The Questions that Need to be Answered for the Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights Need to Make Some Room
The Vegas Golden Knights have a lot of money tied up in their roster which isn’t necessarily a bad thing until you’re over the cap. When you trade for star players like the Knights are known for, you usually are going to have to pay the consequences of it one way or another.
Since becoming the 31st official team of the National Hockey League, the Knights have become one of the most aggressive teams in the trade market. Once again, not necessarily a bad thing until you take on one to many big contracts. Then you have to find a way to clear cap which usually means trading someone away.
So, with that being said, who could we see leave the Vegas Golden Knights organization when the players start to get healthy?
Reilly Smith
Unfortunately, it’s never easy letting someone go. Anyone who’s experienced life knows that. Similarly, they also know that sometimes it has to be done. In this situation the person who seems most likely to get traded away is winger, Reilly Smith.
Reilly Smith is currently an alternate for the Vegas Golden Knights so you may be asking what makes him a trade candidate? Well, when Jack Eichel comes back, the Knights will need to clear roughly about $5,000,000 in cap space in order to make room for him. Smith is making $3,500,000 this season and $1,000,000 in through his signing bonus.
Although, that’s not $5,000,000, he does hold quite a bit of trade value around the league. The biggest thing to consider when making a trade is: Who can you get the most back for? Reilly Smith can check that box.
So if the Vegas Golden Knights do chose to move Smith in order to get under the cap, what value could they be looking to get in return?
Reilly Smith’s Trade Value
Reilly Smith’s trade value around the league is definitely going to depend on how all-in a team is. With that being said, they could look to get a nice return for Smith if a team is lacking some offense along the wing. I’ll get into who some of those teams are in a bit, but let’s talk about what type of trade the Knights could be looking for.
When it comes to clearing cap space, the person trading away the player generally doesn’t want to take on a contract because that defeats the purpose. So I’d say it’s way more likely that the Vegas Golden Knights will be looking to get a draft pick in return. Now, let’s get into exactly how much trade value he holds in the market.
It should be a consensus around the league that if you were to acquire Smith, you’d be getting a top six forward. So far this season he’s played in 19 games for the Vegas Golden Knights. In those 19 games, he has eight goals and six assists for a total of 14 points. When it comes to Smith, this is probably one of the best starts to his season he’s had in some time.
Last season for example, in 53 games, he had 14 goals and 11 assists for a total of 25 points. This season, he already has 14 points. 11 less than he did in the entirety of last season. Not to mention, if you’re in win now mode, he should be a top option.
Possible Landing Spots for Reilly Smith
As I stated above the Vegas Golden Knights are going to be looking to possibly trade him and in return get a second-round pick in the draft. So looking at who would be willing to take a chance on him, there are a couple teams.
First team that will probably call about the availability to Reilly Smith: the Detroit Red Wings. The Detroit Red Wings have a very good team but do have tendencies to “crap the bed”. Now, I know that the Vegas Golden Knights did lose to the Detroit Red Wings once, but they are lacking consistency. Reilly Smith could be someone that the Red Wings would consider a top target for sure.
The Second team that could/should call about Reilly Smith is the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets have one of the better teams in the league, which I’m not going to lie, it surprises me. However, wins are wins and right now, they are finding ways to win. But, looking down the road, they could definitely benefit from having more talent on the offensive side of the puck. When it comes to playoff time and competing for a spot, having a guy like Reilly Smith would definitely give them a boost.
The third and final team that I feel should give the Vegas Golden Knights a call is the New York Rangers. The New York Rangers are an incredible team with a lot of talent, but if you take a look at their roster and how they’ve performed this far, they’ve underachieved. They went out and made moves this off-season in order to help give them an edge, but they are still underperforming. They need to add someone to help their wing depth and add another veteran.
Evgenii Dadonov
The Vegas Golden Knights traded for winger, Evgenii Dadonov, this off-season from the Ottawa Senators as they looked to help increase their wing depth. Going into the off-season, based upon their moves they made, they were looking to help establish upside. So with that, the Knights brought in both Nolan Patrick, and also Evgenii Dadonov.
Now, so far this season, that has appeared to be the right move. however, there is quite the conundrum coming. The Vegas Golden Knights, as they look to determine their next steps as a team and an organization, have to determine how to clear some cap space so they can activate some of the players that are currently on the injured reserve.
So now the question you may be asking is what makes Dadonov a trade option for the Vegas Golden Knights? We’ll there are a couple things.
First, his contract is worth $5,000,000 this season and next season is supposed to make $6,500,000. Making that contract work while managing some of these contracts will be too hard to make happen. So although his trade value isn’t as high as Reilly Smith, his contract is too much for the Vegas Golden Knights to keep.
Second, he hasn’t quite lived up to the $5,000,000 he is currently making. But in contrast to that statement, he’s been starting to get on a hot streak which could benefit the Knights. If they trade him while he is hot, they will be able to get more in return for him than if he starts to cool off again.
Evgenii Dadonov’s Trade Value
So after talking about everything that I just stated the question that need’s to be asked is: Where does his trade value stand?
That question is even more difficult to answer because you don’t exactly know what teams around the league think of him as a player. He started this season very cold before starting to get in a rhythm over the course of the last couple weeks. However, he’s started to cool off again and with that his value is down.
When they trade Dadonov his value is likely going to be a late-round draft pick. He just hasn’t done much this season and therefore the Vegas Golden Knights are not going to be able to get much in return for him. It’s that reason why Reilly Smith is probably the top trade candidate.
So now with that being said, let’s take a look at the next step for the Vegas Golden Knights.
Has Any of the Vegas Golden Knights Rookies Done Well Enough?
The Vegas Golden Knights have faced injuries to some of their best players this season, and quite frankly, it’s been fun to watch. When players go down, that means that there are going to be chances given. Lucky for some of the Knights prospects, there were plenty.
So far this season the Vegas Golden Knights have awarded opportunities to: Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Dugan, Kaedan Korczak, Jake Leschyshyn, Jonas Rondbjerg, Paul Cotter, Ben Jones, Daniil Miromanov. Now, not all of them played, but some did. Now the question that needs to be asked is: Have any of the Vegas Golden Knights prospects played well enough to keep an NHL spot?
Personally, I feel an argument can be made regarding two of those names, but I don’t think it’s the two you think.
Jake Leschyshyn
The Vegas Golden Knights could have a budding star with center, Jake Leschyshyn. Since coming up to the NHL level, Leschyshyn has impressed me every game. Given the fact that he’s not the same caliber of talent as Peyton Krebs, I feel he goes overlooked for the Knights.
Peyton Krebs has the ability to be one of the most impactful players for any organization which is currently the Buffalo Sabres. Krebs was an elite skater, great with the puck on his stick, and showed very good IQ. However, I don’t really feel that Leschyshyn is that far off.
Jake Leschyshyn has played in 17 games with the Vegas Golden Knights in which he has one goal and three assists. Now, your first thought is probably “that is crap” and “he can’t compete at the NHL level.” Which can be considered true at this point. However, that’s not the style he plays on the ice.
Leschyshyn has never really been one of the most productive players but he is a grinder. He skates hard and plays hard. In 17 games this season he has 14 blocks, 17 hits, and seven takeaways. He’ll never really be the most productive player on the ice, but he’ll be consistent which is something we don’t have a lot of on the Vegas Golden Knights.
Paul Cotter
I’m sure that when I said I feel there are two people that could keep a spot or compete you were thinking Jake Leschyshyn and Jonas Rondbjerg. Although Jonas Rondbjerg has played very well this season for the Vegas Golden Knights, Paul Cotter adds a different element to the Knights.
Paul Cotter made an impression on me during the pre-season alongside another prospect, Jack Dugan. Cotter was taking shot after shot after shot and somehow they were all very good looks. His offensive skill-set makes me think that what he can offer the Vegas Golden Knights is different than anyone else they’d give a shot too.
So far Cotter has played in six NHL games with the Vegas Golden Knights. In those six games he has two goals on 10 shot attempts. Now, although he doesn’t have an assist to go along with those goals, he does show that he can score at the NHL level which is much harder to do than in the AHL.
So when it comes down to the prospects they’ve given shots too so far this season, the one who’s made the biggest impression on me has been Cotter. As I said, his potential from a scoring perspective is elite. His impressive wrist shot reminds me of a Auston Matthews type of shot. Which is very high praise. If they can get an elite scorer out of Cotter, then the Vegas Golden Knights have nothing to worry about. Everything else will works itself out.
So now we’ve covered the the Rookies and trade candidates, so now let’s take a look at what the Vegas Golden Knights lineup could look like when everyone is healthy.
The Vegas Golden Knights Potential Lineup when Everyone is Healthy
So with everything I’ve mentioned to this point all that is going to account for what I’ll be putting together in this section of the article. Now, let’s get into the thing I’m assuming you are all wanting to read about: What will the Vegas Golden Knights line-up look like when everyone is healthy?
The Vegas Golden Knights started the season in a very good spot given the talent they had on their roster. They went out and traded for Nolan Patrick, and Evgenii Dadonov, and built a championship caliber roster. However, after the first game of the season, everything seemed to go downhill.
Everyone on the Vegas Golden Knights roster seemed to start dropping like fly’s. It started against the Los Angeles Kings when Mark Stone and Max Pacioretty went down and it was a downwards spiral from that point on.
However, about 12-15 games later for most of the players, things are starting to look up for the Vegas Golden Knights. People are on the verge of coming back and some are already back. So now let’s get into: What will the Vegas Golden Knights lineup look like when everyone is healthy.
So just a disclaimer before giving you my roster prediction, this is with the prediction that Evgenii Dadonov or Reilly Smith is traded. So I will be giving two different lineup predications.
Option 1: Reilly Smith was Traded
Forwards
Jonathan Marchessault-Jack Eichel-Mark Stone
Max Pacioretty-Chandler Stephenson-Evgenii Dadonov
Michael Amadio-William Karlsson-William Carrier
Mattias Janmark-Nolan Patrick-Keegan Kolesar
Defenseman
Nicolas Hague-Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore-Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb-Zach Whitecloud
Goalies
Robin Lehner
Laurent Brossoit
Extras: Adam Brooks, Brett Howden, Nicolas Roy
Option Two: Evgenii Dadonov was Traded
Forwards
Jonathan Marchessault-Jack Eichel-Reilly Smith
Max Pacioretty-Chandler Stephenson-Mark Stone
Michael Amadio-William Karlsson-William Carrier
Mattias Janmark-Nolan Patrick-Keegan Kolesar
Defenseman
Nicolas Hague-Alex Pietrangelo
Shea Theodore-Alec Martinez
Brayden McNabb-Zach Whitecloud
Goalies
Robin Lehner
Laurent Brossoit
Extras: Adam Brooks, Nicolas Roy, Brett Howden
Conclusion
The Vegas Golden Knights are in win now mode and that means pulling the trigger on some of the best names in hockey. However, there has to be a balance with everything you do. If you go trade for a big name, you are obviously going to have to pay them.
The Vegas Golden Knights are notorious for that. As I stated earlier in this article, since the Vegas Golden Knights have become an official team, they have gone out and pursued the top players available each and every season.