It is the proper transfer for a Golden Knights workforce that not solely all the time makes profitable a precedence, but additionally all the time finds a solution to land the following large star it doesn’t matter what its wage cap scenario appears to be like like. They all the time discover a manner. It is nearly as if the wage cap is only a suggestion for them and never one thing that limits their spending.
If there’s a big-name participant accessible, you will be certain the Golden Knights are going to be in on them and possibly get them.
They managed to tug it off lately with the likes of Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Alex Pietrangelo, Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin. They did it once more right here with Marner. And the style wherein all got here collectively for them was classic Golden Knights magic.
For one, including an elite-scoring winger was an enormous want for the Golden Knights coming into the offseason, and Marner was by far the perfect one accessible.
Second, they have been capable of get a rival workforce — on this case, Nashville — to take a participant that was about to get overpaid (defenseman Nicolas Hague) off of their fingers to shed some wage.
By buying and selling Roy to Toronto as a part of the sign-and-trade, in addition they trimmed away an extra $3M.
However the greatest a part of the sequence was Pietrangelo, who continues to be owed $8.8M per 12 months over the following two years, stepping away from hockey resulting from a hip subject that will finish his profession. By placing his contract on LTIR, mixed with the departures of Hague and Roy, the Golden Knights instantly had the wage cap house accessible so as to add the highest free agent available on the market.
It all the time appears to work out this fashion for the Golden Knights, whether or not by some stroke of fine luck or by design.
It should almost certainly occur once more when it comes time to re-sign Eichel to a brand new contract sooner or later over the 12 months.
As for what it means from a hockey standpoint, Marner is a big add as a result of he is without doubt one of the greatest playmakers and point-producers within the league whereas additionally enjoying a greater defensive recreation than he typically will get credit score for. The query goes to be whether or not or not he can translate that success over to the postseason and in large video games, one thing that was a relentless drawback for him throughout his time with the Maple Leafs. He additionally appeared to turn into the scapegoat for Toronto’s continued failures within the playoffs.
Possibly getting a contemporary begin away from the strain cooker that’s the Toronto hockey market will assist him. Possibly enjoying for a franchise that has truly received one thing and located postseason success on this period may even give him a lift.
It will likely be fascinating to observe all of it play out over the following few years. Vegas not solely has a monitor document of getting the big-name stars, it additionally has a monitor document for locating success with them.
