REVVING THE ENGINE
THE WORLDWIDE
pandemic stifled people places like Las Vegas in a big way. Sin City became Ghost Town. In hockey terms, the Golden Knights felt the sting hard. They were the hottest team in the Western Conference in the 19 games after the all-star break. Only Boston had a better points percentage leading up to the NHL shutdown on March 12. Vegas was firing on all cylinders. IMMEDIATE NEEDS: The arrival of Alec Martinez and Robin Lehner at the trade deadline battened down the hatches. Martinez is signed for another year, solidifying the top-four ‘D.’ But if Vegas wants to retain Lehner – and it should – it is going to have to offload salary elsewhere. Marc-Andre Fleury is 35 and leaking oil. He’s signed for two more years at $7 million per season. LONG-TERM NEEDS: Vegas traded its two best blueline prospects – Erik Brannstrom and Slava Demin – in backto-back years. That greatly weakened the defensemen pipeline to the point there’s only a few B-list prospects to replace Martinez, Nick Holden and Deryk Engelland when they age out or leave as UFAs in the next two or three years.
CAP SITUATION: Vegas is already committed to about $73 million for 15 players. Factor in the $5 million-plus that Lehner is going to command as a UFA and you can see the Golden Knights are going to be left with bread crumbs to fill out the remaining seven roster spots. They’ll have to get creative and move a big-ticket player like Paul Stastny.
IN THE SYSTEM 2020-21: Providence winger Jack Dugan led the NCAA in scoring and is set to turn pro. He could step in and play on the third line on an entry-level deal. Rightshot D-man Zach Whitecloud impressed coach Peter DeBoer late in the season and can replace 38-year-old Engelland. DID YOU KNOW: Only Detroit (32) has had more picks than Vegas (28) in the past three drafts. That’s seven more than the average team. Much of it was due to expansion-draft posturing in 2017.