From trading Nic Hague to landing Mitch Marner, it’s been quite a start to the offseason for the Vegas Golden Knights. The amount of smoke and drama surrounding the Marner situation would have been enough, but they weren’t done yet. In addition to landing the top Free Agent, they re-signed Reilly Smith, Brandon Saad, and Kaedan Korczak.
On Sunday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman had a lot to say about the Golden Knights. He began by reinforcing general manager Kelly McCrimmon’s comments about two players who weren’t for trade.
“In his media conference, Kelly McCrimmon talked about [Tomáš] Hertl and [William] Karlsson, how he had to call them and tell them that they weren’t getting traded. I heard that he called [Ivan] Barbashev, too,” began Friedman. “Nic Hague is a good player; Nic Roy is a good player. But if you can do this and still keep Hertl, Karlsson, and Barbashev, that’s a huge win for you, no matter who you gave up.”
Very few players are truly ‘untouchable’ in this league– that list would include the likes of Connor McDavid, Cale Makar, and Nathan MacKinnon. Hertl, Karlsson, and Barbashev aren’t among them, but they’re very good players. By refusing to part with them, the Golden Knights are a better team.
Eichel’s New Contract
After landing Mitch Marner, all eyes turn to Jack Eichel. Eichel is in the last year of his eight-year, $10 million contract and is eligible for an extension. And it won’t come cheap– he’s due a significant pay raise.
“Vegas is a smart enough front office that they have already begun to tackle how this will look with Eichel. Eichel can be extended now,” Friedman said. “It’s going to be a big number. I assume it’s going to be over Marner’s number, unless he just decides to come in at the same one.”
Eichel is eligible for an extension, but that doesn’t mean he’ll sign one immediately. That’s not cause for concern– and Marner entering the fold won’t complicate that.
“Eichel is their best player,” continued Friedman. “I find it very hard to believe that the Golden Knights wouldn’t have gone to Eichel and said, ‘Look, you’re worth eleventy billion dollars, but we think we’re going to get Mitch Marner, and now we have Mitch Marner. You’re worth whatever you want, but we have to make this work, and you can win here, and we can all win more together.’
“And I think that’ll work with Eichel,” Friedman finished. “Whatever the number he signs for, I’m going to guess it could have been a lot higher in the open market. I just think that Vegas is too proactive and too smart not to have tackled this already.”
Eichel is a proven winner. In this offseason alone, he watched Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad take significant pay cuts in order to stay. There’s no reason to believe he won’t follow in their footsteps and sign for a reasonable number.
The Golden Knights are ‘Going to be a Problem’
Looking past the addition of 102-point Selke finalist Mitch Marner, the Golden Knights brought both of their key Free Agents back at a bargain price. They lost Nic Roy and Alex Pietrangelo, but brought in Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon.
“I think Vegas had a great summer, and we’re only on July 6th,” Friedman laughed. “I think a lot of teams looked at what they did and said, ‘Uh oh.’ They were already a problem, and now they’re going to be even more of a problem.”
The Golden Knights exceeded expectations last year, winning their fourth division title in eight seasons. However, they fizzled out in the playoffs, and their season ended with back-to-back shutouts at the hands of Stuart Skinner.
There’s a reason the Golden Knights were so aggressive. After the way their season ended against the Edmonton Oilers, no one was happy.
“One of the things I heard, those were some pretty harsh meetings during and after that series,” Friedman said. “They were disappointed; I think everybody was disappointed. Not necessarily that they lost, but they got manhandled. I think the management was mad, I think the coaching staff was mad, I think the players were mad, and I heard it was B-L-U-N-T blunt.
“Some of those guys were really beaten up,” Friedman finished. “I think everybody knew how everybody felt the way they got dominated by the Oilers. It will be motivating for them.”
A motivated team is a scary thing, and these new-look Golden Knights were intimidating enough to begin with.
“This team’s going to be a handful,” Friedman stated. “They’re going to be a problem for everybody else.”
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