Keys to the offseason for the Vegas Golden Knights
Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski: Taking a look at some of the offseason questions the Vegas Golden Knights are facing.
Open up some cap flexibility – They have 22 players under contract for next season with just under $3 million salary cap space. They have pending UFAs in Alec Martinez and Tomas Nosek. After next season UFAs will include Reilly Smith, Ryan Reaves, Brayden McNabb, Nick Holden and Marc-Andre Fleury. They have $12 million locked up in goaltending for next year and do they look to move Fleury? The Golden Knights are exempt from the expansion draft but they could still make a deal with the Seattle Kraken to create some roster/cap space.
Find a star center – They should look to acquire a No. 1 center this offseason. Their lack of depth down the middle was exposed this postseason. Potential centers available include Jack Eichel, Evgeni Malkin, Aleksander Barkov and Evgeny Kuznetsov,
Big swing or little tweak? They have reached the Conference finals in three of their first four years in the league. They just finished the regular season tied for first in points and were fourth in points percentage.
The Golden Knights need to find some high-end talent with a scoring punch
Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: The Vegas Golden Knights need to make some changes this offseason.
They shouldn’t go into next season with $12 million tied up in goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury would be the likely candidate to be moved.
The Golden Knights lacked depth down the middle. Cody Glass hasn’t developed like they had hoped.
They need to find some high-end talent. Getting involved in big deals is something they are comfortable with. Though they don’t have a lot of salary cap space they can move some pieces and maybe take a run at Jack Eichel or Patrik Laine.
More scoring is needed.
