Although many moves have been made and some salary cap has been cleared, the Vegas Golden Knights are not yet in the clear and have some work left to do. With a few players in limbo and an incomplete NHL roster, George McPhee's final summer as the official General Manager of the Golden Knights drudges on.
Solve the Gusev Saga
Nikita Gusev is the ultra-talented Russian KHL import who was acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2017 Expansion Draft. Looking back at the Lightning's unprotected list makes you wonder why they gave away Gusev's NHL rights, just to steer McPhee in one direction. None of their options were all that enticing.
We will protect Callahan, Johnson, Killorn, Kucherov, Namestnikov, Palat, Stamkos, Coburn, Hedman, Stralman, & Vasy. https://t.co/UpT4PV68Pu
Regardless, Gusev remains without a contract and his name has been popping up in trade rumors since McPhee dropped the bomb that he would "accommodate the player" whether it were in Vegas or with another club. TSN's Darren Dreger has reported multiple GMs have inquired about the exciting prospect.
Keep an eye on Vegas. With Karlsson extension looming, teams are expressing interest in Nikita Gusev. Can the Golden Knights afford to sign him?
Still over the cap, the Golden Knights would need to move salary out, in order to afford the $4 million AAV the Gusev camp is allegedly seeking. Cody Eakin remains a name in play, but speculation abounds that Ryan Reaves and Nick Holden should be the players dealt, for that cap relief. Only one problem, how many GMs are lining up for those two players?
The Gusev Saga will be one to monitor over the next few weeks. If the Golden Knights elect to stand pat and wait til next season, there is no guarantee that Gusev would be willing to come back and try again with this club. These negotiations are delicate and if they fumble their second-straight KHL cross-over attempt, good luck on any future attempts at Russian superstars.
Filling Out the Defense
At the time of this publication, the Golden Knights have six defensemen under contract, who spent significant time on their NHL roster last season. Vegas' 2019-20 blue line remains unclear, despite Jake Bischoff recently agreeing to a new three-year, $2,150,000 two-way deal.
NCAA standout and current Restricted Free Agent, Jimmy Schuldt remains unsigned. The Hobey Baker Award finalist suited up for one game last season, the regular season finale, and is looking to make the NHL full-time next season. This far, only four returning starters (five with Holden) are inked to contracts, meaning at the very least, one spot is open for rookie competition. Nic Hague, Zach Whitecloud, and Bischoff will be the primary competition there.
2018-19 Defensive Pairs:
Nate Schmidt - Deryk Engelland*
Brayden McNabb - Shea Theodore
Jon Merrill - Colin Miller**
*Unrestricted Free Agent
**Traded to the Buffalo Sabres
Engelland is all but guaranteed to come back, on a team-friendly one-year deal. He is an aging veteran who looked legitimately weak in his own zone. As a defenseman with limited offensive upside, that's not good. McPhee has stated that he and Engelland have agreed to a deal, but are hammering out the bonus structure, something that won't affect the team's cap hit. What is mind boggling is that the team has multiple younger, more talented defensemen they are willing to block with Engelland back in the mix. If I were McPhee, I'd let Engelland ride off into the sunset and roll with this defense corps.
McNabb - Theodore
Schuldt - Schmidt
Merrill - Hague
With those pairs, they'll still miss the offense added by Miller, but gain a big body who can play competently with the puck on his stick in Hague. Paired with Merrill, who had a legitimately great season, the pair could be effective at both five-on-five and the penalty kill, another area where Engelland was supposed to be solid.
Schuldt and Schmidt would be a fun pair to watch, as both men have effective two-way games and could look like a more stable version of the Theodore-Schmidt Corsi-God pairing we were teased with for a short time last season. Schmidt's enthusiasm and poise are great for a young guy of Schuldt's pedigree. The two are surely spending time together while playing in the off-season "Da Beauty League" up in their native Minnesota.
With those two main to-dos lingering, the Golden Knights and McPhee specifically, have decisions to make prior to training camp in September. Kelly McCrimmon already has a big say in personnel movement and management, but will become the official GM of the club on September 1. What team will he "inherit" from McPhee heading into training camp? Your guess is as good as mine.
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Jeff Paul - Writer. 65 likes. This is a page run by Jeff Paul, a writer for HockeyBuzz.com and KnightsOnIce.com, covering the Vegas Golden Knights.
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