Golden Knights may not go big game hunting at trade deadline

LAS VEGAS — Usually, this is the time of the year where we expect fireworks from the Vegas Golden Knights.

The NHL trade deadline is rapidly approaching and by noon Friday, the wheeling and dealing will be done and normally the Knights have been in the thick of it.

History has shown us that Vegas is not afraid to cut a big deal. Will that be the case this week? I’m not so sure. The pieces may not be there for general manager Kelly McCrimmon to pull it off.

When teams look to trade, they want something tangible back in return. Usually, that means high draft picks. Currently, the Knights don’t have a first-round pick until 2027. Yes, they have second- and third-round selections for 2025 and 2026 to deal if they choose to part with them, but many teams are looking for a first-rounder.

The Knights simply don’t have the kind of draft capital that would interest a team in making a trade, even though Vegas has traditionally selected toward the late part of the first round.

That doesn’t mean the Knights can’t or won’t be involved. It just means they may not be able to make a “shoot-for-the-moon” deal.

Their salary cap situation may also limit what McCrimmon can do. According to puickpedia.com, Vegas currently has $2,165,148 in cap space. That does not include William Karlsson’s $5.9 million as he is currently on LTIR and that money could be used if the team knew Karlsson wasn’t going to return until after the regular season. Nor does it include Shea Theodore’s $5.2 million. Theodore, who injured his right wrist in the recent 4 Nations Face-Off playing for Canada, has not been placed on LTIR yet. But that could happen at any time and that would provide additional cap space for McCrimmon to make a deal.

In an interview with NHL.com, McCrimmon said he didn’t think the Knights would be looking to be participants in a major deal. But that could change with one phone call from one of his 31 counterparts.

“We’ll do the work, we’ll be engaged and see what possibilities are there for us, but I don’t anticipate us making any big trades,” McCrimmon said. “You never say never. You do your due diligence. And with so many teams still in the wild card hunt, some might not decide if they are buyers or sellers until right before the deadline. So, there may be players who become available at that point who are not being discussed right now.
“It’s going to change here in the next few days. I think it’s going to be pretty fluid between now and the deadline of March 7. But for us, we didn’t intend to be big buyers. I like the makeup of our team.”
The Knights have a need for scoring depth up front. They may have already addressed that when they acquired Brandon Saad last month from St. Louis. Saad, a veteran winger, has been a good pickup. He can play up and down the lineup though his stint on the team’s top line with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone in Thursday’s 7-5 win over Chicago was short lived. Sunday against New Jersey, Saad was with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev on Vegas’ second line. Though they were kept off the scoresheet, the entire line played well in Vegas’ 2-0 win over the Devils.

A lot may depend on when Karlsson returns to the ice. If he is going to be back in the next week or two, McCrimmon may not feel a need to make a move to acquire a forward.

What he may be looking for is a backup goaltender. Ilya Samsonov has struggled mightily in his last two appearances, surrendering 10 goals. He has performed well earlier this year backing up Adin Hill and maybe all that’s required is a little one-on-one time with goaltending coach Sean Burke and get his game straightened out. But if the problem is more deep-rooted, McCrimmon may be looking to find some help.

Frankly, there may not be a lot to choose from in terms of acquiring a goalie, one that would be appreciably better than Samsonov. Remember, the Knights have another goalie in their organization with NHL experience — Akira Schmid — but he has had his own struggles playing for the AHL Henderson Silver Knights. in 26 appearances, Schmid is 7-17-2 with a 3.75 goals-against average and an .885 save percentage.

For now, the team appears to be pleased with Kaedan Korczak’s play on the blue line as he takes Theodore’s spot. Ben Hutton has been ready to play after missing significant time with an injury dating back to November.

So when McCrimmon says he likes the makeup of his team, believe him. But don’t be surprised if there’s a move or two by noon Friday.