Do you ever look at somebody and get so annoyed with them that you wish you could offload them to the sun? Maybe it's that frat boy who tells everyone his dad owns a dealership. Perhaps it's the overly eccentric co-worker who considers his college professor to be his best friend.
Whatever the case, we've all dealt with annoying people in our lifetimes. We've also dealt with people who've underwhelmed us during our lives. Such people haven't lived up to expectations, leaving us disappointed.
Again, we've all been there before. Such people underwhelm us, whether it's a certain player on the Vegas Golden Knights, a close friend, or a spouse. Hey, man. Life wasn't meant to be a breeze, you know?
As much as we'd like to strap such people onto a rocketship and send them to Mars, we can't do that. However, these three Golden Knights players might deserve some consideration. They didn't do much this season and might be moved for a "bigger piece" *wink* *wink*. Let's pretend to tie these three players to a rocket and send them to space.
1.) Zach Whitecloud
Look, Zach Whitecloud seems like an extremely nice guy. He certainly does. However, being nice doesn't cut it in today's cutthroat world. That's especially true when you don't put up substantial offensive numbers (stats courtesy of MoneyPuck).
Season | Goals | Assists | Giveaways | Defensive Zone Giveaways | Goals Above Expected | Shooting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024-25 | 4 | 9 | 74 | 54 | 0.9 | 5.6% |
2023-24 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 17 | -0.2 | 3.9% |
2022-23 | 5 | 7 | 25 | 19 | 1.5 | 7.8% |
This season has been particularly concerning for the defenseman. Watching the giveaways jump nearly threefold in a single year? Now that's an alarming trend.
It becomes easier to move Whitecloud when he doesn't have a no-trade clause attached to his name. While a $2.75 million cap hit doesn't clear much in cap space, it can be enough if compounded with another move. That's especially true with a surplus of starting defensemen waiting in the wings.
2.) Nicolas Roy
This season has seen Nicolas Roy fall from grace. 2023-24 was his breakout season, where he scored 13 goals and 28 assists. That type of production is good enough for a player to get consideration in a top-six role. How did he follow that up?
Season | Goals | Assists | Giveaways | Defensive Zone Giveaways | Goals Above Expected | Shooting Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024-25 | 15 | 16 | 58 | 17 | -0.5 | 14% |
2023-24 | 13 | 28 | 26 | 6 | -4.4 | 11.6% |
Sure, you can say part of that dip is attributed to Roy shifting away from center. However, a lack of adaptability showed his limitations, specifically with William Karlsson and other forwards out of commission for some time. Add underperforming wingers like Alexander Holtz to the equation and it doesn't help his case in this scenario.
Like Whitecloud, Roy doesn't have a no-trade clause attached to him. He also carries a larger cap hit than Whitecloud at $3 million. If the Golden Knights are serious about "striking gold" (get it? Waka waka!), they must look at offloading pieces like Roy to ease the cap hit.
3.) Ivan Barbashev
This is if the Vegas Golden Knights are dead serious about going after Mitch Marner. Marner isn't going to be cheap, with ScotiaStats projecting him to have an eight-year, $12.5 million (roughly) contract. However, don't be surprised if that number goes higher.
With all that money, who will the Golden Knights deal to get him? Some people are infatuated with the idea of William Karlsson's $5.9 million cap hit leaving Las Vegas. While that sounds nice, Karlsson has plenty of purposes on the Golden Knights.
However, Barbashev was significantly underwhelming with Vegas this season. Before being hurt on December 15, the Russian winger had 15 goals and 15 assists. Since that period? Eight goals and 13 assists.
While the 29-year-old needs a line change to boost his fortunes, he might need a change of scenery to maximize his talents, too. Scoring one goal and one assist during the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs isn't getting the job done, especially if you're serious about upgrading your wing. A cap hit of $5 million and an eight-team no-trade list is easier to manage than it seems.