Speculation: 2018-19 roster

[CupInSIX]

I can see him getting claimed by a team that wants to see if he can return to the form he showed with the Rangers. The $1.7M cap hit isn't THAT big, and the fact that his contract is expiring could make him more enticing. In fact, I could even see the Rangers claiming him.

Yeah the Rangers or Habs would definitely claim him. I think we're gonna lose Carpenter and Lindberg to waivers, unless there's an injury situation.

It's very rare to see 4th liners get traded before the season opens because there's always a decent option on waivers.

edit: although that would mean 2 less centers in the depth chart so what do I know

 

[Aurinko]

Yeah the Rangers or Habs would definitely claim him. I think we're gonna lose Carpenter and Lindberg to waivers, unless there's an injury situation.

It's very rare to see 4th liners get traded before the season opens because there's always a decent option on waivers.

edit: although that would mean 2 less centers in the depth chart so what do I know

Centers shouldn't be much of a problem, in the current lineup we have 8 of them.

 

[Aurinko]

Is Lindberg even worth a draft pick to another team? I'm thinking they might just eat his last year's salary and send him to Chicago. He'll be motivated to play well there since he's about to be UFA and is still young enough to get someone to take a shot on him if he produces there. Honestly can't imagine he's going to get claimed on waivers with $1.7m cap hit for at best a 4th liner.

IMO he is a minimal risk and one worth taking. He needs a contract, and knows what he has to do to get into the lineup. The other guys have were not here the whole season waiting like he was.

I'm ok getting rid of him, but it would hurt to see him score 35-40 points in some other team. In the Rangers he was on his way to 35 pts and also had 3 goals in 2017 playoffs.

 

[Blue Goose]

It's very rare to see 4th liners get traded before the season opens because there's always a decent option on waivers.

True, but it all depends on whether another team in the league sees him as a Top-9 guy. And while there are waiver options close to the start of the season, we always seem to see a few trades in the week leading up to opening day after teams can assess their rosters during camp. It also helps if the team wanting Lindberg finished high in the standings last year and might be worried that he would get claimed by a team higher in the waiver order.

 

[willy702]

IMO he is a minimal risk and one worth taking. He needs a contract, and knows what he has to do to get into the lineup. The other guys have were not here the whole season waiting like he was.

I'm ok getting rid of him, but it would hurt to see him score 35-40 points in some other team. In the Rangers he was on his way to 35 pts and also had 3 goals in 2017 playoffs.

Basically he's the reverse Carpenter. But in reality you can't think that way. I know many Sharks fans and none of them are terribly upset he was let go and then found a decent role elsewhere. Smart fans get it that the bottom 6 guys are pretty interchangeable and the ones who put up the best production just got an opportunity. Those other teams might claim him and give him a role that gets him points, but it would be really hard to think he could have gotten those points in Vegas. I say try it and let his $1.7m walk and let all these other guys do what they can with the ice time because we aren't getting value out of them just letting them age closer to free agency and putting up points in Chicago.

 

[Vegan Knight]

I know giving goalies 8 year contracts are somewhat risky but all 8 year contracts are, to a degree. But the fact that Anaheim got prime years Gibson for 6.4 in high tax California makes the older Fleury contract look less good for us.

We should have got him for less, we really should have. McPhee is not good at cap management at all. That advantage we had is officially gone. We could have gotten more out of it.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

I know giving goalies 8 year contracts are somewhat risky but all 8 year contracts are, to a degree. But the fact that Anaheim got prime years Gibson for 6.4 in high tax California makes the older Fleury contract look less good for us.

We should have got him for less, we really should have. McPhee is not good at cap management at all. That advantage we had is officially gone. We could have gotten more out of it.

I agree. Fleury should have been signed to a hometown discount contract.

And a lot of the cap flexibility was wasted on bums. Tatar must produce or he's the worst contract on the team. I really hope he finally fits in and has at least a decent season.

I really believe that the credit for the expansion draft should be given to the scouting department. GMGM is highly overrated.

 

[LadyStanley]

Minimum NHL roster is 20 (18 skaters and 2 goalies).

Teams have to be cap compliant day before season open.

Lots of teams will be putting guys on waivers in the week or so prior to season start. Usually possible to get players through (excepting situation like Malcolm Subban last year). I think that move by GMGM (as well as Carpenter) was a shot across the bow to other GMs and they will more carefully consider their waiver options.

 

[Aurinko]

Few 2nd / 3rd line speculations (with expected goals):

Haula-Stast-Tatar : fast and high scoring (25+15+25), would need a lot of combined work for this line to end up with a balanced defence.
Tatar-Stast-Tuch : good scoring (25+15+20), decent defence? Tuch and Tatar might have synergy
Carr/Lindberg-Haula-Carpenter : good scoring (10-25-20) , good defence! Carr would bring the grit, Carpenter the defence and Haula the speed and scoring. I hope they try Lindberg here.
Tatar-Eakin-Tuch : decent scoring (20-15-15) , good defence. Tatar brings the scoring and speed, Eakin the defence and Tuch the skill.

Didn't see any breakthrough goals last season from Haula and Tatar. I expect that to change in the next season.

 

[Brazen331]

I think they need to play Tatar with Stastny to get the most out of Tatar. Maybe Tatar can get 30 goals with Stastny?

 

[Vegan Knight]

Honestly, if we needed to save money on day one for the Clarkson contract, and had to start with less players than 23 on the roster, I don't think ANY other team touches that Reaves contract. He would sail through waivers and free up almost 3 million for us.

 

[willy702]

Honestly, if we needed to save money on day one for the Clarkson contract, and had to start with less players than 23 on the roster, I don't think ANY other team touches that Reaves contract. He would sail through waivers and free up almost 3 million for us.

Actually you want to have him claimed if you don't want the charge. What the team would save having him clear and go to Chicago doesn't make enough difference to do anything meaningful. And if he plays a lot he might put up some points on the 4th line and the contract may not prove to be that bad.

 

[Brazen331]

Maybe they have a use for Reaves for all that money. It's hard to think of a possible scenario but here is one: say Glass makes the team. Maybe you have a line of Haula-Glass-Reaves. The reason being you have someone on the ice to protect Glass from getting abused as he is still a man/boy tweener at this point. And it would sort of mirror the Caps top line in that you have 2 skill guys and a checker/mucker type to get possession of the puck in the offensive zone.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

I think they need to play Tatar with Stastny to get the most out of Tatar. Maybe Tatar can get 30 goals with Stastny?

Tatar has gotten close to 30 only once in his career. It would be a miracle for him to get 30. I'd be happy with 20 to 23 goals.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

Maybe they have a use for Reaves for all that money. It's hard to think of a possible scenario but here is one: say Glass makes the team. Maybe you have a line of Haula-Glass-Reaves. The reason being you have someone on the ice to protect Glass from getting abused as he is still a man/boy tweener at this point. And it would sort of mirror the Caps top line in that you have 2 skill guys and a checker/mucker type to get possession of the puck in the offensive zone.

Wow are you serious? Think about what you're saying. How long have you watched hockey?

Haula can't be mentioned in the same category of a player that has scored 50 goals 7 times and has scored over 600 goals in his career.

Next up is Glass who is a rookie and a primary playmaker as he's a pass first guy and his shooting numbers look good but when you watch him on film he doesn't have that sniper shot or explosion off the stick on a snapshot while Kuzy is an elite playmaker And scorer who is just entering his prime. Glass also doesn't have the elite speed that Kuzy has.

Now the funniest part of your line. You have Reaves who scored 4 goals all regular season compared to a player who scored 14 last year. Wilson is a dirty thug, but has much more skill than Reaves. This proposed line is nowhere near the level of the Caps top line.

 

[Aurinko]

Wow are you serious? Think about what you're saying. How long have you watched hockey?

Haula can't be mentioned in the same category of a player that has scored 50 goals 7 times and has scored over 600 goals in his career.

Next up is Glass who is a rookie and a primary playmaker as he's a pass first guy and his shooting numbers look good but when you watch him on film he doesn't have that sniper shot or explosion off the stick on a snapshot while Kuzy is an elite playmaker And scorer who is just entering his prime. Glass also doesn't have the elite speed that Kuzy has.

Now the funniest part of your line. You have Reaves who scored 4 goals all regular season compared to a player who scored 14 last year. Wilson is a dirty thug, but has much more skill than Reaves. This proposed line is nowhere near the level of the Caps top line.

You can't compare a 1st line player to a 2nd/3rd line player, or a player with a different role.

Haula is behind in pretty much every official NHL statistics, not to mention his horrible +/- and quite low playoff contribution. Based on advanced stats like GA/60, rel GF/60 or normalized +/-, I will say that Haula had absolutely cancerous year overall if you look at his 200ft game and moves even further back in comparison.

There is an area where the stats are comparable with Ovie's 17-18 stats... if you normalize the PP time, their stats in PP are quite similar, especially when considering the other plays in PP2. Both are definitely scorers with shoot first mentality.

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Haula-Glass-Reaves would be a fun line to see for sure.
Their overall +/- would probably be really awful, since Glass is too rookie to fix the defensive problems that Haula and Reaves would bring

 

[IceNeophyte]

You can't compare a 1st line player to a 2nd/3rd line player, or a player with a different role.

Haula is behind in pretty much every official NHL statistics, not to mention his horrible +/- and quite low playoff contribution. Based on advanced stats like GA/60, rel GF/60 or normalized +/-, I will say that Haula had absolutely cancerous year overall if you look at his 200ft game and moves even further back in comparison.

There is an area where the stats are comparable with Ovie's 17-18 stats... if you normalize the PP time, their stats in PP are quite similar, especially when considering the other plays in PP2. Both are definitely scorers with shoot first mentality.

---

Haula-Glass-Reaves would be a fun line to see for sure.
Their overall +/- would probably be really awful, since Glass is too rookie to fix the defensive problems that Haula and Reaves would bring

With anyone on the 2d line, there was no 200 ft game to look at.

 

[Vegan Knight]

I would try to see if we could offload Eakin's cap hit to the Isles (they need a 2C so Eakin as a 3C won't help much but he can be a defensively reliable stopgap for them for two seasons they won't be competing anyway and they gave Komarov a 4 year deal so, come on) and take a flyer on Dal Colle if we give the Isles a 3rd rounder and maybe something else small.

 

[LadyStanley]

Shea Theodore, Golden Knights continue to discuss new deal

VGK, Theodore continue to talk.

 

[Pirate Deadpool]

You can't compare a 1st line player to a 2nd/3rd line player, or a player with a different role.

Haula is behind in pretty much every official NHL statistics, not to mention his horrible +/- and quite low playoff contribution. Based on advanced stats like GA/60, rel GF/60 or normalized +/-, I will say that Haula had absolutely cancerous year overall if you look at his 200ft game and moves even further back in comparison.

There is an area where the stats are comparable with Ovie's 17-18 stats... if you normalize the PP time, their stats in PP are quite similar, especially when considering the other plays in PP2. Both are definitely scorers with shoot first mentality.

---

Haula-Glass-Reaves would be a fun line to see for sure.
Their overall +/- would probably be really awful, since Glass is too rookie to fix the defensive problems that Haula and Reaves would bring

I'm replying to the brazen331 post who says those 3 can be similar to the caps top line. I didn't make that idiotic line proposal.

 

[Vegan Knight]

I thought of this during the slow news summer.

Considering I don't think Holm ever played for us, won't ever now and Leipsic was decent with us and alright to finish the season, what was the purpose of that trade?

It wasn't money.

We already had, and continue to have, a plethora of 6/7D and Leipsic would be able to fight for a third line winger spot we currently have competition over.

It seemed a pointless trade at the time and now seems like a bad one.

 

[Blue Goose]

Considering I don't think Holm ever played for us, won't ever now and Leipsic was decent with us and alright to finish the season, what was the purpose of that trade?

It wasn't money.

We already had, and continue to have, a plethora of 6/7D and Leipsic would be able to fight for a third line winger spot we currently have competition over.

It seemed a pointless trade at the time and now seems like a bad one.

I think our success last season had a lot to do with it. If we sucked (like we were supposed to after the Exp Draft), GMGM would have traded Neal/Perron and Leipsic would have gotten a bigger role going into this season. Instead, we ended up being good and GM went out and traded for Reaves/Tatar, which left no room on the roster for Leipsic - the fact that he had so much trouble actually finishing this year made it easier to make the move.

I imagine no one was offering any picks/prospects for Leipsic, though he would have likely gotten claimed had he been put on waivers, so GM took what he could get: defensive depth for the AHL team (and Holm was waiver-exempt).

I liked Leipsic as much as any VGK fan, but I've let it go. Player movement is the nature of the game.

 

[Aurinko]

I think our success last season had a lot to do with it. If we sucked (like we were supposed to after the Exp Draft), GMGM would have traded Neal/Perron and Leipsic would have gotten a bigger role going into this season. Instead, we ended up being good and GM went out and traded for Reaves/Tatar, which left no room on the roster for Leipsic - the fact that he had so much trouble actually finishing this year made it easier to make the move.

I imagine no one was offering any picks/prospects for Leipsic, though he would have likely gotten claimed had he been put on waivers, so GM took what he could get: defensive depth for the AHL team (and Holm was waiver-exempt).


I liked Leipsic as much as any VGK fan, but I've let it go. Player movement is the nature of the game.

Leipsic

I loved the speed and team player that Leipsic presented. I don't like to see good guys like him go.

I want to see a 15%+ shooting percentage from forwards. There can be a lot of excuses about role and quality of team mates, but when Leipsic ending up with a 5% shot... there is no excuse. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky. That may be true to great players, but if you are sporting a 5% shot... Maybe let the ones shoot that can actually hit something. Leipsic isn't a scorer and has to play with his other strengths and stop wasting chances.

Knights in October 2018

After seeing all the pre season negativity and horrible ranking predictions, it would be amazing to see a good start for the season. The team is fast, exciting and gritty. My dream is to see the 2nd and 3rd lines click to get some of the pressure off from the first line. It is very likely that the MaF goaltending won't be as good as last season, some of the guys will have an off season and that team will have its first letdowns. In hindsight I think that every single big move has been in the right way (losing Neal/Perron = fine, getting a good team guy like Reaves = fine, giving Tatar an incredible opportunity to shine...).

Tatar has had a time to get used to his team, is 100% healthy and rested and actually has quite low expectations considering he will most likely play with Stastsny. I can see see good things coming from this. The greatest thing is that we have interesting young players coming and any stepback is an opportunity for them to shine.

 

[LadyStanley]

Monday Morning Mailbag: Projecting the Golden Knights’ lineup

Knights on Ice with his take on season starting lineup

 

[Aurinko]

Monday Morning Mailbag: Projecting the Golden Knights’ lineup

Knights on Ice with his take on season starting lineup

Forwards
Jonathan Marchessault — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Erik Haula — Paul Stastny — Alex Tuch
Tomas Tatar — Cody Eakin — Ryan Carpenter
Tomas Nosek — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Ryan Reaves

Defense
Nate Schmidt — Brayden McNabb
Shea Theodore — Deryk Engelland
Nick Holden — Colin Miller

Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury
Malcolm Subban


These lines look pretty anti-climatic. He has Haula and Tuch in the same line... if it works it might be great, but in the last season I didn't see much chemistry there. There is chance for Haula-Stastny-Tatar, since last season Turk also played 2nd line in quite an offensive role. Unless everything fails, we will probably see just a few quite early 2nd/3rd line tweaks and that's it.

It's a solid guess for starting line-ups.

edit: Haula had team high 12PPG's last season, he likely plays in the 2nd PP with Stastny. It would be quite logical to see them in the same 5v5 line also.