So you're the Golden Knights. You just beat arguably the best team in the Eastern Conference in the Boston Bruins, 2-1. It was an overtime thriller where the Bruins defense collapsed, leaving Mark Stone to feed Alex Pietrangelo for the winning goal. T-Mobile is a-rockin' and everyone's feeling good.
However, that doesn't change the fact that they've been average in their last 20 games heading into Thursday's game against Boston.
There are 22 games until the NHL trade deadline. #VegasBorn is 9-8-3 over their last 20 games.
— Jack Manning (@NHLJackManning) January 11, 2024
What should they do at the deadline if they are 9-8-3 over their next 20?
Granted, an array of injuries plays a major role in that. Losing Shea Theodore, William Karlsson, and Adin Hill (to name a few) can devastate a team. In fact, it can cause you to lose your grip on the Pacific Division, with the Vancouver Canucks overtaking you.
So what's a team to do? Rest on their laurels and do nothing? Not the defending champs. They need to look at making a move. While cap space might be tough to come by, the Golden Knights have no choice but to improve.
With that, we're going to look at trade candidates for the Golden Knights based on... wing spiciness. The spicier the wing, the spicier the trade (and more absurd). Here's where each trade candidate ranks on the spiciness scale.