- Golden Knights prospect Jesper Vikman has decided to come to North America and has committed to play with Vancouver of the WHL next season. The 19-year-old goaltender was a fifth-round pick of Vegas (125th overall) back in 2020 and spent 2020-21 at three different levels in Sweden, getting as high as the Allsvenskan level. As he was picked out of Sweden, Vikman remains on the four-year timeline in terms of needing an entry-level contract so Vegas holds his rights through June 1, 2024.
Golden Knights Rumors
Golden Knights Among Teams Still Interested In Jack Eichel
The Rangers and Golden Knights are among the teams that are still interested in Sabres center Jack Eichel, notes Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Brooks suggests that Buffalo retaining salary might be enough to get New York to part with a top young asset like Kaapo Kakko in a deal although with five years left on that contract, retaining would be a sizable cost for Buffalo which may not be something they want to do. Meanwhile, Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon mentioned earlier in the week that he expected that the team they have now is what they’ll go into training camp with but as we’ve seen in the past, they’re willing to make big moves and move players around to make the salary cap fit work.
Golden Knights Sign Derrick Pouliot To AHL Contract
A few years ago, Derrick Pouliot was basically a regular on Vancouver’s defense corps but his stock has slipped since then. Now, the 27-year-old has opted to settle for a minor league contract as Henderson, Vegas’ affiliate, announced that they’ve inked him to a one-year deal.
It’s a bit surprising that Pouliot had to settle for a contract that doesn’t have an NHL portion as he was able to secure two-way pacts the last two seasons with a $425K guarantee. While financial terms of this contract weren’t disclosed, AHL-only contracts don’t typically approach that high of a price tag.
Pouliot spent last season in Philadelphia’s system, playing in 25 games with AHL Lehigh Valley where he recorded three goals and 11 assists, decent numbers for a defenseman. That helped earn him four separate recalls to the taxi squad during the year but it didn’t materialize into any NHL action, nor did it evidently help him to earn a two-way deal this time around in free agency.
Pouliot, the eighth-overall pick in 2012 to Pittsburgh, has played in 202 career NHL contests between the Penguins, Canucks, and Blues, notching eight goals and 40 assists. But if he wants to make it back to the top level, he’ll have to have his contract first converted to an NHL deal. Considering Vegas already has 47 out of 50 contracts on the books with Dylan Coghlan needing a deal as a restricted free agent, they will likely need to move out a player or two first to give themselves some wiggle room on that front. Accordingly, Pouliot’s stay with the Silver Knights may be a long one while Vegas adds a capable veteran defender on a no-risk contract.
New York Rangers Acquire, Extend Ryan Reaves
July 31: The Rangers have announced the one-year extension for Reaves. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the deal is a true extension for Reaves, bringing him back for the 2022-23 season at the same $1.75MM cap number.
July 30: The Rangers not only acquired Reaves for this season, but are also working on a one-year extension according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Reaves is signed through 2021-22 at a $1.75MM cap hit, and Friedman expects the extension to come in around the same number.
July 29: The New York Rangers are adding some serious grit to their lineup. According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, the team has acquired veteran grinder Ryan Reaves from the Vegas Golden Knights. The return heading to Vegas is a 2022 third-round pick.
The Rangers wanted to get bigger and more physical this off-season and they are certainly doing that. Reaves joins Barclay Goodrow, Sammy Blais, and Jarred Tinordi as recent additions who all play a hard-nosed, aggressive game. As the team battles through the difficult Metropolitan Division, they have added plenty of size and grit to complement their considerable skill.
However, Reaves in particular is pretty limited in what he brings to the team beyond hits, PIMs, and locker room presence. An old-fashioned grinder, Reaves is good for aggression and aggression only. Essentially a match-up player who sees limited ice time, Reaves is an expensive acquisition for the Rangers, both in his $1.75MM cap hit and the third-round pick required to land him.
Alex Tuch Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
The Vegas Golden Knights will be without Alex Tuch for the first part of the season, after the winger underwent successful shoulder surgery. Tuch is expected to make a full recovery but has been given a recovery timeline of six months.
News like this is a double-edged sword for Vegas fans. On the one hand, it’s a terrible loss to have Tuch missing for the first chunk of the season, as he’s grown into one of their most valuable forwards and a bargain at $4.75MM. On the other, the team was already over the cap and still needed to sign restricted free agent Nolan Patrick (and likely add another depth defenseman). Tuch’s injury will hurt, but it also allows the team to become cap compliant by moving him to long-term injured reserve, something GM Kelly McCrimmon directly referenced in his media availability today.
Still, it’s difficult to replace a player like Tuch, who brings a blend of size and speed that is rarely found in the NHL. The 25-year-old forward posted 18 goals and 33 points in 55 games this season, despite playing most of the year outside of the top-six. His two most common linemates at even-strength were Nicolas Roy and Tomas Nosek, not exactly the players most associated with offensive production. Still, Tuch’s 16 even-strength tallies were second on the team behind only Max Pacioretty (18), showing just how important he is to the overall success of the Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights did seemingly prepare for this over the last few days though, re-signing winger Mattias Janmark and acquiring Evgenii Dadonov from the Ottawa Senators. Dadonov may have had a bad season in 2020-21, but had previously scored at least 25 goals in three consecutive years. He should essentially replace Tuch for the time being, though obviously brings a different playstyle than the 6’4″ freight train.
Every time the Golden Knights have a player removed from the roster or add some cap flexibility, the immediate speculation goes to Jack Eichel and his ongoing trade saga in Buffalo. Speaking to reporters including David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, McCrimmon explained that he thinks this is the roster they’ll be going into training camp with, but noted that “anything can change with a phone call.”
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Mattias Janmark, Patrick Brown Re-Sign With Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights must have liked what they saw from Mattias Janmark in the playoffs. The free agent winger will be returning to the Golden Knights on a one-year, $2MM contract according to Darren Dreger of TSN. The team will also bring back Patrick Brown, who served as captain for the Henderson Silver Knights last year. PuckPedia reports that Brown’s two-year contract will carry a cap hit of $750K.
Janmark, who came over from the Chicago Blackhawks at the trade deadline last season, registered eight points in 16 playoff games. Though he averaged just under 14 minutes as the Golden Knights leaned on the big guns, he’ll be back on a not-insignificant contract. Vegas now has 14 forwards on one-way deals with Nolan Patrick still to sign, and are already over the cap despite trading away Marc-Andre Fleury. There are more moves coming from the Golden Knights, but it appears as though Janmark will be somewhere in the lineup when the season begins.
The 28-year-old forward has been an effective secondary scoring option throughout his career, recording at least 21 points in each of his five seasons. While he doesn’t bring a ton of physicality, he’s a big enough body and skates well enough to still be disruptive on the forecheck. In his short time with the Golden Knights, he was put on the powerplay and the penalty kill, hinting at a potentially significant role in 2021-22.
Brown meanwhile played just nine games for the Silver Knights, but had eight points during that short season. He’s been with the Golden Knights affiliate for two years now, adding valuable minor league depth and serving as an injury replacement for the NHL. Through parts of seven seasons, he has 55 NHL appearances including 12 games with the Golden Knights in their most recent playoff run.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Sven Baertschi
After spending almost all of the past two season buried in the AHL by the Vancouver Canucks, Sven Baertschi is looking for a fresh start and a shot at an NHL lineup spot. He has found a taker in a Canucks division rival, the Vegas Golden Knights. The team has announced a one-year, two-way contract worth the minimum $750K. While unassuming at first glance, Baertschi’s natural skill combined with Vegas’ limited cap space makes this a fascinating reclamation project to follow.
Once an up-and-coming NHL scorer with 92 points in 190 games over a three-year span with the Canucks, Baertschi’s play began to slip two years ago and Vancouver did not hesitate to bury his contract in the minors. However, there is still a chance that he can re-discover his scoring touch on a talented Golden Knights team and hold on to a roster spot. At a minimum salary, the could make him a dangerous discount player for the team.
If not, Baertschi will at least be a veteran leader in the AHL for Vegas and a call-up option. Simply staying in North America despite interest back overseas is a testament to Baertschi’s commitment to continue playing at the highest level, even if an NHL role is not guaranteed.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Laurent Brossoit
TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have found their backup goalie. Laurent Brossoit is headed to the Golden Knights on a two-year deal with a cap hit of $2.325MM. The British Columbia native maintains his Western Conference status, now joining his third NHL team.
Brossoit, 28, has had a bit of an up-and-down career on an every-other-year basis. While this could easily be a fluke, history would at least project that Brossoit is due for a down year in his debut campaign with Vegas. That could be problematic, as starter Robin Lehner is not exactly known for his dependability either. Having given Brossoit a sizeable raise despite their lack of cap space, the Knights certainly hope that he can shake this trend and be the reliable backstop to Lehner that they need him to be.
Brossoit is no Marc-Andre Fleury, but at his best he has had some strong seasons for a backup. In 2018-19, Brossoit recorded a .925 save percentage in a career-high 21 appearances for the Winnipeg Jets. In 2016-17, he posted a .928 save percentage and 1.99 GAA for the Edmonton Oilers. This past season, Brossoit recorded his lowest goals against average in a full NHL season at 2.42.
Golden Knights To Acquire Evgenii Dadonov
The Golden Knights freed up plenty of cap space yesterday with the trade of Marc-Andre Fleury to Chicago. A good chunk of that money will be used on winger Evgenii Dadonov as ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Vegas is acquiring the veteran from the Senators in exchange for defenseman Nick Holden and a 2022 third-round draft pick. The Senators have confirmed the deal.
Dadonov, 32, was a surprising signing by the Senators last off-season, as the rebuilding club landed one of the top veteran forwards on the open market. The results were underwhelming, as Dadonov’s streak of three straight seasons of 25+ goals was snapped with just 13 tallies this year, a 19-goal full season pace. Dadonov was exposed by Ottawa in the Expansion Draft, but the Seattle Kraken opted to take affordable third-string goalie Joey Daccord instead. It seems that the team moved forward in their efforts to move on from Dadonov and have found a trade partner in the suddenly-flexible Golden Knights.
Vegas has now used up much of their cap space though, adding Dadonov’s $5MM AAV without any retention from the Senators and only shipping out veteran defenseman Nick Holden, who spent much of last season buried in the AHL at a minimal cap hit. In need of a backup goalie, depth on defense, and a new contract for RFA center Nolan Patrick, the Knights currently have just over $2.5MM in cap space. Nevertheless, Dadonov does address the team’s need for more offense and should shine on the veteran roster.
Ottawa meanwhile lands a solid veteran defenseman in Holden to help develop their young blue line as well as a valuable draft pick. They make good use of a contract that they no longer wanted on the books, especially without having to eat any salary.
Alec Martinez Close To New Contract With Vegas Golden Knights
Wednesday: The AAV will be $5.25MM, per Seravalli, who adds the deal will carry a partial no-trade clause each season with a varying number of teams.
Monday: The Vegas Golden Knights aren’t going to let Alec Martinez go that easily. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports that the two sides are closing in on a deal to keep the veteran defenseman in Vegas. The contract is expected to be for three years and will carry a cap hit of around $5MM, according to Seravalli.
Vegas has two star defensemen in Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, but if you ask many of the people who are around the Golden Knights on a daily basis, it’s Martinez who was the most reliable defender on the team. Turning 34 today, the veteran will receive a slight raise on the $4MM cap hit he has carried over the past six seasons, but it keeps him off the market and away from any rival clubs.
After a few down seasons in Los Angeles, Martinez showed exactly what he can do with a strong team around him, racking up 32 points in 53 games. He averaged more than 22 minutes a night for the Golden Knights, more than doubling the next player with 168 blocked shots. His style of defense isn’t overly physical, but it is effective and obviously valuable to the Vegas front office and coaching staff.
Still, a deal of this magnitude brings up several other questions. The Golden Knights are dealing with a tight cap squeeze, and a $5MM hit for Martinez would basically take them right to the ceiling. That means other moves are coming to shed additional payroll, with the goaltending duo or forwards like Reilly Smith the most obvious options for change. There’s also the risk that Martinez’s age represents, as this contract will take him through his age-36 season. while he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down yet, there could at any time be a precipitous drop in production.
Part of the value that Martinez brings isn’t his on-ice production though, but the experience he adds to the bench. This is a player that already has two Stanley Cup championships and more than 100 postseason games under his belt. Not many teams can ice a defensive pair that each have Cup-clinching goals, but in Martinez and Pietrangelo, that’s exactly what Vegas has secured.
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