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Vegas Golden Knights: Grading an explosive Trade Deadline

By Andrew Steele-Davis

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 22: Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks participates in warmups prior to a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at the United Center on October 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 22: Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks participates in warmups prior to a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at the United Center on October 22, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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EDMONTON, AB – FEBRUARY 11: Alex Chiasson #39 of the Edmonton Oilers takes a shot against goaltender Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place on February 11, 2020, in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, AB – FEBRUARY 11: Alex Chiasson #39 of the Edmonton Oilers takes a shot against goaltender Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks at Rogers Place on February 11, 2020, in Edmonton, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images) /

Robin Lehner

This was arguably one of the trades of the day on Monday, which is impressive given that there were a lot of big deals that went down.

But, as they did last year with the Mark Stone trade, the Vegas Golden Knights went all in to send shockwaves through the rest of the NHL.

In the market for a puck-moving defenseman, the Knights were then presented with an opportunity to significantly improve in another area and they grasped it with both hands.

Seeking an upgrade, the Golden Knights pulled the trigger on a stunning trade for Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Vegas sent back goalie Malcolm Subban, prospect Slava Demin and a 2020 Second-Round pick to the Hawks.

The Knights also got prospect forward Martins Dzierkals from the Toronto Maple Leafs, who got a 2020 Fifth-Round selection back in exchange for retaining $1,100,000 of Lehner’s salary.

Chicago also retained some salary in order to facilitate this trade, which makes this even more of an impressive pickup for the Golden Knights.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 19: Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks follows the action against the Winnipeg Jets at the United Center on January 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Jets 5-2. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 19: Robin Lehner #40 of the Chicago Blackhawks follows the action against the Winnipeg Jets at the United Center on January 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. The Blackhawks defeated the Jets 5-2. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

They are on the hook for $1,400,000 of Lehner’s $5,000,000 cap hit, which isn’t bad at all when you look at the body of work for the 28-year-old.

Lehner was 16-10-5 for the Blackhawks this year with a 3.01 Goals Against Average and a .918 Save Percentage, while he ranks 11th in the NHL in Save Percentage and 13th in goals saved above average (10.1).

The Swedish native was also a Vezina Trophy finalist for the New York Islanders last year, and he has been more productive than Marc-Andre Fleury this year.

Lehner is also a clear upgrade on Malcolm Subban who was 9-7-3 with a 3.18 Goals Against Average and a .890 Save Percentage for the Knights.

Having Lehner as a backup will also help to ease Fleury’s workload down the stretch, which means that we should get peak Marc-Andre Fleury in the postseason.

The Golden Knights did acquire Martins Dzierkals as part of the trade, although the prospect isn’t anywhere near NHL-ready. You can read our lowdown of the forward here.

Overall, this was a home run of a trade by the Vegas Golden Knights who understand that you can’t win championships without elite goaltending.

Grade: A+

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