The Benefits of Trading Robin Lehner at the Deadline

Why the Golden Knights Should Trade Robin Lehner

Robin Lehner, or if you prefer his nickname ‘Panda,’ has been one of the most hated Golden Knights over the course of the season. Since they chose Lehner over former goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, Lehner has been repeatedly hated on by Golden Knights fans. Quite frankly I don’t get it. I mean he’s your goalie, shouldn’t you want to pick him up? Anyways, time to get back on track.

Robin Lehner currently has a cap hit of $5,000,000 and given the Knights current cap situation, that is simply too much. Now, do I want to trade Lehner, no. Not really. But it’s a business and this move makes sense.

After I said that I’m sure you asked yourself why it makes sense. Not only would that trade clear some cap space for the Golden Knights to possibly re-sign some of these players in the future or hit free agency to upgrade their team.

Now, maybe some of you have confidence in Laurent Brossoit to take over for Lehner, maybe some of you don’t. Either way, it’s okay. However, I’m more concerned for the future of the goalie position with Logan Thompson.

He’s currently 24 years old and isn’t getting any younger. Eventually you have to give him a shot to see what the Golden Knights have in him and that means finding a way to get him starts. Maybe he works out, maybe he doesn’t, but once again you have to see what you got in him.

Robin Lehner has played well this season when everything is considered. More than that, he’s played better than probably a quarter of the goalies in the league. So what does that mean for the Knights? Well it means that he may hold some trade value around the league and get this- he makes $5,000,000 AAV. Almost the exact amount that the Knights need to clear. But the question needs to be asked: Is Logan Thompson ready to actually become a NHL goalie?