The Vegas Golden Knights are in a very tough pacific division and things don’t look like they are going to get any easier. With the NHL trade deadline right around the corner, we should be expecting the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames to make moves to help their team.
The Knights ability to make a move that improves their team is limited due to their current cap situation. The Golden Knights traded for Jack Eichel this past fall and since that point have had no money to sign or add players to their roster. Furthermore, what really hurts the Knights is the fact that they may not have the money to add players, but the competing teams do.
The Vegas Golden Knights roster is very good, but they are also without Mark Stone for the time being which is going to hurt their chances. It’s also going to hurt the fact they don’t have money to go out and make a move to help get their team over the top.
It’s pretty much already been confirmed that the Los Angeles Kings will be hitting the trade block at the NHL deadline to try and acquire a piece or two to help them make the playoff push. Given the fact that the Kings are currently tied for third place with the Oilers with 59 points, shows that they are close, but they need some extra talent.
As for Edmonton, it’s no secret that they are going to be searching for a goalie and/or a defenseman. Outside of Darnell Nurse, and Tyson Barrie, the Oilers are lacking defenseman greatly. They traded for Duncan Keith this off-season but that was a very lateral move. And well, the goalie situation there is terrible. So you know they’ll be hitting the market hard.
Then you look at the Calgary Flames, and they’ve already traded for Tyler Toffoli, and I’m assuming they aren’t doing make moves yet. Toffoli was a very good pickup for a team as talented as the the Flames, but if they continue to go looking for players on the market like Jakob Chychrun, or Mark Giordano, they are going to be one of the scariest teams in hockey. And they are already very, very good.
The Golden Knights are going to be in a tough spot in their current situation. However, the Golden Knights also appear to be getting Robin Lehner, Zach Whitecloud, and Alec Martinez back very soon. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see all three of them back in the lineup Friday against the Arizona Coyotes.
Getting those three names back would definitely give the Golden Knights a much needed boost. It’s also beneficial to the Knights that they are getting them back now so that way they have time to continue developing their chemistry and get a feel for the game again.