Sportsnet: Frank Seravalli on Sportsnet 960s the Big Show talking about the Vegas Golden Knights and RFA defenseman Nicolas Hague, who appear to be far apart, and what it means for them heading into the season.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“There has not been much progress to my knowledge. In fact, I think there’s been even less conversation than what was going on with Robertson and the Stars. That was one thing about that negotiation between those two parties is that, they never really strayed far from each other. They were always within constant communication. Always amicable.
I get the sense that there’s a lot more friction and certainly a lot less activity when it comes to Vegas Golden Knights and Nic Hague.
How does it change the outlook of their team? Well, for one, they are in a spot where every dollar counts, even with Weber and Lehner. The Shea Weber contract they acquired, slated to go to the LTIR. It still doesn’t leave them a lot of wiggle room.
There’s only a certain amount that they can probably afford to pay Nic Hague, and if that’s not going to work out, then they’re going to have to move on. For a kind of young, promising defenseman that was supposed to take on more of a role this year on a blue line that in my opinion gets kind of thin and airy, and especially when you don’t know what you’re getting out of Alec Martinez in both play and health-wise.
It’s just one more dent to this team’s sort of rough offseason after trading Max Pacioretty for nothing. After withstanding that Lehner injury. Then sort of being caught off guard in the sense that, what are we doing from a goalie standpoint? It seems like Logan Thompson is going to be the guy, that’s a pretty big bet for a team that a lot of people see as playoff-bound to put on a 25-year-old with a total of 20 games of NHL experience.
Seravalli when asked how long of the leash is there with the Golden Knights goaltending before they have to look elsewhere and make a move.
“I don’t say it’s out of the realm of possibility. Like I think Logan Thompson is really talented and the fact that the Golden Knights saw that and re-signed him to basically a minimum bargain deal for three years gives you an idea that they are going to try and run with him as long they can.
I laughed at the word leash as think back to the battle that the former coach Pete DeBoer seemed to have on a nightly basis. Where he was critical of their goaltending. That was with Logan Thompson sort of taking up the slack at varying points last year. Now, they add in journeyman in Adin Hill whose never been able to grab the role and run with it in previous stops.
So, how does this play out? I don’t know but I’m here for the drama. It feels like that is all the Vegas Golden Knights have been.”