The Golden Knights have given permission for Vadim Shipachyov’s representatives to pursue a trade for the center, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link). However, they have yet to find the right fit for a deal. TSN’s Darren Dreger adds (via Twitter) that the permission was granted Tuesday morning.
Shipachyov was the top free agent signing for Vegas as he inked a two-year, $9MM contract back in May. He was coming off of a dominant season with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL where he finished second on the team in scoring (third in the league) with 26 goals and 50 assists in 50 games (plus 16 points in 15 postseason contests). As a result, many expected him to be the top line center to start the season.
However, that has not been the case. Shipachyov was among the players who fell victim to a numbers game when it came to waiver exemption. In an effort to keep as much talent as possible without risking running players through waivers, the 30-year-old was sent to Chicago of the AHL to start the season (along with winger Alex Tuch and defenseman Shea Theodore). That has allowed them to keep nine defensemen on the active roster and GM George McPhee is believed to be seeking a trade for one of his surplus defenders (including Griffin Reinhart, Brad Hunt, and Jon Merrill) but nothing has come to fruition just yet.
Shipachyov was told he didn’t have to report to the minors and wound up being recalled back on October 14th as injuries started to strike. He got into three games with the Golden Knights, recording a goal but he averaged just 10:35 per night in ice time. The team had to make a roster move yesterday to activate Jonathan Marchessault off IR and it was Shipachyov who lost his spot as he was sent back to the minors.
Shipachyov had interest from NHL teams dating back to two years ago but he was under contract in Russia through 2016-17 so he wasn’t able to make the jump initially. However, teams were hesitant to commit multiple years to him which played a role in him choosing to go to Vegas in the first place. Sportsnet’s Eric Engels notes (Twitter link) that Montreal (who had interest in the past on a one-year deal) was contacted but they are not interested in pursuing him now. With just three NHL regular season games plus four preseason contests under his belt though, he hasn’t really had the opportunity to showcase himself enough to the point where another team might be more confident to take a chance on him.
With his agent having less than 48 hours to secure a possible trade partner, there’s still plenty of time to get something done. In the meantime, it will be worth watching to see if Shipachyov reports to the AHL’s Wolves this time around. If he doesn’t, the Golden Knights will be able to suspend him without pay if they so desire. With the trade market not being particularly robust at this time, his name is likely to come up in plenty of speculation in the days to come.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Why would it be Vadim’s representatives that seek a trade? Wouldn’t that be the GM to find the trade? Or will the reps ask around and tell Mcphee “Hey, this team will give you a conditional 2nd round pick for him”
It’s likely to seek a team who would be willing to assure him an NHL spot and keep him up through any struggles. It’s not uncommon for GM’s to let reps do this but usually it’s for players who have some form of NTC/NMC.
I maintain that Montreal is the most logical fit for Shipachyov. Ample cap space, a need at centre and obvious interest in him the prior two off seasons(would have signed him 2 years ago if his KHL club hadn’t refused to buy out his contract).
I would say you’re right, looks like a logical fit. Don’t think he would cost Montreal too many assets to get him, so a draft pick would be fitting I think. I think the conditional 2nd is fair…conditional on if he plays a certain number of games with Montreal, and if not it’s a 3rd. Tough to gauge what his value is if Vegas is basically saying he’s not good enough to be on their MLB team.
A 2nd seems steep to me based on the circumstances. Vegas seems to be having buyers remorse and by all accounts, Shipachyov has underwhelmed in his extremely small sample size(4 pre-season, 3 regular season games). If they’re just looking to dump the contract and distraction, I doubt it’d cost more than a 4th. If they hold out for the best return possible and if they can get a bit of a bidding war going, they might be able to squeeze that conditional 2nd.
I guess it is a bit steep. And Vegas hasn’t really done much to help boost his value. I’m hoping they can pull off a trade with the Leads to send a top 4 D to Toronto.
Montreal is a good fit overall, but FYI they don’t have a 2018 4th right now. I do think McPhee is open to just about anything for him. Gallant is frustrated with shipachyovs attitude, so there’s that.
Really though it will have to be picks or young kids, because the part of the issue is McPhee still trying to get something for every asset, and putting anyone without having to clear waivers in the AHL currently, until he can. He still needs to clear two spots to ensure Tuch doesn’t go back down, and to get Theodore up.
This is why I think if he can trade anyone at this point, do it. No more waiting until the deadline. Get their value now, because at 7-1, I don’t know if it will get any better on some of theses players
I understand his attitude. Usually I don’t side with athletes on this, but when he signed such a lucrative contract with a team he chose, he didn’t expect to play in the AHL. He elected to sign with LV believing it would be the best chance to him to play in the NHL and not stashed in the minors because of a numbers game and waiver exemptions.
Kings are a perfect fit but Vegas is stubborn and seems to think they are a rival with LA and would probably refuse to make a deal
I would love to see him on the hawks especially given anisimov’s struggles so far. Unfortunately given the cap hit I don’t see it happening even after Hosea went on LTIR
Montreal’s struggles offensively make them an obvious fit. The Kings make sense as well with Carter out long term with an injury. The Rangers could make sense as well. They have struggled offensively at times. Carolina makes sense being that they’ve only scored 18 goals thus far. So, there are teams that could use Shipachyov. The question is what are the Knights seeking in return & what are potential suitors willing to give up