Pierre LeBrun believes the Vegas Golden Knights have the advantage over their division rivals when it comes to the trade market for forwards.
Pierre LeBrun believes the Vegas Golden Knights have the advantage over their division rivals when it comes to the trade market for forwards.
Pierre LeBrun believes the Vegas Golden Knights have the advantage over their division rivals when it comes to the trade market for forwards.
It's been said many times before but both the Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers are looking for a high-end forward and are willing to pay the price to acquire one.
LeBrun links the Golden Knights to Jake Guentzel, Vladimir Tarasenko, Tyler Toffoli, Adam Henrique, Jordan Eberle, Jason Zucker, Anthony Mantha, Max Pacioretty, Alex Wennberg and Anthony Duclair who are all pending UFA's. LeBrun also mentions Pavel Buchnevich, Frank Vatrano, Reilly Smith and Mikael Grandlund who have contracts that go past the end of the season.
LeBrun believes the Golden Knights have the advantage because of the cap space they possess. The Oilers will need to have teams retain salary and possibly need a third-party broker. The Golden Knights will be able to take the full contract meaning fewer assets will have to go the other way than what the Oilers will have to send.
The Golden Knights have been linked heavily with Guentzel, Taranseko and Toffoli because they are the perfect fit for the Golden Knights. They are goal-scoring wingers who have a history of playing alongside a skilled centreman and are on expiring contracts.
The NHLNetwork came up with a mock trade that saw the Golden Knights acquire Buchnevich.
The price to acquire Buchnevich looks steep but it could be worth it. Buchnevich has been playing with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou this season and is having another strong season. Buchnevich has been over a point-per-game in the previous two seasons with the St. Louis Blues and is on pace to set a new career high in goals. Through 57 games he's scored 24 goals and 48 points.
Buchnevich has a cap hit of $5.8M that expires after the 2024-25 season giving the Golden Knights another full season. The Golden Knights have made deals with the Blues in the past. Just last season they worked a trade to land Ivan Barbashev who was instrumental in their run Stanley Cup.
The Golden Knights need to bolster their forward group and with the salary cap advantage they have, they need to be active in the trade market to chase their second Stanley Cup.
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