Rumor: Golden Knights at risk of losing a defenseman for nothing!

Golden Knights may have a major problem.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Rumor: Golden Knights at risk of losing a defenseman for nothing!
Keystone Press

The Las Vegas Golden Knights had a very obvious draft strategy when they entered the National Hockey League Expansion Draft for their franchise, and that strategy was to hoard as many defensemen as they possibly could.

Now however the Golden Knights and general manager George McPhee are facing a bit of a surplus however, with 11 defensemen on the roster and seemingly no solution in sight for this particular problem.

In a recent article for The Hockey News Jared Clinton touched on the fact that a lock of players eligible for the American Hockey League could result in Las Vegas losing one or more of their defensemen for absolutely nothing. 

From Clinton:

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Sure, financially, there’s no issue with carrying all 11 defensemen as they earn a combined $20.825 million and Vegas remains under the cap by upwards of $5.6 million, but with only six or seven nightly spots available and a maximum roster size of 23, Vegas needs to do some trimming in time for opening night. And doing so isn’t as easy as shuffling some bodies to the AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves.

Matter of fact, as it stands, only one Golden Knights defenseman, Theodore, is available to be sent to the minors without hitting the waiver wire, and that can complicate things for Vegas GM George McPhee. In a perfect world, he would be able to whittle down his defense to his six or seven best and store a few NHL-ready hands in the AHL, but the lack of waiver-exempt defensemen won’t allow that to be the case. That could mean one or more of the defensemen Vegas selected, traded for or acquired via free agency could be lost for nothing.

Now obviously McPhee would look to waive his least valuable players first, however if he selected these defensemen it was likely because he felt he could either use them next season or find a potential home for them in some sort of a trade. 

While there remains plenty of time for McPhee to make more trades, especially if any defensemen are injured during training camp or the preseason, Clinton is correct to highlight the fact that the Golden Knights are in a bit of a risky position. 

No doubt rival general managers will be aware of this as well, and that could impact the potential return for the Golden Knights in a trade.

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