Peyton Krebs’ Importance; Has he Secured a Spot?

After making the Vegas Knights 23-man roster, Krebs has emerged as one of the best players on this depleted Knights team. When he first made the roster, there were some injuries. Now that he’s shown what he can do though, is he here to stay?

The Vegas Knights prospect pool isn’t as large or as skilled as most due to the fact they’ve only been apart of the league since 2017. However, all it takes is one pick that can completely turn your franchise around. Peyton Krebs has earned the organizations respect and admiration after showing up year in-and-year out, and performing to his full potential. There has been a lot of talk about what he has done, and what he means to the organization but, has he earned himself a official spot for the foreseeable future?

Well, that’s a tricky question to answer. The one thing we know for certain though is that if it weren’t for injuries early on in camp, Krebs may not have even been given a true shot. Looking back to that point though, it did happen and now Krebs has emerged as one of the top players in the organization. Sending him down will be hard to do, but is there a spot for him given the Knights personnel?

Looking ahead into the season, the Knights had a roster packed with talent and Krebs’ ability to make the team out of camp seemed vague. However, current teammates: William Carrier, Nicolas Roy, Brett Howden, and Alex Tuch were all hurt to start camp. Peyton Krebs took the opportunity to show what he can do for the team and ran with it. Looking from that point to now, Krebs has been incredibly valuable but that doesn’t change the fact their may not be a spot for him. How so you may ask well let’s look at the Knights healthy roster along with who’s got one-way contracts.

Forwards

Max Pacioretty-Chandler Stephenson-Mark Stone

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith

Evgenii Dadonov-Mattias Janmark-Alex Tuch

William Carrier-Nolan Patrick-Nicolas Roy

As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot of room for him. Now, I will say that I’d take Peyton Krebs over a couple of the names on that list, but after considering the contract structures on the team, I’d consider it unlikely. In order to make room for Krebs on the roster and give him some playing time, I’d expect it to be a big ordeal. So how can they create room for Krebs?

Jack Eichel Trade

The Knights are currently in the sweepstakes for Jack Eichel, and are considered a top landing spot for him. For cap situations they’d have to move a player or two and give up a plethora of draft picks. I recently said how the Knights will undoubtedly have to give up an extremely large package for him however, that could benefit them. If the Knights were able to work out a trade that sent Janmark and/or Carrier, they could clear cap and make room for Krebs in their lineup.

Peyton Krebs’ Importance

I know what all of you may be thinking, why am I so hung up on Peyton Krebs? We’ll that’s an easy question to answer-Peyton Krebs is the future, and we need the future now. The Knights have faced so many injuries already this season and Krebs, being as young as he is, will be asked to take on a huge role if the injuries continue to pile up. Thus far, he’s risen to that challenge but it’s vital he keeps improving. He’s a huge part of the Knights future and getting him acclimated to the league and helping him learn is going to be important in these early stages of his NHL career.