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Florida Panthers Part Ways With GM Dale Tallon

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Aug 10: The Panthers have officially parted ways with Tallon, announcing that a search for their next GM has begun. In a short statement, owner Vinnie Viola explained what Tallon has meant for the club and why they were now moving on:

For the last decade, Dale raised the team’s profile, attracted key players to South Florida and brought character and class to our franchise. When we purchased the Panthers in 2013, we did so with a singular goal–to win a Stanley Cup. We have not seen our efforts come to fruition. We will now begin an organizational search for the next general manager.

Aug 7: The Florida Panthers were very unlikely to have made the playoffs this season under the standard format and few gave them a chance of an upset over the stout defense of the New York Islanders in the qualifying round. Yet, the organization is still not taking their elimination earlier today lightly. Fox Sports’ Andy Strickland reports that the hammer is set to drop on long-time executive Dale Tallon. The team is expected to move on from their GM shortly.

Tallon, hired as GM in Florida in 2010, had previously served in the same role with the Chicago Blackhawks and had a hand in the team’s Stanley Cup win the season prior to his departure. Tallon served as GM for the Panthers until 2016, when he was elevated to President of Hockey Operations. He then resumed GM duties as well in 2018. Having been around for a decade, Tallon’s influence can be found in every corner of the roster, even in long-time homegrown stars Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, and Aaron Ekblad, who were all drafted by Tallon.

However, Tallon’s mistakes have also made a lasting impression on the roster. This past off-season in particular, Tallon gambled with the Panthers’ salary cap space, spending big on goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, forward Brett Connolly, and defenseman Anton Stralman. It is hard to argue that any of the three have lived up to expectations in yet another disappointing season for the franchise, which has not won a playoff series since 1996. Yet, they are all multi-year deals and will continue to impact the team for seasons still to come. With little cap space heading into this off-season, top scorers like Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov could prove difficult to re-sign and the club could take another step backward next season. Other lasting mistakes have included a botched Expansion Draft strategy that saw the team give away Reilly Smith in order to ensure Jonathan Marchessault was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, only to see both become reliable top-six forwards, not getting enough for forward Vincent Trocheck from the Carolina Hurricanes at the trade deadline this year, and simply flip-flopping on their organizational strategy too frequently.

In finding Tallon’s replacement, the Panthers need to find someone with a long-term outlook on the position and a concrete plan on how they will rebuild the club. Having made just three playoff appearances in the past ten years, Florida fans will likely be happy to miss the postseason for another year or two if it means sustained success down the road. That could start with some lottery luck in the form of the No. 1 overall pick and Alexis Lafreniere. Maximizing their four picks in the first three rounds one way or another will also be imperative for the new GM in his first draft. Finding a way to shed some dead weight salary and to add much-needed depth at all positions will also be key.

Not all of Tallon’s tenure in Florida has been bad – including the aforementioned homegrown standouts and a pair of division titles – but at the end of the day the Panthers have had no postseason success and they have their work cut out for them to change that any time soon. Tallon’s replacement will have plenty of work to do to undo some of the GM’s mistakes and to reverse the curse on the Florida franchise.

Golden Knights Notes: Salary Cap, Gusev, Gambling

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Trusted salary cap database CapFriendly has rolled over their site to the 2019-20 season already and one of the most eye-grabbing results is just how much trouble the Vegas Golden Knights are already in. Using a projected salary cap ceiling of $83MM, up $3.5MM from this season, at the top of the projected salary list is Vegas, who are already $125K over the cap with more than $83MM committed to just 19 players. A further inspection reveals that the Knights have just one goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, and six defensemen signed as of now, with no room to make any further additions. GM Kelly McCrimmon and company will have no choice but to shed salary this summer, at the very least just to re-sign restricted free agents like William Karlsson, Nikita Gusev, Jimmy Schuldt, and Malcolm Subban. Any free agent signings beyond that will require further sacrifice. Despite being just two years into their existence, Vegas has already accumulated an incredible amount of salary, mostly due to major contracts handed out to the likes of Mark Stone, Nate Schmidt, Alex Tuch, Shea Theodore, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, and Fleury, all signed since this time last year. Golden Knights fans should be prepared for some tough moves, as solving this problem won’t be as easy as simply placing David Clarkson on the injured reserve. Inaugural Knights like Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, Cody Eakin, and Colin Miller are among the most likely casualties.

  • Even in the midst of his new team’s cap crunch, Nikita Gusev is expecting and hoping to re-sign with Vegas. Gusev, whose rights were acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, finally jumped to the NHL late this season after a decorated career in the KHL. The 26-year-old forward burned his one-year entry-level contract, despite not playing, and is now a restricted free agent. He tells Russian hockey source Sport-Express, as translated by The Sin Bin, that he likes Las Vegas and feels he owes it to the team to re-sign with them if made a reasonable offer. Gusev acknowledges that he will likely receive other offers, either from KHL clubs overseas or in the form of an NHL offer sheet, but he will wait for Vegas’ initial offer before making any decisions. What might it cost the Knights to retain their newfound weapon? The interviewer suggested to Gusev that a $4MM AAV could be the ballpark price and he did not disagree. He would only confirm that he expects a one-way deal, but did not talk specific finances. Overall, Gusev sounded very flexible about getting a deal done and even acknowledged that he would be open to playing in the AHL if that is what is asked of him. That seems like an unlikely route for Vegas to take, but Gusev’s attitude at least implies that this negotiation process and first full year in North America should go smoother than it did for Vadim Shipachyov. If (when) the Golden Knights are forced to sell off scoring this off-season, Gusev could be an ideal candidate to take on a major role next season.
  • Speaking at a conference today, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman projected the successful growth of betting on hockey by using the Golden Knights as an example, per TSN’s Rick Westhead. In Nevada, where sports gambling is legalized, hockey bets grew by 60% in Vegas’ inaugural season and again by 40% this season. While Nevada, and Las Vegas in particular, is the unofficial gambling capital of the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy v. NCAA last summer allows all states to decide for themselves whether or not to allow for legalized gambling. Many states already have sports books up and running and many more will soon follow. If the growth exhibited in Nevada in regards to betting on hockey is replicated by other states, it will be a key growth factor for the game and the NHL and one that Bettman will surely try to take advantage of as best he can.

Pacific Notes: Chychrun, Smith, Vlasic

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While Arizona Coyotes oft-injured defenseman Jakob Chychrun will be playing in his 30th game Sunday, the defenseman still isn’t 100 percent after offseason surgery on his right ACL. The 20-year-old is already in his third season in the NHL, but he hasn’t played more than 68 games in a season due to injuries. The most recent injury, he knows he’ll just have to play through, according to The Athletic’s Craig Morgan (subscription required).

“My knee can get a little sore still sometimes, which can be a little frustrating,” he said. “Last year, I didn’t really have that because last year was just a repair (left meniscus). This one they had to take another part of my body and make that into a new ACL. Taking that piece of patellar tendon, it can get really sore. It’s pretty up and down and it’s one thing I have been dealing with. It can feel great or it can feel terrible.”

Regardless, Chychrun has been making the most of his time as the defenseman has three goals and 10 points while averaging 20:12 in ATOI this season with 41 hits and 41 blocked shots. Arizona head coach Rick Tocchet has been impressed with Chychrun’s play despite his struggles with injury.

“He’s a 20-year-old kid that didn’t have a training camp and doesn’t have a ton of games under his belt and I’m playing him 20-plus minutes, playing him penalty kill, power play. We’re giving him a lot. My thing is to see how he reacts after bad games and they are fewer and farther between — you don’t get as many in a row and I think that’s a big step for him.”

  • When you think of the Vegas Golden Knights’ best player, you think of names such as Marc-Andre Fleury, William Karlsson, Jon Marchessault or Alex Tuch. However, when The Athletic’s Jesse Granger (subscription required) went around the locker room and asked that question, he got a surprise answer — Reilly Smith. The forward has been out of the lineup with a leg injury since Jan. 6 and while there is talk that the Golden Knights missed defenseman Nate Schmidt desperately while he missed 20 games at the start of the season with a suspension, the players feel that Smith’s offense is missed even more. “It’s been big,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “I think he’s by far one of the most underrated players in the league. He’s a great two-way player who wins a lot of battles in the defensive zone. He’s a big guy on the penalty kill as well. When you look at that, and look behind his numbers, I think it’s been a huge loss for us.”
  • Saturday’s matchup between the San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning was played without star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who chose to sit out with a lower-body injury. Reports suggest that Karlsson might sit out the team’s final two games on Monday and Tuesday, to rest up until after the All-Star break. However, while that loss is significant to the team, fellow defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic missed his eighth game and The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz (subscription required) writes that the team may not be missing Vlasic much at all. The team has outscored their opponents 24-15 with Vlasic out. That along with his minus-13 rating might suggest that the team might be better off using a more offensive-minded defenseman in his stead like Tim Heed.

“Last Man In” All-Star Ballot Candidates Announced

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The NHL has already announced the initial ten-man All-Star rosters for each of the four divisions, but new this year is an additional fan ballot to add an eleventh and final member to each squad. The “Last Man In” ballot, an idea invented by Major League Baseball, pits one skater from each team in each division against one another for a chance to participate in All-Star festivities. Fans will decide, with online voting opening tomorrow and lasting until midnight ET on January 10, which of the following players will get the final nod:

Pacific Division

F Leon Draisaitl (EDM)
F Logan Couture (SJS)
F Anze Kopitar (LAK)
F Ryan Getzlaf (ANA)
F Brock Boeser (VAN)
F Jonathan Marchessault (VGK)
D Mark Giordano (CGY)
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ARI)

Central Division

F Gabriel Landeskog (COL)
F Zach Parise (MIN)
F Patrik Laine (WPG)
F Tyler Seguin (DAL)
F Vladimir Tarasenko (STL)
F Filip Forsberg (NSH)
F Jonathan Toews (CHI)

Atlantic Division

F Brayden Point (TBL)
F Jeff Skinner (BUF)
F Dylan Larkin (DET)
F Aleksander Barkov (FLA)
F Patrice Bergeron (BOS)
F Mark Stone (OTT)
D Morgan Rielly (TOR)
D Shea Weber (MTL)

Metropolitan Division

F Nicklas Backstrom (WSH)
F Kyle Palmieri (NJD)
F Anders Lee (NYI)
F Jakub Voracek (PHI)
F Teuvo Teravainen (CAR)
F Nick Foligno (CLB)
F Mats Zuccarello (NYR)
D Kris Letang (PIT)

Due to the limits on selections by team, both in the initial rosters and the “Last Man In” vote, there are several star players who cannot be saved by fan voting this year. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner, the No. 6-ranked scorer in the league, highlights the snub group, which also includes Calgary Flames forwards Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk, Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, and Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter. Other odd omissions, not necessarily forced by the format, are Columbus’ Artemi Panarin, Nashville’s Ryan Johansen, and Montreal’s Max Domi and Jeff Petry. However, the new final vote option does largely do a good job of giving each team and their fan base one last chance to get a deserving player into the All-Star game.

What To Expect From Tomas Tatar In 2018-19

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A seemingly innocuous interview with Vegas Golden Knights free agency prize Paul Stastny actually ended up revealing quite a lot about the strange state of one of his new teammates. SinBin’s Ken Boehlke writes that Stastny, while appearing on the Golden Knight’s podcast, was asked who he believes his line mates could be this season. His answer: Alex Tuch and Erik Haula. Stastny made no mention of Vegas’ big trade deadline acquisition, Tomas Tatar, and Boehlke infers that this could mean trouble for the young forward moving forward.

If Stastny’s prediction proves true, then he, Tuch, and Haula would join the surefire top line of William Karlsson between Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith in the Knights’ top six. That would leave Tatar with a bottom-six role and Vegas is not exactly shaping up to have an offensively inclined group in that bottom half. Tatar will be joined by veteran grinders Ryan Reaves, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, and William Carrier who all seem slotted for a fourth line role. That would leave Tatar with Cody Eakin and one of a number of prospects or fringe players on the third line. Among the candidates are Oscar Lindberg, Tomas Nosek, Ryan Carpenter, Daniel Carr, Tomas Hyka, and Curtis McKenzie. None of that group truly inspires confidence as the final piece of the line with Tatar and Eakin. This begs the question: what role does Tatar have on this team?

Even if you don’t put much stock in Stastny’s comments, there is no doubting that Tatar has been less than impressive since being traded to Vegas from the Detroit Red Wings. The three-time 45+ point scorer only registered six points in 20 games down the stretch for the Knights and was a frequent healthy scratch in the postseason, adding just two points in eight games. Tatar is a strong possession player who has proven to be a capable goal scorer in the past, but lacks the two-way game to make a living in a checking role. At $5.3MM, in addition to the trade cost of three high draft picks, it is hard to imagine that Vegas wants to play him in that role either. Tatar needs to find a fit on this roster, either on the second line with Stastny or as a transformative presence on the third line. The Golden Knights are far more shallow up front this season than they were last year and can hardly afford to deal with ineffective or inconsistent play from their biggest trade investment to date. If Tatar does struggle, he may easily wind up wearing out his welcome with the Knights as he did with the Red Wings.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Vegas Golden Knights

Current Cap Hit: $70,812,500 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Tuch (One year remaining, $925K)
D Zach Whitecloud (Two years remaining, $925K)

Among the many things that went right for Vegas was the play of Tuch, who was a surprise in training camp and quickly earned himself a full-time role. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound winger had an impressive rookie season with the Golden Knights, scoring 15 goals and 37 points with much of his playing time coming with the team’s third line. He only improved over time, showing an ability to get into the corners and extend offensive opportunities for the team. He tallied six goals in the playoffs as well, which allowed the Golden Knights to let go veterans James Neal and David Perron, knowing that the 22-year-old Tuch is ready to take his game to the next level. With one year remaining on his entry-level deal, expect him to become a key restricted free agent for the team next season.

Potential Bonuses

Tuch: $93K
Whitecloud: $93K

Total: $186K

One Year Remaining, Non Entry-Level

F William Karlsson ($5.25MM, RFA)
D Nate Schmidt ($2.23MM, UFA)
F Oscar Lindberg ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare ($1.45MM, UFA)
F Tomas Nosek ($963K, RFA)
F Ryan Carpenter ($650K, UFA)
D Brad Hunt ($650K, UFA)
G Malcolm Subban ($650K, RFA)

The most important piece the Vegas Golden Knights need to lock up is Karlsson, who just signed a one-year deal with Vegas Saturday. However, now the team has just one year to lock up Karlsson, the team’s top scorer, to a long-term extension. Less than a year, actually, as the team can’t agree to an extension until Jan. 1, 2019. That gives Vegas time to see how 25-year-old will respond in his second year. After piling up 43 goals last season (and seven more in the playoffs), the team wants to see that he can put up similar numbers before handing him a major deal considering the most he’s ever scored in his NHL career was nine goals.

The team will also have to lock up the speedy Schmidt, as well to a long-term deal at some point. The 27-year-old was a key figure on the Golden Knights defense, posting career highs of five goals and 36 points, but also showed his mettle in the playoffs, putting up another three goals and seven points. He could easily get a similar deal to the one that Miller signed with the team (four years, $15.5MM) earlier in the offseason. With an influx of prospects likely to hitting the team for the 2019-20 season, several veterans will have to prove they deserve new contracts this coming  year, including Lindberg, Bellemare, Engelland, Carpenter, Hunt and Subban, although unless someone has a breakout year, none should cost the team too much.

Two Years Remaining

F David Clarkson ($5.25MM, UFA)
F Cody Eakin ($3.85MM, UFA)
F Ryan Reaves ($2.78MM, UFA)
F Erik Haula ($2.75MM, UFA)
D Nick Holden ($2.2MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.38MM, UFA)
F William Carrier ($725K, RFA)

The team likely will have to pay up if they want to keep Haula. The team’s second-line center may move to the third line now that the team locked up Stastny to a free agent deal. However, if Huala can continue to produce like he did last season, the 27-year-old should be able to fetch a nice contract. He had a career-high in goals last season as he scored 29 and 55 points.

The team should also recoup some of their losses as well in two years as Clarkson’s deal will expire, so that will free up $5.25MM for the team as the team currently has to wait till the start of the season before they can place his contract on LTIR. Others like Eakin and Reaves will likely have to earn another deal over the next two seasons. Both had solid showings for Vegas this year, but will have to prove their consistency. While Reaves deal looks overpaid on paper, the team opted to give him three years worth of money as long as he only signed for two years.

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Tom Wilson Avoids Suspension After Game 1 Incident

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11:50am: That didn’t take long. Kevin Allen of USA Today reports that there will be no disciplinary hearing for Wilson for the hit on Marchessault.

11:28am: Game one of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals took place last night, and perhaps not surprisingly Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals was involved in another questionable incident. Wilson appeared to hit Vegas Golden Knights forward Jon Marchessault well after he had distributed the puck, resulting in a skirmish and calls for another suspension. Wilson has already been involved in several incidents in the playoffs, and was suspended for three games after hitting Zach Aston-Reese up high in the second round. According to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, the league is still considering what to do about the latest Wilson hit. In a tweet, Wyshynski explains:

As of about 20 min ago, no official word on Tom Wilson from NHL Player Safety. One source told me they see the hit as slightly if not egregiously late, but that lack of head contact (it was shoulder to shoulder) is a big consideration. Personally, would be surprised if suspended.

In this case, there is also another player to consider in any disciplinary decisions. David Perron of the Golden Knights appeared to jump onto the ice after the hit was made, and collided with Alex Ovechkin immediately. Perron was the sixth player on the ice for Vegas, and immediately engaged with the opposing team. Leaving the bench is supposed to be a 10-game suspension, as we saw earlier this year with Luke Witkowski of the Detroit Red Wings. Whether the league will determine that Perron was leaving the bench as a response to the hit will likely decide whether or not he sees any further discipline.

For Wilson, it’s just another example of how he uses his physicality to rile up the opponents. Marchessault appeared to be okay after the hit, which did not connect with his head, but was forced off the ice and into the dressing room for a time. As one of the Golden Knights’ key forwards, missing any time would be a big blow to the team’s hopes for the rest of the series. So too would another Wilson suspension, as the physical power forward has found a home on the Capitals’ top line next to Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Wilson has 12 points in 17 playoff games so far, nearly matching his total (19) from the entire 2016-17 season.

NHL Announces Selke Trophy Finalists

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The Professional Hockey Writers’ Association has spoken, as the NHL has announced that three forwards have been nominated for the 2018 Frank J. Selke Award. The Selke Award, or as some call it “the Bergeron Award”, is given each year to the top defensive forward in the league. To the surprise of very few, Boston Bruins top center Patrice Bergeron is again among the finalists, a record seventh consecutive nomination. Bergeron is the reigning champ and the winner in four of the past six seasons. However, Bergeron faces stiff competition for his fifth Selke, going up against 2016 winner and two-time runner-up, Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar, and breakout Philadelphia Flyers star Sean Couturier, who earns his first Selke nod.

While the Selke is perhaps up to the eye test more than any other major award, there are some key statistics to look at to determine the odds-on favorite. The original measure of a players’ two-way success is plus/minus, which would favor Couturier. His +34 rating was good enough to tie for third in the NHL behind only Vegas Golden Knights linemates William Karlsson and Jon Marchessault. Meanwhile, both Bergeron and Kopitar were +21, tied for 28th. However, possession metrics may be the best way to evaluate two-way ability, in particular a player’s Corsi For %, which shows the proportion of shots for relative to shots against. By this standard, Bergeron was firmly in the lead. His 57.56 CF% led all forwards who played in at least 50 games this season. In comparison, Couturier was 59th and Kopitar was 93rd among that same subset. Bergeron also edges out the other two in face-off percentage, short-handed time on ice, and takeaways; Couturier gets the nod in hits, while Kopitar had the most blocked shots. It again looks as if Bergeron would be the favorite, but one thing to consider is that Bergeron played in just 64 games this season, averaged the least amount of time on ice of the trio, and benefited from playing alongside another two-way dynamo in Brad Marchand. Bergeron may have been the best defensive forward in the league this year – and at this point might be the best all-time – but there’s a strong case that the two-way play of Kopitar and Couturier had a greater impact in 2017-18.

As for snubs, many out there will fight for the cases of Minnesota Wild captain Mikko Koivu, dynamic young Florida Panther Aleksander Barkov, and even the aforementioned Marchand. However, unlike the debated results of the Vezina voting, it seems that the correct trio of players were selected and any one would be worthy of taking home the hardware at the NHL Awards in June.

Western Notes: Sedins, Doughty, Golden Knights, Hyka

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Recent comments from Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin suggest the twin brothers are hoping for another year in Vancouver. Already 37 and trending downwards in their career, the struggling Canucks were considered to be sellers at the trade deadline. However, the Sedin twins return also might throw a wrench into general manager Jim Benning’s deadline plans.

While the team has several key trade chips to move, including veteran scorer Thomas Vanek and defenseman Erik Gudbranson, Benning might be more likely to retain or extend them to surround the Sedin twins with veteran players, according to J.D. Burke of The Athletic (subscription required). The scribe begins by pointing out that the Sedin’s decision will have major implications to the salary cap and the look of the team. The cost to retain both soon-to-be 38-year-old forwards will be about $10MM, estimates Burke, who adds the team would have to make a decision whether to keep Vanek with the team.

If the Sedin’s stay, will Benning look for assets that might benefit the veteran Sedins, rather than focus on the team’s need to rebuild. Benning has often preferred to acquire players, rather than trade for picks. The team has a lot of prospects coming through the system already, but not trading their assets at the deadline could hurt the future of the team down the road as well. No one is saying the Sedin twins shouldn’t come back. They have been with the franchise since they started their careers and should be welcomed, but not at the expense of the team’s future.

  • Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty spoke to the media today at the all-star’s media day. According to Los Angeles’ Times writer Helene Elliott, Doughty said that money and term aren’t the only factor in the way he will approach free agency in 2018-19. “I don’t know if a lot of people think our future looks bright but I think our future does as the L.A. Kings organization,” Doughty said. “We’ve got some young guys that aren’t with us yet that will make a difference in a couple years. We still have that core group of guys. I think we’re trending in the right direction and getting back to hopefully where we were a few years back.”
  • Yahoo Sports’ Ryan Lambert writes that while the praise that goes towards Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee is well earned, he believes that Vegas’ unbelievable success should fall on the shoulder of all the other teams’ general managers. The scribe writes that if other general managers had done a better job managing their own rosters, the Golden Knights wouldn’t have been able to get better quality players and picks in order to pad their roster in the initial first year. The expansion draft should net expansion team with back-end forwards and defensemen and No. 2 goalies. However, Florida Panther general manager Dave Talon just handed two top-six forwards to Vegas to get rid of the contract of Reilly Smith, while they opted to move on from Jonathan Marchessault because they didn’t believe he could repeat his 30-goal season from last year. The same can be said for the Minnesota Wild, who gave Vegas forward Alex Tuch and Erik Haula in exchange for draft considerations. There were so many draft considerations from plenty of other teams such as the New York Islanders, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning. Had general managers made better decisions, perhaps the Golden Knights wouldn’t be the top team in the West. Lambert also adds that the team still has 10 draft picks that will fall in the first two rounds over the next three years. Doesn’t look like Vegas is going anywhere.
  • Still with the Golden Knights, SinBinVegas tweets that prospect Tomas Hyka, who was scheduled to play in the AHL All-Star game on Jan. 29, has been replaced with T.J. Tynan as Hyka is now listed as “unavailable for the game.” Vegas plays its first game after the all-star break on Jan. 30, suggesting Hyka might get called up instead. The 24-year-old wing, who signed out of the Czech. Republic, has 12 goals and 31 points in 32 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves.

Golden Knights To Focus On Extending James Neal

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After negotiating a six-year contract extension with Jon Marchessault last week, it looks like the Vegas Golden Knights aren’t done just yet. According to Sportsnet’s Mike Johnston, general manager George McPhee is now turning his attention to veteran winger James Neal, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Neal, who was originally drafted with the intention of using him as a trade chip at the trade deadline, now has become an indespensible part to the Golden Knights’ success. Neal has 17 goals and 11 assists going into the midway mark of the season and remains on pace for a 30-goal season, something he hasn’t done in two years. Neal has had enormous success, playing on the Golden Knights’ second line along with David Perron and Erik Haula.

“No negotiations have started just yet but they are expected to start soon,” Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported during the Headlines segment Saturday on Hockey Night in Canada.

Much of the negotiations will likely hinge on Neal’s willingness to take a team discount like Marchessault did with his six-year, $30MM deal, which no one knows if Neal is willing to do. At 30 years old, this is his last chance to cash in on a big deal. However, with the team’s popularity and success, which he has been a major part of, it’s possible he might take less money or possibly accept a shorter deal in exchange for a bigger AAV. Kypreos said a four or five year deal would be more likely for Neal, possibly as high as $6.5MM per season. Neal is finishing up a six-year, $30MM deal he signed back in 2012 with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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