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Golden Knights could miss playoffs because of management errors |
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When you talk about the Vegas Golden Knights hope for good fortune, you expect to talk about Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo, Robin Lehner or Jack Eichel.
But today it seems as if the Golden Knights playoff fate will be decided by backup goalie Logan Thompson.
When Robin Lehner went on the injury list for an extended period, the Golden Knights expected to turn to Laurent Brossoit and Thompson. But now Brossoit is also on the injury list and it's all on the shoulders of 6-foot-4 Thompson.
This is the same Thompson who boasted eight minutes of NHL experience prior to this season.
Thus far, Thompson is doing his job. He's won his last two starts, and boasts a season record of 5-4 with a .914 save percentage. You can say he's getting it done because the Golden Knights are still in a playoff spot today.
They own the last wild card spot in the Western Conference. That's really all you can ask of Thompson who was never drafted. He worked his way up from Brock University through the East Hockey League, the American League before arriving in the NHL.
Impressive climb in three seasons.
But that's where the feel-good story ends. Jack Eichel is playing on an injured hand that might be broken. The Golden Knights aren't saying. Max Pacioretty is injured. Again. Reilly Smith has a knee problem.
Plus, the Golden Knights' hold on a wild card spot is tenuous at best. They have a one-point lead over the Dallas Stars. But the Stars have four games in hand. The St. Louis Blues are one point ahead of Vegas in the Wild Card race, but they also have four games in hand.
The Edmonton Oilers, holding third place in the Pacific Division, are one-point ahead. But they have two games in hand. The Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver, also in the chase, also have a game in hand.
Vegas is a good team, strong enough to survive. But it still seems like the odds might be against Vegas.
Injuries are no one's fault. Sometimes it's your turn to have too many.
But it does feel like salary cap mismanagement has contributed to the messiness of the Golden Knights situation. Even if Stone was recovered from his injury, the Golden Knights don't have the cap space to bring him back before the postseason. It seems like they have been too aggressive with salary cap maneuvering. They ended up getting players they wanted, but at a cost. Marc-Andre Fleury was one of the first casualties. Another cost was having no room for maneuverability when the injuries hit.
The Golden Knights went after Jack Eichel even though they didn't have the necessary cap space to afford his $10 million salary. That's why they have no room for Stone if he were ready. They weren't able to do much at the deadline to help.
They actually traded away a needed scorer Evgenii Dadonov to create some space. But the NHL nullified the deal because Dadonov's no-trade clause. This wasn't the Golden Knights' fault.
But the messiness is a team shouldn't have to trade away a $5 million player just to get under the cap
You would think if the Golden Knights miss the playoffs, then GM Kelly McCrimmon might be in trouble. But he might not be. Golden Knights owner Bill Foley is an aggressive owner. Not only does he want McCrimmon to be aggressive, but he could be demanding it.
Foley is impatient about winning. He's not looking for slow-cooking. He has been pushing to microwave success. At least that's what we are hearing. In terms of big picture success, Foley has turned an expansion team into a gold mine through bold marketing.
But over-aggressiveness can get you in a trouble on the competitive side of the sport. The secret in the NHL is to manage patiently and play aggressively. The Golden Knights don't seem to have received that memo.
Blogger •HHOF Writer's column on the NHL • 
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