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Vegas Golden Knights: The 3 biggest needs to address via the Draft

By Andrew Steele-Davis

OSHAWA, ON - JANUARY 19: Jack Quinn #22 of the Ottawa 67's skates during an OHL game against the Oshawa Generals at the Tribute Communities Centre on January 19, 2020 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Chris Tanouye/Getty Images)
OSHAWA, ON - JANUARY 19: Jack Quinn #22 of the Ottawa 67's skates during an OHL game against the Oshawa Generals at the Tribute Communities Centre on January 19, 2020 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Chris Tanouye/Getty Images) /
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Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights comes out of the crease to poke check the puck to stop a breakaway by Riley Sheahan of the Edmonton Oilers in the third period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on February 26, 2020.
Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights comes out of the crease to poke check the puck to stop a breakaway by Riley Sheahan of the Edmonton Oilers in the third period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on February 26, 2020. /

1. Goalie

It is no secret that the Vegas Golden Knights need a long-term heir to the throne to Marc-Andre Fleury.

It is also no secret that their biggest priority this off-season is to address the goalie position on the depth chart.

After all, and as we’ve covered extensively on the site, Robin Lehner is a pending UFA and is likely to leave meaning that the Golden Knights will need a new backup goalie.

Plus, minor-league goalies Oscar Dansk and Garret Sparks are both UFA’s in the summer, leaving Dylan Ferguson as the only other goalie on the roster besides Fleury.

Given that Ferguson is an AHL-level netminder, the Knights will likely need to explore free agency for a backup goalie, or they could make a run at Russian stud Alexei Melnichuk as we explored here.

But, when it comes to finding the future franchise goalie, the Golden Knights will need to attack the 2020 NHL Entry Draft for that.

And there’s some intriguing options.

Yaroslav Askarov is projected to potentially be the first goalie drafted inside the top 10 picks since Carey Price was selected at No. 5 overall by the Montreal Canadiens in 2005.

A true blue chip prospect, Askarov has all the intangibles needed to morph into an elite NHL starter and the Golden Knights would need to move up in the Draft in order to steal the Russian from a number of other teams.

Outside of that, any of the other goalie prospects may well be wildcards so don’t be surprised if the Knights make an ambitious move to try to move up in the First Round, as we projected here.

But there is no doubt that the Vegas Golden Knights are lacking talent between the pipes on the depth chart, so the 2020 NHL Entry Draft could be important in terms of rectifying that.

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