Kelly McCrimmon has developed a reputation as being a big-time dealer. He acquires the biggest names and cranks open the Stanley Cup window for Vegas Golden Knights fans. Boy, it must feel good to have an excellent general manager that makes other NHL fanbases put on their tinfoil hats out of desperation.
But this year's trade deadline was... different. It involved a reunion with an "Original Misfit" which never happened prior to this season. It also involved the Golden Knights missing out on one of the most coveted trade targets around: Mikko Rantanen. Instead of coming to Las Vegas, the Finnish forward went to the Dallas Stars to give them a championship-caliber forward group.
In short, he lived up to his promise.
"We sort of said from the outset that we don't anticipate being real busy this week, I still maintain that. That was the position we felt we were in right from the beginning from the season."Kelly McCrimmon on the VGK Insider Show
Here's the thing: He's right. Even with Shea Theodore being out on a week-to-week basis, he still didn't move him to LTIR. Why? He didn't need to. The general manager felt comfortable with his current team after the Smith trade, getting the forward group he liked. As for the goaltending? That could be an issue if Adin Hill goes down. However, Hill has shown he can lead the team to a Stanley Cup.
Is it the right move for Kelly McCrimmon to remain quiet at the trade deadline?
Well, it's complicated. Rantanen going to the Dallas Stars had many teams around the NHL reacting like this:
It was a rightful reaction because the newest Stars forward has scored 100+ points twice in his career. He does everything right offensively (excluding short-handed goals) and puts Dallas over the top. They're not the only team that made significiant moves, though.
The Colorado Avalanche got Brock Nelson (20 goals and 24 assists) and Charlie Coyle (15 goals and eight assists), bolstering the forward position. That's not even mentioning Martin Necas (five goals and 11 assists in 15 games) coming over in the initial Rantanen trade.
While all this sounds scary, there's a catch. The Avalanche and Stars are on a collision course to face each other in the Stanley Cup playoffs, barring a Minnesota Wild run or a Winnipeg Jets collapse. Only one of those teams will make it out of the first round while potentially facing the Jets. If the Vegas Golden Knights win their division, they only have to worry about their own house before the Western Conference Final.
The Vegas Golden Knights only have to worry about the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs (maybe Los Angeles, too)
That brings us to the Pacific Division, which hasn't made any splashy moves in its own right. The Edmonton Oilers acquired Jake Walman (six goals and 27 assists). Sure, it's fun acquiring a puck-moving defenseman who does the Griddy. However, he doesn't add much value defensively, bolstering the "glass cannon" claims.
The Los Angeles Kings also didn't do much aside from Andrei Kuzmenko (six goals and 14 assists). The left winger had his own Rantanen moment, being traded from the Calgary Flames to the Philadelphia Flyers for seven games this season. They also missed the boat on Rantanen, which would've made them a Stanley Cup threat.
Yes, they've given the Golden Knights problems this season with a 3-1-0 record. However, the playoffs always work differently, particularly with this veteran group in Las Vegas. They've made a Stanley Cup run before and won it all. They also have more players from that run than the Kings did from theirs.
Should Golden Knights fans hit the panic button after the trade deadline? Not at all. Kelly McCrimmon has always been a wild card trading-wise. Last season, nobody expected him to acquire Anthony Mantha, Noah Hanifin, and Tomas Hertl. The year before? It was Ivan Barbashev. Three of those four players are on the roster, which is more than enough for a rental player. These players also make for viable replacements compared to your typical trade deadline acquisitions.