Vegas Golden Knights: Let us introduce you to Martins Dzierkals

It was a home run of a NHL Trade Deadline for the Vegas Golden Knights who got significantly better on Monday.

Despite being quiet for much of the day, the Vegas Golden Knights awoke from their slumber to send shock waves through the NHL by trading for Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks, in exchange for Malcolm Subban, a 2020 second-round pick and prospect Slava Demin.

The Knights also added forward depth by trading for Nick Cousins from the Montreal Canadiens, while they capped off a productive day by signing defenseman Nick Holden to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.7 million.

However, the Golden Knights also acquired another player on Monday that isn’t getting quite the same attention as Lehner and Cousins.

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In what turned out to be a complicated three-team trade, Vegas acquired prospect forward Martins Dzierkals from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for the Leafs retaining some of Lehner’s salary.

Prospects dealt at the Trade Deadline don’t always get shown a lot of love, so we thought we would change that…

The Lowdown

Martins Dzierkals was selected 68th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Born in Riga, Latvia, Dzierkals has spent most of his career so far in his homeland, although he did play four games for the Toronto Marlies in 2017-18.

The 22-year-old also recorded 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points in 51 games for the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL in 17-18, before playing for Dinamo Riga in the KHL, tallying 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 42 games.

He was crowned Rookie of the Week twice and Rookie of the Month once in the KHL last year, proving that he has got the talent to thrive at a high level.

Dzierkals is currently playing for Jukurit in Liiga, where he has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 31 games with a -6 rating.

The wing won a Gold Medal at the U18 World Junior Championships in 2013-14, and he also won the QMJHL with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in 2015-16 after amassing 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists) in 59 games.

In terms of the player himself, the 5’11” 170 lbs forward has skill and speed but a lack of consistency has hurt him throughout his career.

The Expert Opinion

We enlisted the help of Jack Manning from GoldenKnightsWatch.com when it comes to evaluating Martins Dzierkals.

Jack is a prospects expert and we thought who better to talk to when looking at who Dzierkals is as a player.

This is what Jack had to say:

“Dzierkals was a longshot prospect when he was drafted, but despite his ability to occasionally score highlight-reel goals, he’s never been able to play with any degree of consistency. At 22, if he is ever gong to take the next step, the time is now.”

Dzierkals clearly had no future in Toronto and he is probably way down the depth chart in Vegas, given some of the forward prospects ahead of him including Peyton Krebs and Pavel Dorofeyev.

And, Jack is of the opinion that Martins Dzierkals’ inability to bring it on a consistent basis will hurt his chances of ever making the National Hockey League.

“Realistically, he is never going to snuff the NHL, barring a miracle. If he is ever going to get his chance, it would be in the next two years. Unfortunately, he’s just too inconsistent to have a real shot.”

Although not a glowing report, it is possible that Dzierkals was just damage limitation when it came to ensuring a trade for Robin Lehner was thrashed out.

There is such a thing as a late bloomer, of course, so there is a chance that Martins Dzierkals can blossom and impress the Vegas Golden Knights in Training Camp, but it seems unlikely at this point that the forward will make the leap to the NHL.