Vegas Golden Knights: Big-game hunting now officially over

It appears as though the Vegas Golden Knights are about to enter new and uncharted territory this off-season.

Establishing a reputation as a franchise not afraid to go for the jugular, the Vegas Golden Knights have morphed into an instant Stanley Cup contender from the minute they entered the NHL in 2017.

After constructing a roster full of untested players with a point to prove at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, the Golden Knights have built on that momentum ever since and they’ve added some big hitters to their core.

Pulling the trigger on blockbuster trades for superstars in the ilk of Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone, in addition to making a splash in free agency by going all out for center Paul Stastny, the Knights haven’t been afraid to make their intentions crystal clear.

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Heck, they even managed to send out a true statement of intent at this year’s Trade Deadline, pulling off a stunning trade for elite goalie Robin Lehner despite being right up against the cap all year.

In a nutshell, the Golden Knights have been in no mood for messing around from day one and they are geared towards winning multiple championships.

They will attempt to satisfy Owner Bill Foley’s insatiable appetite for a cup by any means necessary, including going big-game hunting in the most expensive section of Macy’s or Bloomingdales’s.

However, those days may be coming to a swift end.

Because, as is the harsh realties in all hard cap sports, the bill is eventually due one day and the Golden Knights are starting to pay the price for locking up so much money in a core group of elite stars.

While their Stanley Cup window will remain open for a while, Vegas was pressed right up against the cap this year and their depth took a huge hit.

In order to lock franchise center William Karlsson up to an eight-year, $47,200,000 contract, the Knights had to sacrifice depth players such as forward Erik Haula and defenseman Colin Miller.

Those two decisions in particular came back to haunt the Golden Knights with a solid but unspectacular blueline struggling to produce the goods on occasion in 2019-20, while talented young forwards in Alex Tuch and Cody Glass were unable to stay healthy.

And, due to the coronavirus crisis, the NHL will likely freeze the cap at $81.5 million for the 2020-21 NHL season.

We broke down exactly what that might mean for the Golden Knights, which you can read here, but it isn’t great news.

For instance, by the time Vegas has dealt with their group of eight pending free agents, including UFA goalie Robin Lehner, the Knights won’t have much change from the $11 million or so in cap space they are projected to have in the off-season.

As a result, the coaching staff will need both Glass and Tuch to stay healthy while a roster spot could be there for the taking for a rookie stud in the ilk of Peyton Krebs or Jack Dugan.

The blueline is largely set and with Deryk Engelland likely to retire, coupled with an expected departure for Jon Merrill, that only gives Vegas’ bevy of defensive prospects more opportunity to battle for a roster spot out of Training Camp.

The big question, however, comes with goaltending with Robin Lehner unlikely willing to take anything less than the $5 million salary he currently commands, meaning that the goalie could become a three-game wonder for the Knights if hockey doesn’t return this year.

As a result, the Golden Knights will need to explore free agency or the trade market for a new backup netminder but, again, they won’t have deep pockets to go shopping with.

And that brings us on to another harsh reality; the Golden Knights are probably not going to be going big-game hunting this off-season.

For the second successive summer, they will have to make do with going bargain shopping and adding minimum guys in order to accrue more depth.

While that isn’t normally the Golden Knights way, it is a new reality we are going to have to get used to with the salary cap unlikely to rise for at least another year due to COVID-19.

So, while Vegas is in need of an absolute horse on the blueline, the chances of them sending seismic waves through the hockey world by going after Alex Pietrangelo in free agency seems pie in the sky right now.

The St. Louis Blues Captain, a player we have talked a lot about on this site, is a pending UFA and could well hit the open market in the off-season.

If that happens then the puck-moving blueliner would be one of the biggest prizes of free agency but, likely to command in the region of $8-$11 million per year, the Golden Knights won’t have much of a chance to add yet another superstar to the roster.

Unless, of course, they try to trade one of their big-name top six forwards in one of Paul Stastny or Reilly Smith, hence creating some much-needed cap room.

But, at this stage and with the roster as it is, General Manager Kelly McCrimmon would be foolish to weaken one area of strength in order to bolster a blueline that can get the job done with Shea Theodore leading the charge.

Overall, these are strange times we are living in and, while somewhat trivial compared to what is going on in the world right now, we may have just witnessed an end to the Vegas Golden Knights’ aggressive policy of stockpiling stars.

The big-game hunting appears to be over for now.