Rumor: Vegas trade block stacked with blue liners

With news that the Vegas Golden Knights had demoted top players Vadim Shipachyov, Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore to the team’s AHL affiliate the Chicago Wolves, eyebrows were raised across the NHL. However, dig a little deeper and it’s clear exactly what Knights GM George McPhee is attempting to do: buy himself time, time to make a deal.

Shipachyov, Tuch and Theodore are Vegas’ only waiver exempt players on their roster, if McPhee had chosen to demote anyone else, he’d risk losing them on waivers for no return. By demoting the above mentioned players, he gives himself until Friday to ship out three roster players for at least a draft pick return.

So, who’s on the trading block? The most likely candidates are on the blue line including Jason Garrison, Brad Hunt and Luca Sbisa. If the team could remove all three of these players from their roster, they’d be in good shape moving forward. Up front, there’s not much the team would like to part with, so look for McPhee to work the phones furiously to move a defender before they open the season on Friday.