LAS VEGAS — Leave it to the host team to hog all the attention at the NHL Draft.
The Golden Knights made a lot of noise and turned heads in Friday’s first round when they took Trevor Connelly with the 19th overall pick despite some off-the-ice baggage. Saturday, they made two significant trades to address their goaltending.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon accommodated Logan Thompson’s request for a trade, sending him to the Washington Capitals for two third-round picks. Not long after, McCrimmon moved one of the picks to New Jersey along with forward Paul Cotter for Devils goaltender Akira Schmid and forward Alexander Holtz.
And with free agency beginning on Monday, expect more moves from the Knights.
“I think we put some skill into our lineup,” McCrimmon said after the Knights drafted a goaltender in the third round (19-year-old, 6-foot-5 Pavel Moysevich, who played in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia for SKA St. Petersburg), a forward in the sixth round in Trent Swick of Kitchener in the Ontario Hockey League and a center in round seven, Lucas Van Vliet of the U.S. National Development Team.
When asked if the call from McCrimmon early Saturday morning telling him he had been traded caught him off-guard, Thompson said: "You try and stay off social media and not pay attention to rumors. But I’m not surprised.”
Thompson, who is in the final year of his contract that pays $766,667 will share the Capitals’ net with Charlie Lindgren, who helped backstop Washington’s late run to the playoffs this season and ultimately made Darcy Kuemper expendable.
“I had a good four years (with VGK),” said Thompson, who posted a 56-32 record, 2.67 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage while being selected as an All-Star in 2023. “I’m going to miss it.
"Vegas gave me a chance to play in the NHL and to win a Stanley Cup.”
According to McCrimmon, Schmid, 24, will likely serve as the No. 3 goaltender. He was 5-9-1 last year with a 3.15 GAA and an .895 save percentage.
In three NHL seasons with New Jersey, Schmid was 14-18-3, had a 2.90 GAA and an .899 save percentage. He is scheduled to be a restricted free agent after making $925,000 this past season.
Holtz, a 2020 first-round draft pick at No. 7 overall, played in 82 games for the Devils this past season and had a career-best 16 goals and 12 assists. His cap hit is $894,167 with one year remaining. McCrimmon hopes Holtz can build on his successful season with the Devils.
“We’re taking a swing at his upside,” McCrimmon said of Holtz, who is 22. “We think he’ll fit into our lineup and grow as a player.”
Cotter spent three seasons with the Golden Knights. He appeared in 76 games this past season and had seven goals and 18 assists playing up and down in Bruce Cassidy’s lineup.
Vegas hockey history
There was one piece of Vegas hockey history made Saturday but it didn’t involve the Knights. Austin Moline became the first Las Vegas-born player to be drafted by an NHL team when the Philadelphia Flyers took the forward in the seventh round with pick No. 205.
It made for an exciting Day Two at The Sphere, which delivered as a draft site and then some. The graphics displayed inside and out were spectacular and the 14,000-plus who attended Friday gave it high marks.
The NHL should have used more personalities and celebrities to announce the teams’ picks in the first round. The Flyers did it with Michael Buffer and the Canadiens trotted out Celine Dion and both were very cool.
I hope the NBA was paying attention. This would be the perfect spot for its draft down the road. Especially if and when Las Vegas gets its own franchise.
This isn’t to say that The Sphere should have be a permanent site for the future. That’s moot given the decision by the GMs to go to an in-house format beginning in 2025 when the teams make their picks from their home cities.
McCrimmon said even if the NHL kept moving the location annually, it would still be fine.
“I think it creates a buzz in the city where the draft is held,” he said. “Obviously, I’m biased being here in Las Vegas and we think the Sphere has been fabulous. But I’ve been to a lot of these over the years and it’s always special.”
Knights face draft changes
McCrimmon said keeping the draft in-house at the teams’ headquarters has its advantages.
“You’ve got your entire staff together and it’s just your people,” he said. “There’s no distractions. You have everything and everybody right there.
“That said, there are things about everyone in the league being together that are positive. You talk to other managers. You can have face-to-face conversations with agents. There’s a certain energy that you don’t get when you’re just with your organization at your headquarters.”
McCrimmon doesn’t see the NHL reverting back to the status quo.
“The managers voted for this change,” he said. “There was a lot of discussion but ultimately they decided to have things done in-house.”
So it’s on to Monday for the start of free agency. Who stays? Who goes? We won’t have to wait long to find out.