Due to the Vegas Golden Knights salary cap situation, they could move one of their goaltenders to clear cap space leaving Jiri Patera as the possible back-up goaltender.
Due to the Vegas Golden Knights salary cap situation, they could move one of their goaltenders to clear cap space leaving Jiri Patera as the possible back-up goaltender.
Adin Hill (28) and Logan Thompson (27), are coming off a season where they virtually split the starts without injuries. Thompson finished with 46 games played and had a .908SV% as well as a 2.70 GAA. Hill had similar stats with a .909SV% and a 2.71 GAA in 35 games.
With multiple UFAs set to leave in free agency, the Golden Knights will need to spend their remaining salary cap space on forwards.
The Golden Knights will likely look to trade defensemen before any of their two goaltenders due to their back end having the most depth, but if that doesn't come to fruition, the goaltenders are the next best position to trade.
Thompson and Hill are set to become UFAs after the 2024-25 season with Thompson earning just $766,667 and Hill earning $4.9M. Patera is UFA G6 which means he didn't accure the required games by age 25.
A tandem of Patera and Thompson would give the Golden Knights more cap space than any tandem that involves Hill. This could possibly mean that he is the odd man out but is Patera ready for the NHL job?
Now 25 years old, the former 2017 sixth-round pick has played in just eight NHL games. In those games, he's posted a .903SV% and a 3.57 GAA. The minuscule sample size makes it difficult to come up with a conclusion but his AHL numbers can give a better insight. In his AHL career, he's played 85 games, recording a .907SV% and a 2.92 GAA.
Goalies are always a mystery. Consistency is the hardest aspect of the game for goaltenders and very few are able to find it and keep it. If the Golden Knights ever see a future with Patera, there will never be a better time to give him that vow of confidence.
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