How will Golden Knights approach this offseason after Stanley Cup Final loss?
Most teams that make it to the Stanley Cup Final and lose in six games would be content to believe they are already close to a championship, and capable of winning it all next season without much tinkering. The Vegas Golden Knights, however, have earned the reputation for having the most aggessive front office in the NHL, and are much less likely to stand pat.
After falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final, general manager Kelly McCrimmon and the Golden Knights will now have the offseason to make the improvements they deem necessary to claim hockey’s ultimate prize next year. Unrestricted free agency projects to be relatively tame this summer, but Vegas has never been shy about exploiting the trade market.
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen were joined by The Fourth Period‘s David Pagnotta to discuss which moves the Golden Knights could pursue this offseason.
Colby Cohen: It wouldn’t shock me to see Vegas do anything, so it wouldn’t shock me if they went out and tried to move Mark Stone at 34 years old to make room for (Pavel) Dorofeyev and to go out and get Dylan Larkin into the fold from a financial standpoint. Nothing surprises me with this team, and I haven’t even asked you about the coach. What do you see happening in Vegas? By the way, I have no inside information, so for anybody that’s listening, I want to be clear that this is just me thinking out loud about how this team has operated in the past and what we potentially see them do this summer.
David Pagnotta: To get to this point, to lose out in six, that’s not going to sit well with Kelly McCrimmon. Getting that taste, getting close again, there’s going to be repercussions. Now, to what extent, I don’t know if they’ll be as bold as you’re suggesting, although we knew as soon as the Larkin stuff came out that Vegas was right there as part of that conversation. As much as they’re focused on the Stanley Cup, it’s not like Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee are playing, they’re also figuring out their roster moving forward. The other thing to keep in mind with respect to the money, especially on Dorofeyev’s end, is he had 35 goals last year and 37 this year, and he’s a 25-year-old restricted free agent. Alex Pietrangelo is still not expected to be playing again, so that $8.8 million, you throw that back on season-ending long-term injured reserve, that’s more or less your Dorofeyev money. You still are going to have another $5 million to play with, in terms of adding to this team.
Adin Hill, that’s $6.25 million, that’s a guy that’s probably on the outs. That’s a guy that they’re going to likely try to move in order to free up additional money to give yourself another $10, or $11, or $12 million total in cap space to work with. The Larkin thing and how creative they get on that end is what I’m curious about. Can they entice Detroit enough to make that happen? We know it’s one of his top three destinations, but can they make that fit? Does that include Dorofeyev? It would be pretty bold, but if you don’t believe he can be consistent, like he’s had two years in a row, which is great, but is that because of his skill or because of who he’s playing with? That’s what they have to internalize.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Monday’s episode here…