Vegas Golden Knights: Four players who may have played their last game
Hockey is currently on hiatus but there is a very real danger that the season could be cancelled completely, which might mean the end for a slew of Vegas Golden Knights players.
Due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Vegas Golden Knights and the rest of the NHL are on lockdown and there is no clear end in sight at the moment.
The league is in the same boat as all of the other major sports when it comes to being dictated to by the greater powers above them in regards to a return date.
With COVID-19 not slowing down, it is uncertain when sports will return if at all this year, although the NHL is exploring a bevy of different options for if hockey does resume this year.
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From a 24-team playoff format to reducing the regular season and then jumping into the postseason, nothing is off the table as we all wait for the best sport on the planet to return.
However, we also have to be aware of the fact that there is a very real danger that the year could be cancelled completely with protecting the 2020-21 season a huge priority for the NHL.
And, if that is the case then it could mean the end of the road for a handful of members of the Vegas Golden Knights.
After all, the Golden Knights currently have five pending UFA’s and three pending RFA’s with around $11 million in cap space should the salary cap for 2020-21 remain at $81.5 million.
Given that the Golden Knights will likely want to bolster their roster either via free agency or the trade market, they won’t be able to re-sign all of their free agents.
We picked out four players in particular that, if the unthinkable does happen and hockey doesn’t return this year, may have played their last game for the Vegas Golden Knights.
1. Robin Lehner, G, UFA
There was always the very real danger that the Vegas Golden Knights would only be getting one of the best goalies in the NHL right now for a short period of time when they pulled the trigger on a stunning trade for Robin Lehner at the Trade Deadline.
Not an organization to usually dabble with pure rentals, General Manager Kelly McCrimmon saw an opportunity to significantly bolster his goaltending depth and went for it by sending Malcolm Subban, prospect defenseman Slava Demin and a 2020 second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft to the Chicago Blackhawks for Lehner.
By acquiring a player of Lehner’s caliber and undoubted talent, the Golden Knights gave themselves one of the best 1-2 punches at the goalie position in the entire National Hockey League.
And, not only would it have allowed the coaching staff the freedom to rest Marc-Andre Fleury more down the stretch, but it would also ensure that Vegas had two elite goalies at their disposal in the postseason.
You can’t win championships without elite goaltending, after all.
Lehner showed flashes of why he has been one of the most productive goalies in the NHL over the last few years in just a small sample size for the Golden Knights too, going 3-0-0 with a 1.67 Goals Against Average and a .940 Save Percentage in three starts.
The 28-year-old would have backed-up Fleury throughout the playoffs but, if the Golden Knights were to win the Stanley Cup, then the gamble to bring in Lehner as a rental would have more than paid off.
However, there is a very real danger that the Knights could lose Lehner after just three games now if hockey doesn’t return.
Because, currently carrying a cap hit of $5 million, Lehner is a UFA in the off-season and he’s likely going to want a big payday wherever he goes.
Given that the Golden Knights will have $11 million in cap space in which to deal with eight pending free agents while bringing in fresh faces, it is unlikely that they will want to invest north of $6 million plus in a goalie when they already have Fleury’s $7,000,000 cap hit on the books through 2021-22.
Therefore, we could well be looking at a scenario where the Golden Knights parted with a role player, a prospect and a second-round pick for a goalie who played just three games for the franchise.
2. Deryk Engelland, D, UFA
We did a piece on this earlier in the week, which you can read here, but we could be looking at an end of an era for the Vegas Golden Knights right now.
Because, if hockey doesn’t return this year, then we may well have seen Deryk Engelland’s final game as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
An unrestricted free agent in the summer, Engelland is in the twilight of his career and doesn’t look to be a fit under Head Coach Peter DeBoer, having appeared in only five games under the former San Jose Sharks Bench Boss.
Plus, with a bevy of high-end defensive prospects including the likes of Zach Whitecloud, Nic Hague and Dylan Coghlan waiting in the wings, this off-season seems the right time for the Golden Knights and Engelland to part ways.
It would be a tough decision for all involved given what Engelland means to this franchise, although the veteran could move into a different role within the organization given that his family is settled in Vegas.
But, at the end of the day, sports is a business and with not a boatload of cap space with which to play with in the off-season, the Golden Knights will have some tough decisions to make and Engelland is at the top of that list.
From helping to bring together a group of strangers and lead them to a Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year, to helping a city heal in the wake of the tragic shootings in Vegas Oct. 1, Engelland will forever go down as a vital figure in the history of this franchise.
And his overall level of play over the last few years hasn’t been that bad, including this year where the defenseman was a +6 rating with an impressive CF% of 52.6 in 49 games to go with 86 blocked shots, 114 hits and 15 takeaways.
However, time stops for no man and all the signs point to Deryk Engelland having played his last game for the Vegas Golden Knights, whether he retires or opts for a new challenge with a different team.
3. Ryan Reaves, F, UFA
Rewind back a few weeks where we looked into the pros and cons when it came to trading away Ryan Reaves.
And it is fair to say that the vast majority of the Golden Knights fanbase were outraged at just the thought of everyone’s favorite enforcer being traded away.
Personally, I feel Reaves plays a vital role for the Knights and he’s more than a one-trick pony in terms of what he brings to the table.
For instance, he achieved career-highs in points (20), goals (9) and assists (11) while he recorded 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 71 games prior to the hiatus this year.
Not bad for a human wrecking ball.
Plus, Reaves also boasts the knack to come up clutch in key situations and he really is the heartbeat of this team both on and off the ice.
Furthermore, Reaves is an absolute human battering ram having led the Golden Knights in hits with 305 last year, while he already surpassed that amount with a staggering 316 hits this year in just 71 games.
Incredible.
However, the 33-year-old currently carries a cap hit of $2,775,000 which is a lot for a fourth-line grinder, and the front office will need to pay the likes of Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Roy and Nick Cousins in the off-season, as well as paying a backup netminder whether that is Robin Lehner or somebody else.
As a result, and depending on what exactly happens with the salary cap in the wake of the coronavirus, the Golden Knights will have to decide whether Ryan Reaves is an essential commodity or a luxury they can’t afford to keep.
Also, at 33-years-old, Reaves isn’t getting any younger and the Golden Knights may decide that signing the younger Tomas Nosek to a new deal, who plays a similar role, could be the more shrewd investment.
4. Chandler Stephenson, F, RFA
Not only do the Golden Knights have five UFA’s to worry about this off-season, they also have the trickier task of dealing with three Restricted Free Agents.
Chandler Stephenson, Nicolas Roy and Nick Cousins are all pending RFA’s and all three have proven themselves this year.
Cousins, who was acquired at the Trade Deadline from the Montreal Canadiens, is a versatile depth player that can provide an offensive punch, while Roy has really flourished for the Knights in his rookie year.
And then there is Stephenson who has been used up and down the lineup for the Golden Knights since being acquired in a trade from the Washington Capitals on Dec. 3, for a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
Able to play as a center or as a wing, Stephenson is a Swiss-Army Knife type player and he made an instant impact for Vegas, recording eight goals and 14 assists for 22 points in 41 games while logging time on both the penalty kill and on the power play.
Depth is essential to winning championships in all major sports and given what Stephenson can offer, it is likely the Golden Knights would want to thrash out a new deal with the 25-year-old.
However, given that he is an RFA, negotiations can get tricky and Stephenson would likely demand a significant rise on his current $1,050,000 cap hit should it go to Arbitration.
Furthermore, there is a chance that a team could offer sheet Stephenson, further raising the price the Golden Knights would have to meet if they wanted to keep the forward.
In all likelihood, the Golden Knights will do what they need to in order to re-sign Stephenson by tendering a qualifying offer by June, 25, given his impact in such a short amount of time, but every player has a price and Vegas can’t afford to feed the few over the many this off-season.
Honourable Mentions
As already mentioned, the Vegas Golden Knights will have eight players due to either hit the off-season as a UFA or as an RFA.
We picked out two other players that may have played their final game for the Vegas Golden Knights if hockey doesn’t return this year:
Jon Merrill, D, UFA
An unrestricted free agent in the off-season, Merrill has also failed to seemingly impress Head Coach Peter DeBoer and often found himself as a healthy scratch prior to the hiatus.
With Alec Martinez still having another year on his current deal, coupled with new extensions for Nick Holden and Zach Whitecloud, Merrill could well end up joining Deryk Engelland in leaving T-Mobile Arena this year.
Having coughed up 27 Giveaways in 49 games, Merrill’s game this year has been ravaged by a plethora of mistakes and, with a bevy of talented prospects waiting in the wings, his time as a Vegas Golden Knights player could already be over should hockey not resume this year.
Tomas Nosek, F, UFA
Personally, I feel the front office will need to make a decision to keep one of Tomas Nosek or Ryan Reaves.
Due to the other players they need to re-sign, coupled with the need for a backup goalie if Robin Lehner does indeed depart, I can’t see the Golden Knights keeping both Reaves and Nosek.
And it all boils down to who fits best. Reaves, as we mentioned in a previous slide, can provide an offensive punch in addition to being a human battering ram, while he is one of the best fighters and enforcers in the entire NHL.
However, Nosek can also hit like a train and he also has the same amount of points as Reaves this year with 15 (eight goals, seven assists).
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At 27-years-old and with a current cap hit of $1,000,000, Nosek would be a younger and cheaper option to re-sign rather than Reaves, although Reaves is a crucial glue guy in the locker room and that factor alone could be what seals Nosek’s fate, meaning he too may have played his last game for the Vegas Golden Knights if the season is cancelled.