Dallas Stars: Vegas Golden Knights Could Subtract From Any Position
By Josh Clark
The Dallas Stars must turn in their protected list on Saturday afternoon. But once the Vegas Golden Knights receive the list of unprotected Stars’ players, which area will they pick from?
Put yourself in Vegas GM George McPhee’s shoes for a moment. Feels pretty powerful, doesn’t it?
In just one day, 30 NHL teams will be at your fingertips. Some will be trying to swing a deal with you, others will be struggling to protect their top players, and some will be accepting their fate and giving you the freedom to choose any player on their exposed list.
It’s a great situation to be in, but it’s probably rather overwhelming. Once all of the teams make their final trades before the lists are submitted, Vegas can sit back and wait while possibly getting in on a potential trade themselves.
But once the lists are submitted, the clock is ticking. From there, it’s all on McPhee to choose the right players, balance out his roster, and be ready to go in October. With only 72 hours to work and some 600 players to sort through, it’s not going to be easy.
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He has done his homework and likely already has his strategy planned out on how to pick each player, but I’m personally glad I’m not in his shoes. I wouldn’t know where to begin. It seems like an incessant game of trial-and-error and countless trips back to the drawing board. Thank goodness it’s not me.
Once McPhee gets around to the Dallas Stars list, there’s bound to be some debate. With some teams, it’s pretty clear which player is going to be picked or targeted. But with the Stars, it looks as though there will be a variety of popular choices.
That poses the overarching question: which position on the Stars will the Golden Knights draft a player from?
It’s a loaded question and can only be speculated on at this point considering we do not know which players will be available. Jim Nill still has one day to make any necessary trades before the protected lists are due.
So until that happens, there really is no clear look at which players will be exposed by the Dallas Stars and which ones will still be a part of the organization. It’s all a complicated web of confusion.
But for the article’s sake, let’s just go ahead and assume that Nill makes no trades between now and Saturday at 4 p.m. and that the consensus predictions are true.
Who does that leave Vegas looking at? Names like Cody Eakin, Curtis McKenzie, Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth, Dan Hamhuis, and a few others come to mind. But who is Vegas going to take?
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Well it all really comes down to what they need at the time. Vegas must take a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders. They can use the other four spots however they would like.
Does Vegas want a young, hard-hitting defender for their blue line? Or maybe a veteran defender to lead a young blue line? Do they want a young center that can win face-offs and set up a scoring rush?
There’s a lot to be considered. Not to mention that Vegas could even be swayed to take a goaltender off of the Stars’ hands.
Once the lists are turned in, all 30 NHL teams are forbidden to make any trades or transactions unless it is a deal with Vegas.
Could Nill negotiate a deal with Vegas and have them pick Antti Niemi? Vegas could pick him and then either keep him or buy him out (depending on if they have cap troubles considering they will have 30 NHL contracts counting against their cap hit). He could help them out by being the guy to cut if the Golden Knights find themselves in a pickle.
In return, Nill could promise them a few draft picks or even a player to be determined after the expansion draft. It could be a win-win for both teams, so the door has to be left open on that possibility.
With all of the possible names on the board, it seems as though it would be hard for Vegas to pass up on Eakin. He’s a playmaker and even though he had a down year because of injury in 2016-17, he has proven throughout his career that he can tally 40 points when healthy and can play first line minutes. Not to mention that he has yet to hit his prime.
If Eakin is still on the board, he would be a solid option for Vegas. He’s got talent and still has three years left on his deal with a cap hit of $3.85 million. It’s hard to look over that if you’re George McPhee.
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Oleksiak could be another quality addition if Eakin is dealt before the deadline, but he would have to be negotiated with considering he is an RFA.
It all rests on what McPhee needs at the time. Until then, all we can do is frantically guess and speculate. Isn’t it great?