Your First Place Vegas Golden Knights

[Chris18]

I can't believe the league apologized. Are they going to apologize for every bad call now? They're going to spend a lot of time on it...
Not sure if I agree with the call or not. But 4 goals allowed, even on a 5 minute PP, is fucking atrocious and shows Vegas didn't deserve to move on.

[Pokecheque]

Guaranteed they're going to have review now on majors, which, as DGB points out, is utter horseshit and is going to make things worse.

I don't mind they acknowledged they made a mistake, but it still did not cost the Knights the series. And I think they know that.

[E.L.]

Sensing an imminent poaching by Edmo or Seattle, Vegas does the wise thing and promote AGM Kelly McCrimmon to GM while George McPhee keeps the Hockey Ops title.

[E.L.]

The only team over the predicted cap, and they still need to sign Wild Bill Karlsson and Gusev.

Some big money players who could be moved out: Eakin, Haula, Miller, Holden. I would imagine they'd try to keep Marchessault and Reilly, but not at the expense of Bill, and Tuch/Gusev could slide in. They can also find a taker for Clarkson's final year.

Loyal plumbers Engelland and Bellemare are UFAs, and might be in Vegas or retirement mode at this point.

Those in the know says Nicholas Hague is ready for the big club.

[Pokecheque]

Well in terms of salary cap hell, the Vegas Golden Knights are definitely in first place now.

Two years. Two. And they can't officially sign William Karlsson until they jettison a contract. And even then they still have to clear room before the season starts.

[Bosc]

Well in terms of salary cap hell, the Vegas Golden Knights are definitely in first place now.

Two years. Two. And they can't officially sign William Karlsson until they jettison a contract. And even then they still have to clear room before the season starts.

As someone pointed out, this is what can happen when you don't have cheap ELC players. And they took on some bad contracts to help build the system.

MAF 3 years at $7 mil.

[Pokecheque]

As someone pointed out, this is what can happen when you don't have cheap ELC players. And they took on some bad contracts to help build the system.

MAF 3 years at $7 mil.

They still shot themselves in the foot with some dumb moves. Taking on Ryan Reaves' contract, also overpaid for Nick Holden and Brayden McNabb. You don't make those deals knowing full well you don't have a plethora of ELC's to fill out the depth chart.

They'll likely find a taker for Colin Miller, but I think they'll just continue to LTIR Clarkson. Can't believe he had to submit a no-trade list. Like...what do you care, dude!?

I would love for the Avs to see how desperate they get, either get Stastny back or take Alex Tuch's very reasonable contract. I'm sure the Knights would rather dump Patches but...no thanks.

[Bosc]

As someone pointed out, this is what can happen when you don't have cheap ELC players. And they took on some bad contracts to help build the system.

MAF 3 years at $7 mil.

They still shot themselves in the foot with some dumb moves. Taking on Ryan Reaves' contract, also overpaid for Nick Holden and Brayden McNabb. You don't make those deals knowing full well you don't have a plethora of ELC's to fill out the depth chart.

Oh yeah there are definitely some bad ones in there.

[Pokecheque]

George McPhee...dude is a really, really good GM. But once he gets teams into contention status something always seems to happen. Of course it happened impossibly quick this time around, and instead of waiting around to get fired he just bolted upstairs. Probably a smart move for him.

In his defense, no one, not even them, could have predicted the level of success they enjoyed their first year in the league, and now there's more or less a blueprint of what to do and what not to do...if it ever happens again of course.

[E.L.]

Re-signing Karlsson at 5.9M for the next eight years isn't too bad. Their first homegrown star and likely to be a better investment down the line than an aging Stastny.

Wonder if they'll deal Gusev. He can be a sniper somewhere and was basically gifted to them. Found money, can turn it into futures.

They're squeezed right now, but they took freebies and turned them into Stone and Pacioretty, so life could be worse.

[E.L.]

Haula to Carolina for Nicholas Roy. More cap bloodletting coming.

[Pokecheque]

Haula to Carolina for Nicholas Roy. More cap bloodletting coming.

That's a weird salary to dump, he's effective, young, and cheap. No idea if Roy is a legit prospect but he just won a Calder Cup and he's frickin' HUGE (6'4", 207).

If a team like the Avs want to play, I imagine they're offering to take Clarkson off their hands for a price, or parlay it into a discount for a scoring forward.

I'm guessing they won't under any circumstances part with Stastny or Tuch. Patches could probably be had but that contract is just...ugh.

[E.L.]

The purging continues: Colin Miller to Buffalo for some measly picks.

Still not under the cap yet, so Clarkson and more to come.

[E.L.]

I don't know if the Knights have the depth to contend for the Cup again, but I do think Mark Stone is going to absolutely destroy the league in his age-27 season. He's stupid good, a pain to play against and in a good situation here.

[E.L.]

Vegas sign prospect Jack Dugan. Providence College player. Supposed to be a real find for a 5th rounder.

[E.L.]

The Knights seemingly had an easy path to the finals, but they ran up against an otherworldly goaltending performance by Anton Khudobin and now it's another summer of pondering what might have been. Looking back, will they ever be able to top that first team, when everyone was a bit younger and the cap wasn't an issue? They also had the element of surprise back then.

[Logical Progression]

The Knights seemingly had an easy path to the finals, but they ran up against an otherworldly goaltending performance by Anton Khudobin and now it's another summer of pondering what might have been.

He is sneaky good, isn't he? It also seems to me what was exposed in this years playoff run for Vegas was their lack of top flight talent. Speed, skill and size across and balanced 4 line attack, but once you take away second opportunities, their weakness is exposed.

[Chris18]

Making the SCF and WCF in 2 of their first 3 years isn't too shabby. Sucks to lose, but the fan base hasn't exactly been suffering through years of shit storms.

[E.L.]

It also seems to me what was exposed in this years playoff run for Vegas was their lack of top flight talent. Speed, skill and size across and balanced 4 line attack, but once you take away second opportunities, their weakness is exposed.

I think this is especially true up the middle. Wild Bill is a fun dude and player, but 15 goals ain't gonna cut it from your number one centre, and Stastny is on the wrong side of 30. It was nice when they had Haula as backup, and Roy almost got there for pennies on the dollar, but not enough. They'll need a centre in the offseason and hope Cody Glass is ready.

[Pokecheque]

Thatcher Demko done broke these guys.