Update: This article was published shortly before Noah Hanifin signed his eight-year extension.
The Vegas Golden Knights, regardless of how their 2024 run pans out, should at least win a championship for the ‘Most Entertaining Front Office in the NHL’ if such an award existed. And if it does one day, they need to call it the Kelly McCrimmon Award because what he and the front office did at the trade deadline was, without a doubt, the most entertaining in the league.
Sure, the Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year exists, and McCrimmon should be a frontrunner to win it if the Knights make a deep playoff run. He brought in perhaps more than just rentals at the trade deadline - and Tomas Hertl is more than a rental - which could set up the Golden Knights for some outstanding success throughout the rest of the 2020s.
But there is one potential roadblock that could get in the way, and it’s the amount of cap space the Golden Knights have. Right now, that number doesn’t look promising, with Vegas sitting 28th in the league with just over $9.939 million.
Golden Knights will have trouble extending new trade acquisitions
A second straight Stanley Cup is the obvious goal, but whispers of a potential dynasty would be making it to the forefront if the Golden Knights find a way to keep the likes of Noah Hanifin and Anthony Mantha in Vegas long-term. Right now, they look like rentals when you factor in other players like Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, and Alec Martinez.
Factor in the potential extensions for goaltenders Adin Hill and Logan Thompson, as they are both available and McCrimmon will have decisions to make. But we also can’t put it past him that he won’t, somehow, find a way to make this work and put forth the best Vegas Golden Knights team yet. Overall, this will be one team to watch following what should be an exciting NHL playoff run.