today, is now off the market after signing a bumper extension with the New York Rangers.

Kreider’s new deal is a seven year contract with an average annual value of $6.5 million.

Being a Rangers fan, this makes me very happy.

DONE DEALS

We talked about the need to address the lack of secondary scoring, and the Vegas Golden Knights have certainly done that with this trade.

The Lightning really are going all in this year.

What a Trade Deadline this has been for the Carolina Hurricanes. They get two top-four defenseman and a top-six forward.

Excellent work.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in win-now mode, as backed up by the fact that they traded for Jason Zucker, and they have added two forwards including Sheary, who was a member of the Pens before.

This is another big move by the Flames and it is interesting because the Golden Knights were linked to Erik Gustafsson.

Less than an hour to go and still all quiet from the Golden Knights.

Another Pacific Division rival makes a move as the Flames acquire defenseman Derek Forbort from the LA Kings.

The Oilers are not messing around today as they add more forward depth. This has been a real good day for Edmonton.

Now, this is a trade but it is bad news for the Vegas Golden Knights because the Oilers have just got better.

The Oilers are behind Vegas in the Pacific Division but they have two games in hand, and they have now added more speed in Andreas Athanasiou.

The thought of Athanasiou and Connor McDavid on the same line together is just scary, and the Golden Knights will have to deal with that speed on Wednesday when the Oilers visit T-Mobile Arena.

This has been a busy day for the Ottawa Senators who are stocking up on draft picks and prospects.

In Waiver news, the Detroit Red Wings have claimed forward Dmytro Timashov off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Straight one-for-one swap here as the Bruins get another piece to help them contend for the Stanley Cup, while the Ducks add another young player to the roster as they continue to tear everything down and start over.

Another move to add depth for the Flyers who are looking to stamp their playoff ticket.

The Buffalo Sabres are desperate to end their playoff drought, so I quite like this trade unlike a lot of people on Twitter.

The rebuild continues for the Devils.

A straight one-for-one swap here. The Leafs get a defenseman while the Avs add to their goalie depth.

Not a trade but the Nashville Predators have re-signed forward Rocco Grimaldi to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $2 million.

I like this trade just because I am desperate for guys like Patrick Marleau to win a cup and, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he gets a chance to do so.

Also, could anyone have predicted back in the summer what a dumpster fire of a season this was going to be for the San Jose Sharks?

Hardly a move-the-needle type trade but the Flyers add some depth with gritty forward Nate Thompson, while the Canadiens bolster their draft capital.

A trade that directly affects the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Carolina Hurricanes send a monster package to the Florida Panthers for forward Vincent Trocheck, including former Golden Knights center Erik Haula.

As a result, the Golden Knights now get a conditional fifth-round pick in 2021 as part of the trade that sent Haula from Vegas to Carolina back in the off-season.

The New York Islanders finally address their need for more offense by acquiring a top-six two-way forward in Jean-Gabriel Pageau.

It comes at a price though, with the Senators getting a hell of a return and they now have three first-round picks in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft alone. They are more than set up for the future.

The Colorado Avalanche add some forward depth in Namestnikov, who has 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points in 54 games this year, while the Ottawa Senators start what is expected to be a major sell-off today. First reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

• One player who won’t be signing as a free agent today is forward Scottie Upshall, who announced his retirement on TSN earlier. Upshall recorded 284 points (138 goals, 146 assists) in 759 games throughout his career. Happy retirement, Scottie!

Let’s start with some deals that went down last night…

• The Washington Capitals added another piece to their contending-caliber roster by trading for forward Ilya Kovalchuk from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. Kovalchuk had been lights out for the Canadiens, recording 13 points in 22 games with Montreal. He’s a nice pickup for the Capitals who are aiming for a second Stanley Cup in three years.
• The Edmonton Oilers, who are right behind the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division, acquired veteran defenseman Mike Green last night in exchange for forward Kyle Brodziak and a conditional fourth-round pick in either the 2020 or 2021 NHL Draft.
• And, finally when it comes to last night’s deals, the Tampa Bay Lightning bolstered their roster ahead of the postseason by signing defenseman Zach Bogosian to a one-year, $1.3 million contract following his termination from the Buffalo Sabres.

This blog will be updated throughout the course of the day.