Vegas Golden Knights: Return of compliance buyouts not good news for Stastny

Paul Stastny, F, $6,500,000 Cap Hit

Fresh of a stunning and magical run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural year, the Golden Knights felt they were in their win-now window despite being an expansion team.

As a result, they vowed to be aggressive during the off-season and they followed through on that promise, signing free-agent veteran center Paul Stastny to a three-year, $19,500,000 contract before pulling the trigger on a blockbuster trade for Montreal Canadiens Captain Max Pacioretty.

Those two moves signalled the Golden Knights’ intentions that they were serious about winning a Stanley Cup, and they would also shock the hockey world by trading for elite two-way wing Mark Stone at the Trade Deadline.

While Stastny helped Vegas to stamp their playoff ticket for the second consecutive year, before meshing perfectly with Stone and Pacioretty in the postseason, the center struggled at times this year and bounced up and down the lineup.

Putting up 17 goals and 21 assists for 38 points in 71 games with a +6 rating, the 34-year-old was solid if not spectacular.

And there are a bevy of reasons why the veteran would be the main candidate for a Compliance Buyout for the Golden Knights.

For starters, he will be 35-years-old by the time the 2021 All-Star Break rolls around, and he has already shown some signs of regression in his game.

Plus, with a year left carrying a hefty $6,500,000 cap hit, Stastny is a luxury the Golden Knights might not be able to afford in 2020-21.

Inconsistent as a second-line center this year and too expensive to become a full-time third-line pivot, the Knights could use the money saved by buying out Stastny to fill out their roster and also re-sign of their pending RFA’s in Nicolas Roy, Chandler Stephens and Nick Cousins.

Let’s not forget either, the Golden Knights do have some depth at the center-ice position starting with Cody Glass.

Although his rookie year was ravaged by injury, the forward did show flashes of his elite potential and he was excellent when leading a second line between Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty, while the trio meshed perfectly together on the power play.

Boasting high-end vision and elite playmaking skills, Glass would inject some youth and speed into the second line, while there is chemistry with Pacioretty and Stone already there.

There is also a wild card option in Peyton Krebs, the 17th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Golden Knights.

Having recovered from a slight torn Achilles, Krebs returned in style by putting up 60 points (12 goals, 48 assists) in just 38 games while wearing the ‘C’ on his chest for the Winnipeg Ice in the WHL this year.

Both Glass and Krebs are a year into their three-year Entry-Level contracts, both of which carry cap hits of less than $1 million.

As a result, both players would be cheaper options with higher ceilings for the second-line center role, thus making Stastny expendable.

Although still a solid player in the NHL, Stastny’s hefty cap hit will act as an albatross around the neck of the Golden Knights if the salary cap remains at $81.5 million for the 2020-21 season, especially when you consider that they also have eight pending free agents to deal with.

So, if Compliance Buyouts do get re-introduced next season, then Paul Stastny could find himself looking for a new team with the cost of the buyout not counting against the cap for the Golden Knights.

Other Buyout Candidates & What’s Next

The reports out there suggest that all 31 teams could be given two Compliance Buyouts to use in 2020-21.

If that’s the case, here are some other potential Buyout Candidates for the Vegas Golden Knights:

Marc-Andre Fleury

Okay, let’s preface this by stating clearly that we do NOT think nor want the Golden Knights to buyout Marc-Andre Fleury.

We don’t think it will happen but, for the sake of argument, let’s just throw it out there for a moment.

If the salary cap for 2020-21 was frozen and remained at $81.5 million, the Knights would be okay although they wouldn’t have much room under the cap to fill any holes on the roster.

Currently projected to have around $11 million in cap space, the Golden Knights would be able to re-sign the free agents they wanted to out of the eight that are set to hit the open market in the summer.

However, should the Knights want to dramatically bolster the roster by acquiring a puck-moving defenseman, then they could look to buyout Fleury and erase his $7,000,000 cap hit.

But, and we can’t stress this enough, we can’t see this ever coming to fruition and there is probably more chance that Ryan Reaves and Evander Kane become best friends.

Reilly Smith

More likely than Marc-Andre Fleury, but not as likely as Paul Stastny, the Golden Knights could look to use a Compliance Buyout on Reilly Smith.

Carrying an Average Annual Value of $5,000,000 through 2021-22, Smith is a jack of all trades for the Golden Knights in that he is a top-six forward while logging time on both the power play and the penalty kill.

He’s a huge threat on the PK when it comes to shorthanded goals, four shorthanded points this year (two goals, two assists), while the wing averages 17:55 minutes of total ice time per night.

However, with an abundance of riches in the top six plus the likes of Peyton Krebs, Jack Dugan and Pavel Dorofeyev waiting in the wings, the Golden Knights could look to use one of their two Compliance Buyouts on Smith in order to create some cap space and fill out the rest of the roster.

Again, this is unlikely but crazier things have happened and, after all, who could have predicted that we would be without sports due to a virus?

What’s Next?

As already mentioned, nothing will be implemented until a decision has been made on the 2019-20 regular season.

It appears as though the NHL is keeping everything on the table for now, and a final decision isn’t likely anytime soon.

However, should the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs fall victim to COVID-19, then the NHL will have some major decisions on their hands.

The loss of the postseason would hit every team incredibly hard from a financial point of view, impacting the salary cap for 2020-21 and perhaps beyond.

So, although everything is still up in the air right now, don’t be surprised if Compliance Buyouts make a dramatic comeback next year.