Holden likely headed to AHL
Knights save around $1 million in move
The Golden Knights are going to jump through hoops and swing over water on the salary cap obstacle course all season. They took their first of many runs Tuesday.
Defenseman Nick Holden cleared waivers in the most significant development of a busy day and is free to be assigned to the taxi squad.
Holden, who signed a two-year, $3.4 million extension in February, was waived Monday to help alleviate the team’s salary cap crunch.
The Knights were projected to be $975,000 over the $81.5 million salary cap limit with 21 players on the roster before waiving Holden and defenseman Carl Dahlstrom. Keeping Holden off the NHL roster will save the team $1.075 million in salary cap space, but the remaining $625,00 of his contract will remain on the books.
Holden, 33, joined the Knights as a free agent in 2018 and has played in 122 games for the franchise, scoring 29 points. He practiced Tuesday at City National Arena and skated on the third pair with Zach Whitecloud.
“We’ll see how those combinations roll out,” coach Pete Deboer said. “The salary cap and some of the gymnastics that are involved in that are going to play a role in that, too.”
The Knights still have some salary cap maneuvering to take care of before Thursday’s season opener with forward Keegan Kolesar still on the NHL roster. Kolesar would need to clear waivers before he can be placed on the taxi squad or be sent to the American Hockey League.
Forwards Tomas Jurco and Gage Quinney, defensemen Dylan Coghlan and Nic Hague, and goalie Oscar Dansk participated in practice Tuesday and appear to be on the taxi squad.
Forward Alex Tuch, considered day to day with an undisclosed injury, skated before the rest of the Knights practiced Tuesday. Deboer said Tuch should be able to practice with the team Wednesday.
Jurco skated in Tuch’s spot on the third line during practice and could be in line to play Thursday if Tuch can’t go.
“This is an opportunity for him to continue to go down the road with us and for us to get to know him as a player, whether it’s in the lineup, on the taxi squad,” Deboer said. “It’s hard to teach the skill level that he has.”
The Knights also reassigned forwards Patrick Brown, Dylan Sikura, Reid Duke, Danny O’regan and Tyrell Goulbourne, and defensemen Jake Bischoff and Dahlstrom to the AHL after they cleared waivers.
Outdoor game reaction
The Knights sound excited for their first outdoor game. The NHL announced Monday that the team will play the Colorado Avalanche at noon Feb. 20 at Lake Tahoe in a nationally televised game on KSNV-3.
Deboer has coached in one outdoor game, at Yankee Stadium with the New Jersey Devils, and called it “one of the highlights of my career.” Goaltender Marc-andre Fleury played in two with the Pittsburgh Penguins and watched a third from the bench.
Fleury had custom gear for all three games and hinted that he might have something special for Lake Tahoe.
“(I) started to look into it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that game. … The whole experience of it, practicing there and being outside for the game, it’s always a lot of fun.”