Happy Monday, everyone.
Life around the NHL has been extremely busy over the last week or so, and things aren’t going to slow down any time soon. Free Agency officially begins Wednesday at 9 a.m., so there could be another flurry of trades in the next few days leading up to it.
Many significant players have been moved already, and there are more big names being thrown around, including but certainly not limited to Jack Eichel.
Now that we’re on the other side of both the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft as well as the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, teams are narrowing their focus on cap management and roster construction.
Here’s an overview of news about the Golden Knights and from around the league:
Golden Knights news
– It looks like Alec Martinez could be here to stay. Also, the Knights extended a qualifying offer to Dylan Coghlan (Nolan Patrick received his prior to the trade). [Knights On Ice]
– For the second time, the Golden Knights fell to the Raiders in the Battle for Vegas, a charity softball game hosted by Reilly Smith; Smith and Marcus Allen were team captains. The event raised $175,000 for the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation. Nate Schmidt returned to Sin City for the event and put on quite a show, winning the home run derby and making a remarkable play at the wall. [NHL]
– T-Mobile Arena will be the site of the first regular-season game in Seattle Kraken franchise history. The Knights are set to host the 32nd team in Vegas’ home opener on Oct. 12. [KOI]
– The rest of the 2021-22 season schedule has since been released. [KOI]
– The Knights also revealed training camp dates as well as the preseason schedule. [KOI]
– ICYMI, Vegas acquired forward Nolan Patrick from the Philadelphia Flyers in a three-team trade; Cody Glass is now a Nashville Predator. The Knights also received forward Brett Howden from the Rangers. [KOI]
NHL Entry Draft
The 2021 NHL Entry Draft was held this past weekend, where the Knights welcomed six new players to the organization. Vegas made two minor trades during the draft, moving down two spots in the second round and moving up 12 spots in the fourth round.
In the end, the Knights drafted three centers, two defensemen and one goaltender, and every player was from a different country: Canada, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine and Sweden.
– Round 1 (No. 30) — (C) Zach Dean [KOI]
– Round 2 (No. 38) — (D) Daniil Chayka [KOI]
– Round 4 (No. 102) — (C) Jakub Brabenec [KOI]
– Round 4 (No. 128) — (C) Jakub Demek [KOI]
– Round 6 (No. 190) — (D) Artur Cholach [KOI]
– Round 7 (No. 222) — (G) Carl Lindbom [KOI]
– Reviews of Vegas’ selections have been mixed, though none are particularly encouraging. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic put Vegas in the bottom half of the league as far as draft performance, and colleague Corey Pronman gave the Knights a C+ overall. Here’s some of what each had to say:
Scott Wheeler: “… If the Golden Knights wanted to target a D with [their second-round] pick, I would have preferred Sean Behrens, Scott Morrow (who was taken two slots later), and Jack Peart, but [Daniil] Chayka wasn’t a huge reach. I worry about his puck handling and his processing on the offensive side of things, but there are redeeming qualities to his defensive game. The Jakub Brabenec selection at 102 could be a sneaky one but comes with some risk. … It got weird after that with [Vegas’] next two picks, before taking a worthwhile cut on standout, diminutive Team Sweden goalie Carl Lindbom in the seventh.” [The Athletic]
Corey Pronman: “Zach Dean and Daniil Chayka are both very good prospects; neither is amazing, but I think both will help Vegas in a few years. I didn’t mind the Golden Knights’ later picks, but realistically I think their top two picks are the ones who play, with both having the potential to be useful, if not good NHL players. [The Athletic]
News from around the NHL
– The Kraken added 30 players to the team. [NHL] The entire draft is available online. [NHL]
– The Canucks and Coyotes pulled off a blockbuster deal involving five players, a top-10 draft pick and more than $20 million in cap space. [NHL] [Nucks Misconduct] [Five For Howling]
– Philadelphia and Columbus swapped forwards Jakub Voracek and Cam Atkinson in a rare one-for-one deal. [NHL]
– Columbus sent Seth Jones to Chicago, where he is expected to sign a massive eight-year extension. [NHL]
– Some are not so pleased with the move. [Second City Hockey]
– The Flyers and Sabres completed a lopsided deal that resulted in Rasmus Ristolainen — one of the worst 5-on-5 defensemen in the NHL — landing in Philly. [The Athletic]
– Somehow, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams got significantly less in return for Sam Reinhart. [NHL]
– The Blues secured their top six by trading for RFA Pavel Buchnevich from the Rangers. [Blueshirt Banter] [St. Louis Game Time]
– The Rangers also bought out the final year of Anthony DeAngelo’s contract. [Blueshirt Banter]
– Cale Makar signed a six-year extension with Colorado. [Avalanche]
– With Makar’s contract taken care of, Joe Sakic and the Avs will turn their attention to pending UFA’s Gabriel Landeskog and Philipp Grubauer. [Denver Post]
– Carolina shipped defenseman Jake Bean to Columbus for a second-round pick. [Canes Country]
– The Hurricanes also traded goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to Detroit in a surprise move. Detroit then signed him to a two-year deal with just a $3 million cap hit. [Canes Country]
Other minor moves
– Marc Staal signed a one-year, $2 million deal with Detroit, and Trevor Moore re-signed with the Kings for two years. Cap Friendly has an updated list of all signings. [Cap Friendly]
– Seattle has made just one trade thus far; it involved sending Tyler Pitlick — after he was selected from Arizona in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft — to Calgary in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick. [NHL]
– The Islanders unloaded Andrew Ladd’s $5.5 million cap hit by sending Ladd and picks to Arizona. [Coyotes]
– Philadelphia did the same with Shayne Gostisbehere. [NHL]
– The Kings and Coyotes swapped non-roster players. [NHL]
Montreal
– The Montreal Canadiens made a controversial decision with their first-round selection, and the reaction has not been good.
Warning: Articles may contain graphic content.
[Eyes On The Prize] [Eyes On The Prize] [The Athletic]
Brotherly Love
On a happier note, there were some great moments in this year’s draft. Here are a few:
Jack Hughes was FIRED UP to learn that his brother Luke will be joining him in New Jersey! 😂#NHLDraft | #NHLonSN pic.twitter.com/4wjUGroWuE
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 24, 2021
WOOOOO HAWKS BABY
Big bro Kirby said it better than we ever could have as he crashed Colton Dach’s first #Blackhawks media sesh! pic.twitter.com/Sionlf3g5T
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) July 24, 2021
Please be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more Golden Knights news and analysis.