TRADE WATCH: Vegas Golden Knights Could MOVE Adin Hill After Carter Hart’s Rise—What’s Next?

TRADE WATCH: Vegas Golden Knights Could MOVE Adin Hill After Carter Hart’s Rise—What’s Next?

There's an old adage that you can't lose your job due to injury. But in the case of Aiden Hill, he could not only lose his job as the top VK goalie, but he could also be on the trade market. More ahead right here on Lockdown Golden Knights. You're locked on Golden Knights, your daily podcast on the Vegas Golden Knights, part of the Locked On podcast network. your team every day. >> Hi again everyone from Las Vegas. Tony Kordasco and Chris Gollik. Welcome to Lockdown Golden Nights, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Now the number one sports network podcast network on the planet. I'm a longtime sports caster, marketing consultant, and the host of the Believe in Vegas podcast. Chris, the owner of Silver State cards and sports and the host of the hockey news collectible show. Coming up ahead on today's show, we're going to talk about the latest injury update. Jeremy Loausan returns to the ice and Trevor Connelly is assigned to Team USA for the World Juniors. We are brought to you today by FanDuel. Go to fanduel.com. And a reminder that you can now catch our show each and every day on Silverstate Sports and Entertainment Network. Tune in at 100 pm. That's Monday through Friday on SSSEN on YouTube TV or on CoxCable channel 77. So Chris, the VK goending room is crowded right now. You've got Carter Hart, you've got Akira Akira Schmid, and Aiden Hill once he recovers from injury. The Canadian Olympic rosters are expected to be released by the end of this year, perhaps by December the 31st in less than two weeks. And by all insider reports, we might not see a return of Aiden Hill until after the new year. So, you might have to strike that as uh a member of Team USA for Aiden Hill. One reason why Hill could be on the trading block, of course, once he returns is perhaps his salary. He just received that extension in Mark back in March I should say and he's making over seven million a year now. Um and an AAV it's 7 million this season with an AAV of 6.25. And the other of course the other issue is the emergence of one Carter Hart who has not lost in regulation uh since his return at 30 and one. Yeah, I mean there's a lot to unpack there. And you know, whoever created that adage you talked about, you can't lose your job to injury obviously hasn't hung out in Vegas a whole lot around the Golden Knights. They'll uh they'll they'll trade you for no good reason at all. Well, actually, it's usually a pretty good reason. So, yeah. I mean, where to go here? 6.25 on the AEV until the year 2930. That's a contract that I think Kelly Mcrimin regretted before Carter Hart's arrival and Carter Hart proving that he is more than worthy of being this team's lone starter going forward here. And you can't tell me that Kelly Mcrimin isn't doing what whether he uses Puck Pedia or their own internal software, whatever it may be. He's looking at this saying, "Okay, right now we got $5.1 million in cap space." Now, Grant William Carlson coming back could, you know, whatever. Aiden Hill is currently on LTIR, but point being is this would create $5 million for the Vegas Golden Knights to utilize. Should they be able to move Aiden Hill simply on a salary dump, let alone getting something in return? The biggest question that I have about Aiden Hill now is, is he overpriced? Has he overpriced himself now out of the market to be traded? That's a lot to put into a goalender that pretty much has Okay, he played 50 games last year. We get all that, whatever. But he's not the type of goalender currently in my opinion. That will take you to the mountain top. Listen, Aiden Hill, I've been very very um what's the word to use? Enthusiastic about the fact that Aiden Hill had a great four four and a half week run during the Stanley Cup final. put up the second highest save percentage in the history of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. Full credit for that. He parlayed that to, you know, a massive payday. Good for him. I have no problem with a player getting paid. But unfortunately, like you said, has he underperformed based on his availability. I mean, listen, save percentage last two years since getting that extension. 909 and 9006, 271 and 247 goals against. So Aiden Hill is not a bad goalie by any means. This is more simply coming down to the financial aspect here and the fact that if the Golden Knights can trade Aiden Hill, you're talking, you know, roughly five$5.5 million available by the time that the dust settles. It seems like an absolute no-brainer. I mean, you have to think that Kelly Mcrimman made this move having plan B, plan C, plan D, having an endgame or multiple endg games based on how Carter Hart did. And we know Mcrimin uh loves having some money to spend come trade deadline time. >> Yeah. And does VGK have enough with Carter Hart and Akira Akira Schmid to Cup contenders? Yes, they're playing well right now. There are some there's some areas of concern. I'm still not sold entirely on the defense u you know the defense in front of him and again has he really been tested here through a grueling schedule and all that. I I'm just you know with Carter Hart and a carid again I think these are two goalenders in my personal opinion that could implode at any given moment. Listen, Akira Schmid, I don't think any one of us, you know, and a lot of people weren't necessarily big fans of him taking a step up because the Golden Knights B, you know, pretty much ignored him last season. >> You look at this season right now, he's a 903. He's played 17 games. We're we're beyond a small sample size right now. Slightly better than Carter Hart's 901 in four games. So Schmidt as a backup slash someone who can take this team for, you know, a matter of weeks while you're waiting for your regular your your 1A goalie to come back. Yes, Schmid I think is going to be a quality backup. And how old is he? Is he 25? He's 25 years old. So he still has upside >> coming down the road. And you do have Carl Lindbomb who again he wasn't ready for the NHL as of yet but he's certainly moving the right direction. So Lindbomb sliding into that number three role while he gets the starters net in Henderson. Now you're developing another potential 1A net minder down the road. So I mean I get the concerns about Carter Harts and Schmid imploding more a Carter Hart because it's still such a small sample size and of course there's off the ice things that are in his head. I mean, you can't ignore any of that right now. >> Um, but the fact that Carter Hart's only played four games. >> He's still getting his feet under him, >> right? >> He should get better. >> And last but not least, you said you're concerned about the defense, Tony. $5 million can help the defense a little bit. >> Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. Uh, why is it that injuries for the Golden Knights seem to last a lot longer? We'll talk more about the injury situation later, but I don't know. Like I see ACL guys with ACL injuries come back a lot quicker than some of these players on this team. I'm just saying. I'm just saying. >> I mean >> medical medical science has gone come a long way. >> Part medical staff. Yes. Part cooking the books. They're cooking the books still. >> There's no there's nothing to cook right now with keeping William Carlson out. It doesn't matter. And Aiden Hill on LTIR. It doesn't it's irrelevant right now. And the Golden Knights don't need to even put anyone else on LTI because they are the most cap compliant they've been in the last nine seasons. So there's nothing to cook right now. And with the new rules, come playoff time, you have to have a compliant roster. So there's the loophole hasn't been 1,00% closed, but it's much farther closed than it ever was. You know, back in the the Mark Stone days when he would have uh you know, his his uh random injuries that would pop up. So, >> back in the stone age. >> Back in the stone age. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. So, yeah. I mean, I I get all that, but I I'll go back to the fact that you can't tell me that Mcrimid didn't have a list of potential endg games depending on how Carter Hart played. And one endgame that probably no one's even talking about that I will put out there. What about a Carter Hart trade? Carter Hart is a $2 million a starting goalie right now. >> He's still the hot potato. And it's >> I agree. I agree, Tony. But maybe not now. Maybe over the summer. >> Yeah. Over the summer or a year from now. >> It's one of the end games in Mcrimman's whiteboard some summer. That's all >> one of them. You're saying you are saying Golic that one of the three goalies, the threeheaded goalender uh will be traded. >> Is that what you're saying? >> That sounds fun. Let's put that out there. Let's put that out there. One of them will be traded. Put that on the napkin for sure. >> On the napkin. On the napkin. Put it on. >> And Aiden Hill hasn't played in a game since the Carolina contest when he had to be helped off the ice back in October. And his last win was October the 18th. He was not trending in the right direction. >> Uh 883 save 888 save percentage, which actually was up from his first couple of games, which was in like the 860s or 850s or something. Coming up next, VGK's injury updates coming up next right here on Lockdown Golden Knights. NFL Sundays move fast, one big play, and suddenly everything feels different. 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Welcome back on this edition of Lockdown Golden Nights. Tony Kredasco and Chris Gollik from Las Vegas. We appreciate you making us your first listen every day. Of course, find us wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe to Lockdown Golden Nights, our YouTube channel. And Chris, yeah, that Raider team is pretty ill. They're ill. Uh Pete Carol is not going to survive this. I went on the Mike Davis show yesterday and the topic was Raiders and like there's no way I I thought that they needed consistency, right? But there's no way he can survive this. This is just brutal. >> Uh Bruce Cassidy yesterday, he gave us some injury updates. And first, let's talk about the return of the one and only VK defenseman, Jeremy Lison. >> He was back on the ice. He not only wore the red non-cont jersey, uh, but they had him sit in the penalty box for a few minutes to get reacquainted. Let's go with the box. >> Where that is? >> I made that part up, of course, but Cassidy says depending on how Lison looks this morning at the morning skate. Um, he could be in the lineup coming up ahead tomorrow. Uh, VK reassigning Dylan Coglin to Henderson yesterday, so that makes some room for his return. And so when Jeremy Loausan returns, Ben Hutton will be the scratch. >> Is this where we start asking that question, how much does this team hate Ben Hutton again? >> Yeah, it could be. It could be because I he was more productive, I think. You know, not just intangibles, right? Not just points wise and everything else, but him on the ice, he settled down this team when Ben Hunt's playing. When Lon's out there, you don't know. He's a live wire. You don't know what he's going to do. What kind of trouble is he's going to get you into the building. You know what's going to happen. You know what he's going to do. >> Yeah, for sure. So, Ben Hutton is the scratch, do you think? >> I mean, Ben Hutton's averaging 1412 on the ice. He can kill some penalties when needed. Nine points in 24 games. Lison, no goals, four assists, averaging 15 1554 time on ice. So, uh, Lison is a plus three where Ben Hutton is a plus two. Um, I mean, this team just won five games in a row on the road. They haven't lost in regulation in a minute. Why, even if Lison is ready, why rush him back? What's the What's the rush? No pun intended. Um, Ben Hutton seems to bring more value to this roster in general and I can't make a case for Lison replacing any of the defenseman. Maybe Corzac if they're just looking to mix it up a little bit, but again, Corors is a plus eight right now. I mean, we talked, you mentioned you're you're concerned about this defense, Tony. metrics. I mean, maybe the metrics are better than the eye test at times, but the metrics of the VGK defenders are pretty darn good. >> Yeah, the defense it still it still worries me. And they still could use just a thumper in there. Um, you know, we talked about >> Petrangelo and that's fine. >> And they missed Petangelo. Healthy Petrangelo, of course, >> you always have to point that out because >> he was hurting them towards the end of last season. He's a warrior. >> Yeah. But the game of Lison, not quite sure. This love affair. Um maybe because they made a trade for him and they feel obligated to to play him a lot. I'm not sure. I'm really not sure on that one. Uh and then of course we have the case of one William Carlson. He is on LTIR. No idea when he returns. He's listed as week to week and he's on the Bill Foley plan. So, I think he can return whenever he wants to. He might be vacationing right now. I'm not quite sure. Um, he can definitely do whatever he wants. And additionally, he saves the Golden Knights cap space. >> Carlson's 32 years old. He's uh he's getting up there right now as far as, you know, BGK terms of >> He's almost in uh in the range of Philip Rivers right now. >> Yeah. But Philip Rivers slightly has more kids. But uh >> yeah, slightly >> killed his Hall of Fame eligibility just to go lose to Seattle. How about that? Um 5.9 million for William Carlson through uh next season. >> I will go out on a very um on a very strong uh thick limb and say William, this is William Carlson's highest AEV he'll ever get. He's not going to get 5.9 million ever again. Number one, >> they overpaid him. number one. >> You know, you wonder looking at his I mean since even back in his two two full seasons in Columbus, 81 games, 81 games, Vegas 82 games, 82 games plays I believe all the COVID games um in the 63 game regular season. The next year 56 games, 67 games in 2122, all 82 games in the Stanley Cup here. last three seasons, 70 games, 53 games. He'll be lucky to get into the 40s this season by the way things are going. So ultimately where I'm going with this, are we looking at not career ending, but are we looking at some type of careering injury with um with his groin, with his hamstring, with his leg, whatever it is, because something major is wrong with William Carlson right now. And it's unfortunate this team needs just like a healthy Petrangelo, they need a healthy William Carlson. They got good depth down the middle, but a healthy William Carlson would make things a little bit better for this team. >> Well, I have a feeling that VGK is saying, "Well, we're winning, so we don't really need you just yet." Okay. >> But they weren't winning over the last 12 games before this. You know what I mean? >> Right. Right. But maybe he wasn't. He's got to be almost ready. Or if not, then just so I honestly don't think so. I don't know. He's got he's bouncing up and down. >> Wrong. I think the surgery words being thrown around. I have no knowledge on >> Well, then do the surgery. Then do the surgery and get it over with. I don't know. >> Two years ago. >> Yeah. And I just think that this team sometimes thinks that he's much more important than he actually is. You know, >> a healthy version of him is extremely important. >> I think it's time to write another front page sports story about him. We haven't had one in a day. Um, so we talked as well Sorry, man. Uh, we talked about Aiden Hill week to week so we could move on from him. And last report, um, wasn't it the good doctor who said he'd be back perhaps by first they he walked back a report that said that Aiden Hill wouldn't be ready until later. It's definitely an injury and he's tweaked something, what have you. Then, uh, Sarah, I think, uh, he walked it back or Freriedman. Um, and then they were just talking about, "Oh, well, he'll be back late December." Well, late December is right here. It's right around the corner. Um, cas one of them casually said, I think it was Freriedman >> maybe a month ago and said it's months until, right, >> Aiden Hill is going to be back. It was very It was very >> I didn't know he walked it back, but >> maybe because it's going to be longer. >> Yeah. No, >> not because it's going to be shorter. >> No, he said shorter. He did. He said he walked it back and said that it could be late December. >> Every local report out there I've seen, best case scenario is January. Best case scenario. >> Okay. So January, that's fine. And then uh one other injury of of >> So we've got those two. We've got uh Aiden Hill, William Carlson, week to week designations. And then uh there was some concern the other day, right, when Pavle Dorf left the game on Saturday. Uh but he was back on the ice yesterday. He's good. So he just tweaked something. That's that's the >> He took a big hit, didn't he? Not too long ago. I forgot. >> Yeah, that's the injury designation though. Tweaking something. >> Coming up next. >> Tweak to tweak to tweak. >> Tweak to tweak. Coming up next, VK's Trevor Connelly will be participating in the upcoming World Juniors Championships. We'll tell you more about it next right here on Lockdown Golden Nights. Thank you for making Lockdown Golden Nights of the day and each and every day. You do that and we appreciate it. Thank you for making Lockdown the number one sports podcast network on the planet. You already live your team every day. Now you can take it up a level. Go ad free. Join the everydayer club like a lot of folks have already. They've taken advantage of this deal. And you could get lockdown golden nights with no interruptions. Members only discord access and much much more. All for only $5 a month or $50 per year. And go to lockdonpodcast.com everydayers. lockdownpodcast.com/ everyyders. You just realized that your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring Indeed, it is Indeed. That's all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other major sites. Indeed's sponsored jobs puts your post at the top of the page and it can help you to reach the right candidates faster. I've been in a spot right now again you need to hire someone like yesterday. The pressure is on. It's building and every day without the right person is an absolute setback. That's exactly when Indeed sponsored jobs come in handy and they make sure that your post is seen by the right candidates right now. Now you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 sponsor job credit. Just go to indeed.com/lockdown right now and support our show Lockdown the Nights by saying that you heard about Indeed on this very podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. back on this edition of Lockdown Golden Knights. Tony Kardasco and Chris Gollik reporting from Las Vegas. Thanks for making us your first listen this upcoming weekend. I really hopefully on Monday I'll have a voice because last year I had some issues with it after I did a few games at the South Point Division 2 basketball men and women's coming up this weekend. But this year, this year I'm doing all six games on Saturday and then six more on Sunday, playbyplay. And and you know what a mic cog I am there, Gollic. I'm doing them all by myself. So, we'll do the playbyplay. We'll do the color. We'll have fun. Fun will be had by all. >> You will have words. >> I'll have words. I'll have a lot of words. I wonder if we could like get that little platform that we have for this show to count all the words I say over the weekend. That would be kind of fun. Uh VGK rookie Trevor Connelly will be playing for Team USA and the upcoming World Junior Championship in Minnesota. It starts on December the 26th. When Connelly played in the World Junior Showcase, you might recall he sustained that knee injury this past July. It kept him out of action for four months. He had four points for Team USA to win the 2025 Junior's title. Yeah. Uh Connelly, I mean, listen, we we know about his past and it's been, you know, a long time since he's been with the organization. Now things seem to be going the right direction for the 19year-old. Can't forget how young he is. 11 points in the American League, three goals, four assist with a now more of a middling HSK team. Started out pretty hot. I think they're 12 and 10 or something right now. Um, side note, tonight, Tuesday, is a fun night to go to the Silver Knights game. Tonight's the teddy bear toss. So, the first goal that the Silver Knights score, uh, it will rain down thousands and thousands and thousands of teddy bears. So, it's a lot of fun. I'll be there with uh, my ice dogs hockey team. We'll be out there watching in attendance and uh, ton of fun. This is a game I haven't missed since they started doing this back at the Orleans Arena, I think, in 2021 or something like that. Yeah, that's it's a lot of fun. I know that uh the team puts a lot into it, too. So, >> Oh, for sure. For sure. No, this is a good day. And curious what the attendance will be on a Tuesday night, but uh it'll definitely bring people out. This is my first game I'm going to and I have season tickets for crying out loud. >> Is there anyone you're going to boo? >> No. Okay. Um I just get the feeling that for Trevor Connelly, he's still playing. He's still playing. So, you'll see him tonight and go up against the glass and bang on the glass and say, "Hey, man, you you've heard of us. We talk about you a lot." Uh, I just get the feeling that one more leg injury or knee injury and it could really jeopardize his career. Um, and and to me, >> it's not William Carlson. Tony's not made of glass. Relax. >> Okay. But to me though, I just I'm a little bit torn in that why would they allow him why would they want him to play? And they're they were talking about >> because they want to showcase him, Tony. He's a prospect. They want to showcase him to the world and more on a benefit >> to get rid of him. >> Showcase him is a better way to put it, but absolutely. >> So again, it leads us to this question. Does playing international hockey help a player like Trevor Conny's development as a professional? He's a good player on the ice, but does it does this is all about reshaping his image too, right? as much as much as it is playing in the game. Oh, >> there's always the business and PR side of this, Tony. There's no doubt about it. >> Don't you think that's a PR move, too? I do. >> Why not? And so be it. I mean, listen, you know, we've I'm sure we probably attacked the kid more than any We didn't attack him. Kids make mistakes. We attacked >> No, we did not. No, we just were right down the middle and reported the facts. >> No, but but I'm sure we are heavier than other places. And I think that's also not a bad thing, Tony. Um but on the same on the same uh wavelength I guess you can say he's been kept himself clean, kept himself out of um the news for the wrong reasons in his year plus now with being here. And again he's a 19year-old. Can't forget that he's a 19year-old and he's playing well. And on the on the VGK business side of things right now, yes, the PR side number one is important for any of the other 31 NHL teams that might consider him in any type of trade package. You almost have to wonder if uh he became an Abbottzford Canuck uh over the weekend. There was some very light reports that VGK was kicking tires on Quinn Hughes, but there was no there was not a path to getting Quinn Hughes in Vegas as remarkable as it would have been. Um, so yeah, I mean, get him out there, get him out there on the international stage. Let the kid do well and perform and it's either going to make him, you know, a good future, you know, piece of this VGK team or more likely a trade possibility this February or next February. >> Yeah, I still get the feeling that one more leg injury or knee injury will be detrimental because he had the two leg injuries at Michigan. He had the one last July that we saw and uh we watched that video a lot and he just got scrunched on his leg and I just >> It's a risk, Tony. But you know what? He wants to be on the ice. So hopefully it works out. >> Okay. And I I just I don't know how much it develops you, you know, as far as international play. We'll see. We'll see. Maybe it sets him up to be an Olympian someday. That was >> Exactly. >> Thanks for tuning in today to Lockdown Golden Knights. Make sure that you subscribe and follow us on Lockdown Golden Nights wherever you get your podcast and also on YouTube TV and on YouTube and you can get all of the latest episodes and check it out on SSSEN. Did uh Lockdown Golden Knights make your Spotify rap list? Uh just prove it on social media and you'll secure a month of our brand new Everydayer club. So check it out for my man Chris Golick, Tony Cordasco from Las Vegas. We'll see you again tomorrow right here on Lockdown Golden Nights.

Vegas Golden Knights face a goaltending shakeup as Adin Hill could lose his top spot—and even land on the trade block—while Carter Hart’s strong return sparks a fierce netminder competition. Is Vegas prepared to trade a playoff hero to free up crucial cap space and bolster their roster ahead of the NHL deadline?

Tony Dasco and Chris Gawlik spotlight Hill’s stint on LTIR, his hefty contract, and Hart’s undefeated stretch in regulation. The conversation breaks down Akira Schmid’s emergence, long-term injury concerns for William Karlsson, and the endless challenges of maxing out cap flexibility. Plus, VGK’s prospect Trevor Connolly gears up for the World Juniors as roster decisions loom. With injury updates and defense questions swirling, can the Golden Knights recalibrate for another Stanley Cup run—or will critical moves off the ice shape this franchise’s future?

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