What’s next for the Vegas Golden Knights?
Well, that was certainly a shock.
The Vegas Golden Knights, who tied for the most points in the league in the regular season, were beaten in the semi-finals by the Montreal Canadiens, the team with the fewest points in the standings of anybody in the playoffs.
Vegas made it through the pesky Minnesota Wild in the first round, took down the Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Colorado Avalanche, in the second round. They appeared to have a clear route to the Stanley Cup Final but ultimately couldn’t find a way past the Habs.
Since reaching the Final in their inaugural season, the Golden Knights have come up short. What’s next? How do they get over the hump?
The question for George McPhee is whether to make a big move or to stand pat and trust the group they already have. Given his history at the helm of the organization, it seems like the former is most likely.
Since that aforementioned run in 2018, McPhee has constantly been adding star players to Vegas’ lineup. Ahead of 2018-19, he acquired @Max Pacioretty and he then traded for @Mark Stone later in the season. Before the 2019-20 trade deadline, McPhee went out and traded for @Robin Lehner to give the Golden Knights arguably the best goalie duo in the league. Last off-season, he made a huge free-agent addition, signing @Alex Pietrangelo to a seven-year deal.
The challenge for McPhee this summer is a lack of financial flexibility. Vegas already has 22 players signed with only about $3,000,000 in open salary cap room.
The Golden Knights could open up some room by trading away @Marc-Andrew Fleury, who’s coming off arguably the best season of his NHL career. Fleury posted a .928 save percentage in 36 games and is a finalist for this year’s Vezina Trophy. The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer has one year left on his contract at $7,000,000.
The biggest need for the Golden Knights is acquiring a top-line centre. The team boasts star wingers in Stone and Pacioretty, an elite defender in Pietrangelo, and a great goaltending duo, but they lack a true No. 1 pivot.
The obvious name to fill that hole is @Evgeny Kuznetsov, who appears to have fallen out of favour in Washington. This is a player McPhee knows well, given he was the general manager of the capitals when Kuznetsov was drafted back in 2010. Vegas could also potentially get in on the @Jack Eichel sweepstakes, but fitting his $10,000,000 under the cap won’t be easy.