Vegas Golden Knights: Lehner trade highlights the will to win this year

For the second straight year the Vegas Golden Knights pulled off an absolute blockbuster at the Trade Deadline.

After being quiet for most of the day, the Vegas Golden Knights sprung into life in the final minutes of the Deadline to send seismic waves throughout the NHL.

In the market for a puck-moving defenseman, the Knights decided to head down a different path in order to bolster their roster.

Reading and analysing the market well, the front office opted to pull the trigger on a stunning trade for elite goalie Robin Lehner.

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The Golden Knights sent a package containing Malcolm Subban, prospect defenseman Slava Demin and a 2020 Second-Round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Lehner.

It was a three-team trade with Vegas also getting back forward Martins Dzierkals, in addition to sending a 2020 Fifth-Round pick to the Toronto Maple Leafs for retaining 44 percent of Lehner’s $5 million cap hit, with the Blackhawks also retaining salary.

No one saw this kind of move coming and the aftermath is clear; the Golden Knights now have one of the best goaltending tandems in the entire National Hockey League.

Lehner is a clear upgrade on Subban and, given some of his stats over the last couple of years, you can make a case for Lehner being one of the elite goalies in the NHL.

After all, he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy last year after helping to backstop the New York Islanders to the Second Round of the postseason with a 25-13-5 record, a 2.13 Goals Against Average and a .930 Save Percentage.

With his stock never higher, Lehner signed for the Chicago Blackhawks in the off-season on a one-year, $5 million deal.

He posted a 16-10-5 record with a 3.01 Goals Against Average and a .918 Save Percentage for the Hawks, and he emerged as the better goalie in Chicago over Corey Crawford despite being on a bad team.

And, despite allowing 32 goals in his last nine starts, Lehner ranks 11th in the NHL this year in Save Percentage (.918) and 13th when it comes to goals saved above average (10.1).

In other words, Lehner has been more productive than Fleury this year and will be able to carry this team on his back if needed.

While Fleury will still be the main man going forward, the Golden Knights now have the opportunity to rest their future Hall of Famer down the stretch should they see fit, given that they now have a high-caliber backup in place.

Plus, like the Boston Bruins last year, the Knights will now have the luxury of riding two elite goalies throughout the postseason and, as I’ve said before, you don’t win championships without great goaltending.

But, this move was somewhat a removal from the norm for the Vegas Golden Knights who don’t usually touch rentals.

They are famous for steering clear from expiring contracts, as seen last year when they quickly locked pending UFA Mark Stone down to a long-term deal after trading for the two-way forward from the Ottawa Senators.

The Knights also did the same with Max Pacioretty, only trading for the forward from the Montreal Canadiens once they knew that an extension was possible.

However, in this instance, the Golden Knights have broken their own golden rule and won’t be signing Robin Lehner to an extension.

General Manager Kelly McCrimmon seems content with waiting until the summer to hold talks with Lehner over a new deal, as backed up by the below quote he gave to nhl.com/goldenknights:

"“He’s on an expiring contract. That’ll take care of itself. That wasn’t part of the decision-making process. The decision was improving our goaltending in the stretch drive, improving our goaltending in the playoffs and to complement the work that we’ve done to build the team that we’ve built. We all want to win. I think that when you have the chance to add really good players to your team, that’s what you want to do.”"

It is a risk, of course, given that Lehner could walk as a UFA in the off-season, while there is no guarantee that the goalie will agree to terms on a new deal in Vegas anyway.

After all, Fleury has two-years remaining on his current deal which carries an Average Annual Value of $7,000,000.

With Lehner likely to want significantly more than the $5 million he signed for in Chicago in the summer, that is a lot of cash to stump up for two goalies.

So, it is highly possible that we could be about to witness the first true rental in the short history of the Vegas Golden Knights.

And the fact that GM Kelly McCrimmon was willing to take that sizeable risk highlights how desperate this organization is to win a championship.

They clearly feel they have all the pieces to make a real run this year, hence the blockbuster trade to significantly bolster their goaltending.

As already mentioned, Lehner is a clear upgrade on Malcolm Subban who was 9-7-3 this year with an average 3.18 Goals Against Average and an even worse .890 Save Percentage.

In other words, Subban clearly wasn’t getting the job done and, as a result, the Knights pulled the plug and instead added a guy who can help them to win now.

Lehner can split the load down the stretch with Fleury, meaning that both goalies will be fresh and raring to go for the gruelling playoff schedule.

Then, if needed, Lehner can step up in the postseason or fill the void should anything happen to Fleury.

Make no mistake about it, the Golden Knights saw an opportunity present itself in Lehner and they grabbed it with both hands.

They have ignored their own advice by going down the rental road, but it will hardly matter if this franchise goes all the way and wins a Stanley Cup in the summer.

That’s why the risky move to trade for Robin Lehner without the guarantee of an extension is the clearest sign yet that the Vegas Golden Knights only have one interest this year.

And that’s winning.