Offseason plans, Knights to keep one of their goalies and to move out money, while Florida needs an improved blueline and could move a player to do it.
Sorry for the timing of this post: as I planned to post it before free agency started but got too caught up in it and forgot I hadn’t posted it yet, but I hope you like my post of what I thought Vegas and Florida should do in the offseason and I did update the post with what does teams have done so far this offseason.
%20(1280%20%C3%97%20720%20px)%20-%2015.png)
Florida Panthers
Significant Pending UFA:
RW P.Hornqvist 1-2-3 22GP
C,RW G.Mayhew 0-0-0 0GP
C E.Staal 14-15-29 72GP
C,LW C.Bunnaman 0-0-0 0GP
RD R.Gudas 2-15-17 72GP
LD L.Carlsson 0-0-0 2GP
LD M.Staal 3-12-15 82GP
RD C.Fitzgerald 0-3-3 27GP
G A.Lyon 9-4-1 REC 2.89 GAA .912 SV%
Significant Pending RFA:
RW,C C.White 8-7-15 68GP
RW S.Noel 0-0-0 0GP
LW,RW G.Denisenko 0-3-3 18GP
LW,RW G.Smith 1-3-4 36GP
LW,C A.Heponiemi 1-2-3 10GP
LD M.Gildon 0-0-0 0GP
Current draft capital for Panthers in 2023: 5
2RD FLO
4RD FLO
5RD FLO
6RD FLO
7RD ARI
What lead the Panthers to exit in the Stanley Cup Final this year: Now Florida had a worse regular season then they did in 21-22, but overall probably had the best year in franchise history, as they started off the season banged up and looked nothing like the lethal team from the year prior who had won the president trophy, but they were a persistent bunch and never went away and were always hanging around a playoff spot, and thanks to a couple of bad games late by Pittsburgh, they were able to sneak into the last wildcard spot in the east and the final spot in the playoffs and they just made it, and then in the playoffs they would lose 3 of the first 4 games against the president trophy winning Bruins, but then played lights out the next three games and were able to win three straight close games to absolutely steal the first round series against the Bruins, then they were set up against the Leafs in round 2 and were able to ride the winning streak they were on in the first round to beat up the Leafs in 5 games to have won 7 of their last 8 games and advance to the Conference Finals for the first time since 1996 and face off against the Hurricanes, and in a tight series were there were four 1 goal games, the Panthers were the team able to come out on top in all four games as after a few nail bitters and OT games the Panthers came away with the 4 game sweep of the Canes to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 and would challenge for their first ever Cup against the Golden Knights, but the banged up Panthers would run into the brick wall that is the Golden Knights and and even though they would get their first ever Stanley Cup Final win, they would up losing in the Finals to the Knights and after a magical run that saw them topple some of the top teams, they fall just short of the Cup and wind up losing in the Final and I do think there were a couple of reasons why the Panthers wound up losing to the Knights in the Final.
Number one would be the fact that the Panthers Special Teams was a complete no show in the Final. Now the Panthers had a pretty lethal power play throughout the first round series against the Bruins as it was a big part of the teams come from behind victory, and even though they didn’t get too many power plays against the Maple Leafs, they were able to capitalize on the opportunities they got and really did well on the man advantage against the Panthers, and they did well against the Canes as well although they didn’t get too many power plays, and their power play was one of the teams strengths going into the Cup Final against the Golden Knights, but the Knights were the only team in the playoffs that were able to shutdown the Panthers high octane power play, as the Panthers were unable to score a power play goal in the Cup Final against the Knights on 14 attempts which is quite surprising and there penalty kill was never the teams strong suit in the playoffs and a major reason why the Leafs and Bruins were top 6 in the playoffs on the power play, and the Knights were able to put up 6 goals on 19 power play attempts and were a big reason why the Panthers penalty kill was 14th in the playoffs only ahead of Minnesota and LA, so the special teams which really did help the Panthers in the first 3 rounds, was one of the causes of their demise in the Final and there poor special teams play was a strong reason why they lost in the Cup Final to Vegas.
And lastly would be the Panthers inability to shut down the Knights offensive attack in the playoffs. Now ever since game 6 of the first round after he got a couple of games under his feet in the playoffs, Bobrovsky would put on a show as from Game 7 of round 1 to game 4 of round 3 Bobrovsky would only give up a combined 19 goals in those 10 games in the end of round 1 and through rounds 2 and 3 and the most goals he gave up in a game over that span of games was 3 against Boston in Game 7 and Carolina in Game 4 and besides those two games he was always able to hold his opponents to 2 goals or less over that 10 games span, and he was a huge reason they made it so far in the playoffs, but once they got to the Cup Final, Bobrovsky’s great play left and he would look like he did in his first few games against Boston which is shaky, as he gave up 4 goals in the first two losses against Vegas and then would recover a bit by only giving up 5 goals in the combined two games in Florida, but then back in Vegas, Bobrovsky let in 8 goals in the must win game 5 and after only letting in 19 goals in those ten games prior to the Cup Final, he would wind up giving up 21 on the 5 games against Vegas, and not having that solid backbone in Net for Florida really did hurt them as they were always chasing the game in the Final and could never get enough momentum to really challenge Vegas, so the poor play of Bobrovsky in the final I think was another big factor the team was not able to win the Cup this year.
So in my opinion the fact the Panthers special teams and Bobrovsky were a no show in the cup final I think were huge reasons the Panthers went home without the Stanley Cup, and I think you could also throw in the fact that the Panthers were pretty banged up in the Final as big name players like Tkachuk, Ekblad and Montour had all sustained significant injuries and were playing through them and I feel all these reasons played a big role in the Panthers losing in the Cup Final, but if the Panthers showed anything this year it is that they are extremely close to winning a Stanley Cup and with a few minor tweaks in my opinion this offseason, they should once again compete for the Stanley Cup again next year.
3 ways of how I think the Panthers can improve in the offseason.
.1) Add a top 4 defensemen.
Now the Panthers defence wasn’t the best this year and was probably the most weakest spot on the team and I think could definitely use a improvement, and I think one of the Panthers first priorities this offseason will be adding a top 4 defensemen to help stabilize the backend.
Now the Panthers won the President trophy 2 years ago and the defence that they had that season was really good and really deep, but last offseason they took some major blows to that D-Corp as they lost a guy like Ben Chiarot in free agency and solid top 4 defensemen Mackenzie Weegar was dealt in the Tkachuk trade and the Panthers brought in Mahura and Staal to replace the losses last offseason and no offense to both of those two guys, but they were nowhere near the level that Weegar and Chiarot are on, and I think the Panthers got into the playoffs despite their defence and in the playoffs it was the stellar performance of Bobrovsky that helped them get to the Cup FInal. So in my eyes the Panthers need a top 4 defensemen badly and as if that wasn’t bad enough, 2 of the Panthers top 4 defensemen in Montour and Ekblad suffered injuries in the Cup Final that will keep them out for the first couple months of the season, so losing those two will make it much more urgent for the team to get at least one if not two top 4 defensemen who can help strengthen their D-Corp and keep the team afloat while Ekblad and Montour recover from injuries.
So the Panthers don’t have a boatload of cap space and also don’t have many future assets they could move this offseason so it would be really hard to make a trade work, but some guys I could see the Panthers have some interest in would be Hanafin or Zadorov in Calgary, Edmundson in Montreal, Pesce in Carolina and if they could make the money work then maybe Karlsson in San Jose as I think all of these players would have some significant interest to Florida and would really help improve their team, while if the Panthers wanted to save their assets and go the free agent route, I could see them have interest in maybe a guy like Soucy, one of the former Wild defenders in Klingberg or Dumba or maybe a recently player in OEL who has been linked to Florida, and all four of these guys would be major improvements on their current D-Corp and would seriously help replace the loss of guys like Ekblad and Montour. So in my eyes I think they could go after one of the players I listed above, but I think one thing is for sure and that is the Panthers need some help on defence as they were a pretty bad defensive team last year and they still had Ekblad and Montour which they won’t have for the first few months of the season, so I think the Panthers will go out and sign at least one if not two top 4 defensemen this offseason to bolster the teams D-Corp.
(UPDATE: two weeks into free agency and the Panthers have signed 3 defensemen in OEL, Reilly and Mikkola, and although I am not sure any of those players are the solid top 4 defender I talked about them needing, they are solid additions that should strengthen next years blueline).
Brian Fluharty USA Today Sports
.2) Move one or both of Reinhart and Duclair.
Next up is the fact that the Panthers don’t have a over abundance of cap space for the next few seasons and they may need to get some more cap space, so I wouldn’t be overly shocked if the Panthers subtracted from their forward group to get cap space and maybe move one of Duclair or Reinhart this offseason.
Now I am not guaranteeing both or either will indeed be moved this offseason, but the Panthers only have a very limited amount of cap space and as I said above they could really use some help on the backend and they may not have enough cap space to make the necessary moves without moving someone out of their lineup to free up cap space. Now the only significant contracts on the blueline are Forsling, Montour and Ekblad and none of those guys are getting moved, and with uncertainty surrounding Knight I think the Panther would most likely hold onto Bobrovsky this offseason, so I think they would have to move a player from their position of strength and that would be the forward group, and I think with guys like Barkov, Verhaeghe, Tkachuk and Bennett not moving anytime soon, that one of Duclair or Reinhart would be the most likely to get dealt.
Now Duclair may be the most likely as the Panthers should be able to get some players on cheaper contracts who could replace him and given the fact that Duclair has been a solid and productive speedy winger ever since arriving in Florida, I think there would be a ton of interest in him and given there have been rumours surrounding him since the deadline, I think he is a very likely candidate to get dealt, and I do think it is possible but less likely that the Panthers wind up moving Reinhart, as he has been a extremely big part of the team in the two years he has been with Florida as he had over 80 points in his first year and was playing mostly on line 3 while his production did drop a bit this season, but he is still a solid top 6 forward for the Panthers and the only way I see him being moved is if they are really low on cap space as he does have a contract with a AAV of over $6 Million dollars, so I think that would be the teams last resort, but one thing is for sure, the Panthers need to free up some cap space to help add on the blueline and in my opinion they would most likely move either Duclair or Reinhart this offseason to do it.
(UPDATE: the Panthers went ahead and moved Duclair on July 1st to San Jose for Lorentz and a draft pick as they did need to clear some cap space and it seems that Duclair was the guy who wound up being moved to create cap space, and there is also some talk that the Panthers could still move Reinhart as well, so we now know one has been moved and quite possibly both could be gone by the start of the season).
.3) Add some cheap top 9 forwards to replace the guys they move.
And lastly here if the Panthers are able to move one or both of Duclair and Reinhart then I wouldn’t be surp if the team went out in either free agency or into the trade market to look for some more help in their top 9 with the holes they still have in their organization.
Now for the Panthers as much as they had some problems with their depth on the defensive side of the puck this year, offensively they were still pretty good as they still had some pretty decent depth in the forward group which was especially helpful in the playoffs when one or two players went down with a injury, but I think with the team needing to improve their backend and their lack of significant cap space they may be forced to look for some bargain deals to replace their bottom six. Now as I talked about above, I strongly think the Panthers will move at least one if not both of Duclair or Reinhart this offseason as the Panthers need some cap space to improve their blueline and moving players from their position of strength makes the most sense, so if one or both of those guys leave via trade and the Panthers already could lose guys like Smith, Staal and White, then this teams depth up front could be depleted, so I think if they go after 2 or 3 bargain forwards in either free agency or trade they may be able to overcome some of the losses they have this offseason. Now if the team was to go the free agent route, I think players such as Johnsson, Perry, Suter, Heinen or Drouin could all be options as those are all players who would most likely not be overly expensive to sign and could be solid middle six forwards in the Panthers organization, while some option for the Panthers should they chose to go the trade route could be Trenin, Vatrano or Blackwell as all are pretty decent bottom six forwards who aren’t on too bad of contracts and could really help replace some of the Panthers depth scoring they may lose this offseason. So in my eyes with the Panthers maybe losing some pretty decent pieces from their top 9 this offseason, they will have to go out and try to replace some of this talent in either in free agency or via trade and I think the Panthers bottom six may look a bit differently next year then it did to finish this season.
(UPDATE: the Panthers through the first couple weeks of free agency have added some decent bottom six pieces to their roster to replace the guys they lost, as they have signed Stenlund and Asplund as well as traded for Lorentz to play in their bottom six while also signing solid middle six forward Evan Rodrigues who stands a good chance to be a 2nd or 3rd line player in Florida, so they have made some solid top 9 additions since the start of free agency).
So in my eyes if the Panthers can improve that blueline and get at least one if not two solid top 4 defensemen to improve the blueline and help replace the loss of Ekblad and Montour to start the season, move one or both of Duclair and Reinhart to free up cap space so they can go after a defensemen and go after a couple of cheap bottom six forwards to replace the loss of the guys on the forward group, and I think if the Panthers were to do most of this and really upgrade their roster as best as they can, I have no doubt the Panthers would be a playoff team and maybe even have another shot at getting to and maybe even winning the Stanley Cup.
If you liked this blog post, then check out my YouTube video on the Panthers offseason here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HtZOchFX8iU&t=2s
%20(1280%20%C3%97%20720%20px)%20-%2014.png)
Vegas Golden Knights
Significant Pending UFA:
RW P.Kessel 14-22-36 82GP
C,LW T.Blueger 4-12-16 63GP
G A.Hill 16-7-0 REC 2.50 GAA .914 SV%
G L.Brossoit 7-0-0 REC 2.17 GAA .927 SV%
G J.Quick 16-15-2 REC 3.41 GAA .882 SV%
Significant Pending RFA:
C,LW B.Howden 6-7-13 54GP
C,RW N.Patrick 0-0-0 0GP
LW,RW P.Dorofeyev 7-2-9 18GP
G J.Patera 2-0-0 REC 2.50 GAA .929 SV%
Current draft capital for Golden Knights in 2023: 5
1RD VGK
3RD BUF, VGK
6RD VGK
7RD VGK
What lead the Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup Finals this year: now the Knights have been a success story ever since day one, but they finally achieved the ultimate goal this year, as they had a pretty good start to the season and were competing with LA and Edmonton most of the season for the Pacific division title and by seasons end they not only edge out the Oilers by two points for the Pacific division crown, but also edge them out for the Western Conference crown and were the best in the west in the regular season, they then played the Jets in round 1 and after losing the first game to Winnipeg, they would win 4 straight to easily handle the Jets in 5 games and advance to round 2 to face off against Edmonton, and in round two they would go up 1-0 and 2-1 in the series and Edmonton tied the series in the following game, but Vegas was able to get a lead and shutdown the Oilers lethal attack in games 5 and 6 to take down Edmonton in 6 games 4-2, then the Knights took on Dallas in round 3 and after a couple of OT wins gave them a 3-0 lead over Dallas, things would get sweaty a bit as they would drop the next two and their lead would drop down to 3-2 before a extremely dominant performance in game 6 gave the Knights the 4-2 series win and made them the Western conference champs of the playoffs heading into the Stanley cup final against Florida, and then Vegas would take the opening two games vs Florida, would split two close games in Florida to take a 3-1 stranglehold on the series, and would lay a 9-3 beat down of the Panthers in game 5 to take the series 4-1 and win their first ever Stanley Cup in Franchise History, and there were a couple of things I thought helped the Knights win the cup.
So first I would say the biggest reason they were able to beat Florida in the Final was their spectacular special teams play. Now in the first three rounds of the playoffs the Knights has been a pretty good power play team and we’re in the top half of the league on the power play, but the Panthers power play was better and neither team really had much success on the PK so it looked like the Panthers were the team who would have the upper hand on special teams, but it wound up being the opposite, as the Knights would not allow a power play goal in the Cup final as they halted all of the Panthers 14 attempts and a PK that couldn’t stop the Oilers or Stars power plays put a halt to the Panthers, and even the teams power play put in 6 goals on 19 attempts which had them at over 30 percent and gave them a power play goal a game, so I think as much as there were some other stellar factors that went into the Knights winning the cup, I have to say the lethalness of the teams power play and PK were one of the major reasons the team wound up being the Panthers in the final.
And lastly would be the Knights ability to role 4 lines and 3 pairs on a consistent basis. Now the Knights definitely have some pretty good star power on their team with guys like Pietrangelo, Stone, Stephenson and Marchessault amongst others, but the really lethal ability for Vegas and they showed this in the Final was to get contributions from everywhere in their lineup. Now for the Panthers they relied heavily upon their top guys scoring such as Tkachuk, Barkov, Bennett, Ekblad and Montour and when those guys were held off the score sheet it became really difficult for the Panthers to get much scoring chances and they weren’t able to score at such a high rate, while for Vegas they always seem to get contributions from everywhere in their lineup as even though Marchessault, Stone, Stephenson and Karlsson all scored at various points against Florida, bottom six players like Kolesar, Carrier and Amadio as well as defensemen Martinez and Whitecloud also helped offensively and the Knights insane ability to get scoring from anywhere in their lineup at any point in time whether it be the top or bottom six or their defence was maybe the biggest reason the Knights came away Stanley Cup Champions in my opinion, so the balance in their lineup was a major reason the Knights bested the Panthers to win the cup.
So in my eyes the Knights were able to beat Florida and become Stanley Cup Champions thanks to a extremely well balanced attack as any one of their 4 forward lines or 3 D pairs could score at any given time, and the fact that the Knights all of a sudden played stellar special teams scoring on a third of their power play opportunities and not giving PPG in the Cup Final were i think the two biggest reasons the Knights can away with the Cup and I think another thing would have to be the overall teams size as besides Conn Smythe winner Marchessault, all players on Vegas were over 6’0 feet tall and especially on defence as having that imposing force made it next to impossible for other teams to score, so in my eyes all of these things lead to the Knights beating the Panthers in the Cup Final and I think they could be cup contenders again with a bit of tinkering in the offseason and it would not shock me at all if they went deep again next year trying to defend their title and looking for back to back Championships.
3 Ways of how I think the Golden Knights can improve in the offseason.
Stephen R Sylvanie USA Today Sports
.1) Figure out which goalies will remain for next year.
Now first off for the Golden Knights, they will need to figure out which goalies will comprise the teams tandem next year as Vegas has 5 goalies including 3 who are about to become UFA’s and after a stellar playoffs from two of them they will have to figure out which two are a member of their tandem going into next year.
Now the Golden Knights started the season with Lenher and Brossoit out due to injuries and that forced them to go out and acquire Adin Hill to tandem with Logan Thompson to began the season, then Brossoit would recover from his injury and was sent to the minors and then Thompson suffered a injury which meant that Brossoit was called back up and got into games and with the lack of depth in Net the team was able to add solid Kings legend Jonathan Quick as the deadline, and after a phenomenal finish to the season and with Thompson still injured, Brossoit started in the playoffs for Vegas and did well before being injured in game 3 vs Edmonton in round 2 where the Knights would give the reigns to Hill who would lead the team to the cup final, so the Knights used a plethora of goalies last year, but the question will be who sticks around next year. Now the Knights still have young goalie Logan Thompson who played extremely well before being injured last year on a cheap contract for the next two years, so he will most likely be a 1A in tandem, but the question is who will be his tandem partner.
Now Lehner is the other goalie still signed beyond this offseason but I think the Golden Knights will most likely trade him and in the small chance he is still injured he could go back on LTIR but I would be quite shocked if Lehner was playing games again with Vegas, so I think the Knights could look to free agency to add a 1B goalie as there are a lot of good tandem goalies this offseason but I think there preference would actually to bring back one of their 3 pending UFA’s. Now Quick didn’t play a whole lot of games with Vegas after being acquired by them and I would expect at this point in his career, Quick is more of a backup goalie then a tandem one so I think he does his free agency and is the least likely to be back, but I strongly think one of Brossoit or Hill will be the other part of the tandem, Now in the short showing he had toward the end of the year and in the playoffs, Brossoit did good and I think of the two he would be the cheaper to sign and he obviously showed he can do well, but Hill did help them win the cup and was a fantastic goalie for them throughout the season and especially in their cup run, so I think he could also be signed and may even be the one Vegas would like to sign more, but I think one of these two will most likely be back, Brossoit may only take between $1.5-2.5 Million on a extension to come back while Hill may take $3-4 Million on a AAV to come back and that might be a bit out of Vegas price range, but all in all I don’t expect Lehner to play in Vegas next year, I would expect Thompson to be part of a tandem that will either include someone they sign in free agency or one of Hill or Brossoit and to me it is going to be interesting to see who Vegas winds up getting as the backup.
(UPDATE: before free agency happened, the Knights did wind up extending Hill on a 2 year deal with a AAV of $4.9 Million which is more then I originally thought he would get, but was a good deal and it also sounds like Lehner may still be injured so it is possible he goes on LTIR and Brossoit signed in Winnipeg while Quick went to NYR, so with the dust settled it looks like the Knights will indeed have a Thompson-Hill tandem going into next year just like they did to start this year).
.2) Move one or two players to clear some cap space.
Next up would be the fact that the Knights are currently right up against the cap right now and really are going to be under pressure to keep their team intact this year so to keep most of their team intact, they may be forced to trade one or two bigger contracts to try and sign and keep some of their UFA’s and their are a couple players I could see who the Knights would be open to moving this offseason.
Now as I talked about earlier, the Knights will most likely try and sign a goalie to a extension and it will most likely be one of Hill or Brossoit, and there is also a lot of talk that while it is unlikely, they may try and sign Barbashev who may be looking for $5-6 Million AAV of a new deal and the Knights are right now barely under the cap as it is, so with the Knights needing to take care of some business and resign some UFA’s, it seems like maybe a player or two may be on the way out of Vegas this offseason to clear enough cap space to work out new deals with these players. Now the first player I think the Knights would most likely move would be Robin Lehner. Now at this moment I think it is possible that Lehner is healthy and raring to go next year, and if that is the case I think the Knights would most likely try and trade him, as Lehner I don’t think fits into the long term plans of the Golden Knights and I think could help a team who is looking for a tandem goalie, and I do think it would probably be extremely difficult to do because he was injured the entire season this past year, and he is making $5 Million dollars for the next couple of seasons so it might be hard for a team to take on his cap hit, but I still think he is a solid goalie and would be a interesting player who could be of interest to some teams, and if they are able to move him, then they can use the $5 Million dollars they freed up in moving him to get their goalie signed in either Hill or Brossoit, so I think it is likely that Lehner is moved this offseason. As for the other player I think could be moved by Vegas in the offseason, it would be defensemen Alec Martinez.
Now I don’t think they would want to move him as he is coming off of a solid season this past year and is a pretty big piece on that backend, but he is making $5.25 on his cap hit and only has one more year left on his contract and I am not fully convinced that he would extend beyond this year, so I think that opens the door for him being a trade candidate, and I think after a solid year he could be a major upgrade to a teams 2nd or 3rd pair, especially one who is looking for a veteran to add to their team, so I think with the cap hit he is making and the depth on the defence especially with the amount of young players they have waiting in the wings, I think there is a very likely chance Martinez gets moved to free up cap space to do other things, so it is going to be interesting to see but I think Martinez and Lehner are prime trade candidates for the Golden Knights and if both are moved that would free up upwards of $10 Million in cap space which would be enough to most likely bring back a goalie and maybe Barbashev as well, so expect the Knights to trade someone with a big cap hit to free up money to sign players elsewhere.
(UPDATE: the Knights were able to sign Hill and extended Barbashev to a 5x5 deal that kept both those key pieces around, and instead of moving Lehner or Martinez as I mentioned earlier, they instead traded Reilly Smith which I wasn’t expecting as he was one of the original Knights, but that did free up enough cap space to sign Barbashev and I am not sure what is happening with Lehner as he wasn’t traded and may still be injured, but I think besides that the Kinghts have done basically enough to be cap compliant this year).
Stephen Brashear USA Today Sports
.3) Add some young players to replace the players they lose.
And finally the Golden Knights as I mentioned above may not be able to keep the entire band together as they may lose a couple of players to get cap space or to free agency, so they may need one or two of their young players to step up next year and grab a roster spot to help the Knights round out their roster.
Now for the Golden Knights throughout their 6 year existence they have had a lot of trouble breathing youth into this team, and that is t to say the haven’t done so throughout the teams history as 1A goalie Thompson has done well as has young defenders Hague and Whitecloud, but I think with them probably needing one or two cheap bottoms six forwards and maybe a solid 3rd pair defensemen, I think there is a strong chance that we see the Knights add some youth to this team next year. Now while they don’t have a ton of high level prospects on the forward group, they do have a couple who I could see breakthrough and become regular NHL players next year and that would be Brisson, Dorofeyev or Rondbjerg. Now all three of these players should all at the very least contend for a roster spot in training camp and I think all 3 stand a very good chance to nab a roster spot. Now Brisson has yet to play a NHL game in his career but was coming off of his first pro season this year and after playing in college didn’t look out of place as the former first round pick put up 18 goals and 37 points in 58 AHL games and although I do think he could stand to play in the AHL again next year and continue to develop, I think there is a likely chance that if he has a good trading camp, he could make the team and be a solid top 9 forward for Vegas next year as he can play any forward position and would be a useful asset in their top 9, next with Dorofeyev, now he started the season in the AHL for Vegas and was doing pretty good putting up 17 points in 32 games before he was called up in the middle of the season due to injuries and although he didn’t get into a whole lot of games, he still had some solid numbers putting up 7 goals and 9 points in 18 NHL games and I think after that solid showing last year he should be a guy who maybe makes the 3rd or 4th line on a consistent bases next year. Then there is also Rondbjerg who has gotten a couple of games in at the NHL level over the past few years and has 2 goals and 7 points in the 43 games in the two years combined and I think Rondbjerg isn’t as likely to get a consistent NHL role with the team then a guy like Dorofeyev or Brisson, but I think he is another likely candidate to make the roster as he has shown in the past he can be a solid 4th line option for the team so I expect at least one if not two of Brisson, Rondbjerg or Dorofeyev to make the roster next year for the Knights and maybe be solid bottom six forwards for the team next year.
As for the defence, if they were to move a player due to cap reasons I think they could have one of their younger players be a solid 3rd pair defensemen next year and I think one of Pachal, Korczak or Miromanov would make the most sense. Korczak has only gotten into 10 NHL games over the past two years and hasn’t looked the best, but has been a solid AHL player and the former 2nd round pick from a couple of years ago would probably get a strong look at being a 3rd pair defensemen for the Knights, Pachal has also not gotten into a lot of NHL games only playing in 12 over the past 2 years, but he has the makings of a solid and physical 3rd pair defensemen and I think could really improve the teams 3rd pair as he was basically the 8th defender last year, and Miromanov was called up when the Knights first ran into injuries and before he was injured he was able to put up 2 goals and 6 points in 14 games and looked like he had the makings of a solid offensive defensemen and he also did good in the AHL putting up 22 points in 31 games and looks like he may be the favourite in my eyes to make the team as a regular defender if they need one. So with the Knights not having too much cap space and needing some cap relief as well as to fill out there roster, I think some of the younger kids may get a chance next year and whether it is Brisson, Dorofeyev or Rondbjerg on the forward group or Miromanov, Pachal or Korczak on the defensive side, don’t be too surprised if the Knights were to add some youth to there team for next year.
So in my eyes if the Knights can keep around at least one of their pending UFA goalies to keep in a tandem with Thompson, if they can move out some big contracts such as Lehner’s or Martinez to free up the necessary cap space to keep some of their UFA’s and add some youth to the team next year then I think the Knights will be well positioned to do damage again next year because even though the team will most likely subtract a couple of pieces off of their roster, if they can stay healthy which was a problem last year and their depth continues to improve I think they will be once again be well positioned to not only be best in the west in the regular season, but maybe also in the Playoffs and maybe they will be well enough positioned to have a shot at being back to back cup champs next year.
And if you like this blog post, then check out my YouTube video about Vegas offseason right here. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HtZOchFX8iU&t=2s
Comments
Post a Comment