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The Vegas Golden Knights took a massive risk by trading for the most coveted defenseman in this year’s trade market.
The Golden Knights pulled off a massive trade on Sunday night, landing highly coveted defenseman Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames.
While the move isn’t exactly a shock, it is, nonetheless, a huge risk for the Golden Knights. The move had been in the cards for quite some time. As a piece in the Calgary Herald noted, Flames GM Craig Conroy had spoken to the Golden Knights as far back as last June on a potential trade.
Despite other beings being in the mix for the deal, it was ultimately the Golden Knight who got their man.
The man is a major step forward for the Golden Knights. Andersson will replace Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo underwent surgery last year, essentially ending his career. Since then, the Knights have played with a hole in their blue line. That’s a hole the hope that Andersson can fill, leading to a Stanley Cup this season.
The risk for Vegas is twofold. Firstly, the return is a handsome one for Calgary. The Knights sent defenseman Zach Whitecloud and blueline prospect Abram Wiebe to Calgary. Whitecloud is a tough, middle-pairing blueliner at best. He adds a strong physical game, potentially giving the Flames a little extra juice on the backend. Wiebe was a college prospect for the Golden Knights. He’s a major question mark, who could turn into a serviceable NHL blueliner.
Then, there are the two draft picks. The Golden Knights gave up their 2027 first-rounder and a conditional 2028 second-rounder. That pick can turn into a first-rounder if the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this season.
That’s a pretty big bet on just one player becoming the difference-maker for the club.
Golden Knights Still Need to Re-Sign Andersson
The Golden Knights cleared the biggest hurdle by acquiring Andersson. Now, the Knights have to figure out what Andersson’s next contract will look like.
That’s going to be a significant challenge. The 29-year-old is coming off a six-year deal carrying a $4.55 million cap hit. The Flames retained 50% of that hit for the remainder of this season. But after this year, the Knights are on their own.
Now, re-signing Andersson on its own shouldn’t be a major issue. The talk has been that Vegas is the team that the Swedish blueliner wanted to sign with. The issue becomes how much and for how long.
The Golden Knights could still sign Andersson to a max-term eight-year deal early next offseason. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement doesn’t kick in until September this year. After that, teams will only be able to sign own free agents for a maximum of seven years.
Then, there’s the issue of Andersson’s cap hit. He will most certainly not come in at $4.5 million moving forward. There’s a good chance that salary inflation in a rising cap world could bring Andersson in upwards of $9 million. However, an eight-digit cap hit would not be out of the question.
The Golden Knights would love it if Andersson could come in at around Pietrangelo’s cap hit of $8.8 million. If the Knights are willing to commit to Andersson long term, there’s a good shot of that happening.
Vegas Might Regret Losing Draft Picks
Yes, draft picks are nothing more than magic beans. They could become franchise-altering players, or they could turn into a puff of smoke.
The fact is that the Golden Knights may regret shipping out their draft picks. While the picks are likely late first-rounders and second-rounders, there’s always the chance those picks could yield a fantastic player.
That’s the risk the Golden Knights took, and it was a savvy move by the Flames to get back as much as they did for Andersson.
Nestor Quixtan Seasoned NHL analyst and baseball writer focused on covering clubs across each league with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor’s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. Nestor’s fondness for baseball and hockey set the tone for his love and passion for writing about sports. More about Nestor Quixtan
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