What Cap Gymnastics Can the Golden Knights Pull off This Summer? 

The cap gymnastics get harder each year.

That video title is diabolical

I feel bad for Stone. People think he fakes injury but you could see when he took a cross check in the back in game 7, perhaps near his spleen, the rest of the game he couldn't even bend over. He was skating around upright the entire time in pain.

Great analysis. As a Vegas fan and resident it is going to be a very interesting offseason. I certainly expect them to be competitive next year but it is going to be a very different team. I don't put anything past VGK management when it comes to roster moves.

I ruptured my spleen reading the title of this video

With the extension for Hanifin and Theodore entering the final year of his deal, I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved, unfortunately.

1:10 Quick gave up just seven goals in that series and had a .943 save percentage...and still got swept! In contrast, Marc Andre Fleury gave up just three goals, had 2 shutouts and a .973 save percentage.

Stone looks done to me. I have back issues and.... I think next time he goes on the LTIR will be the last, he's not coming back. I would do everything in my power to jettison that contract. And Marchesseault accepting under 8 seems laughable to me seeing some of the money that's been handed out these last few years.

Old players with a history of injury who could potentially miss games with a mid season injury? Say no more! -Kelly

4 conference finals appearances , 2 finals appearances, and a Stanley cup in 7 seasons . Inching towards a decade of competitive , successful, fun, winning hockey. This team has given the fans everything a fanbase could possibly ask for. Great for the community and provided us with such a blast of a 7 seasons of hockey and last year brought a championship to our city and provided us with the most enjoyable, fun, exciting season of professional sports I’ve ever seen in my life and one I’ll never forget as long as I live. They start to struggle going forward? Fine. Not a problem for me. They’ve earned my loyalty forever and gave this city a hell of a good 7 seasons. Go Knights Go for life! (I also think they’re gonna stay pretty competitive for a little longer). Hertl and Hanifin were both replacements for guys that are gonna be leaving . Marty because hes almost certainly retiring and Stephenson because while he’s had moments of being extremely good is super up and down and when he’s not playing with Stone isn’t anywhere as good . Hertl is missing some of the things Stephenson brought to the table (defensive play and speed) but also adds some things Stephenson didn’t (way better at winning faceoffs and better scorer and better net front presence). So I think he should be a good enough replacement for him. And Hanifin is OUTSTANDING. Absolutely love that pickup. He also adds things and is missing things in comparison to Marty. No one can come close to the shot blocker Marty is which is why he’s lead the league in shot blocking multiple times, but Hanifin is a much better offensive defensemen and better at breakouts and being a puck moving defensemen . So both are good replacements . Mantha was a rental for playoffs and he didn’t fill what we needed him to like Barby did last year. He’ll be gone. So there’s definitely a path for getting things done this offseason for Vegas . The cap is also going up which will help. I’m not too worried and think they’ll stay competitive . But again. If not? Ok🤷🏻‍♂️. They’ve done plenty for the fans .

Thank you for this coverage…hard to discern from local podcast on Knights here…who do an excellent job but still hard to get a more objective perspective.. And knowing you like your visiting times on The Strip. 🌵

Petro has a full NMC. I doubt that he waives it to be moved. I think the more likely trade candidate is Theodore. Signing Hanifin pretty much signaled Theo's exit imo. Shea's play against Dallas didn't help his cause either. He was on a definite upward trajectory at one point, but he seems to have plateaued. Vegas simply can't afford to have Hertl be Tatar 2.0. The hope has to be with a long off-season of recovery and full training camp with the team that he slots in and gels with the team. Nick Suzuki, that one hurts bad. Especially after losing to the Habs in the semifinal. In retrospect, management should've shipped out Cody Glass instead of Suzuki, but they were so enamored with Glass at the time. Then they fell out of love with him anyway and jettisoned him to Nashville. Our front office is good, but not perfect. That said, they have some hard decisions to make this off-season and they'll need to be better than good...

Great show as usual. Thanks

Even if the cap issues in the medium-long term will probably lead to an eventual rebuild situation, they still won the Cup, so at least there will not be any "what ifs" from fans and the organization.

The fact is this: "Vegas Golden Knights" is engraved on the Stanley Cup. That alone is worth it. Go Knights Go!

If our Lehner-ectomy is successful, we should be a little healthier next season.

I think Hertl will bounce back next year, he looked like his conditioning hadn't come up to speed yet.

The Pietrangelo contract seems like the obvious one to move, but he has a full no-move clause that I highly doubt he's gonna waive. Every single player with a cap hit of more than 3M has some sort of trade protection. That goes counter to the way this organization operates. Signing guys and figuring out the cap later can only work if you have contracts you can easily move.

Kelly is a pure gymnastics genius

No matter what happens from here, the Golden Knights won a cup in this window. No one can take that away from them. I think because of that, I feel like Vegas fans should be able to stomach some mediocrity for the next few seasons if they can’t escape their contract situation, and try to jettison some money for later. I know they won’t do that, but I think it’d be for the best to let guys go and just ride out the next couple seasons until they have more cap space. The only problem is that they don’t have draft picks…so, if they did, there wouldn’t be anyone coming up that could lead a new core of Golden Knights for a while…

Thank you Shannon.

Wow you have been the only channel on youtube that I’ve seen that has actually brought up injuries being a reason for Vegas not making it past the first round, you’re the only person who has said that Mark Stone didn’t look 100% I feel like it’s hard to pick between Martinez and Theodore. Alex Martinez is 36 and that’s the only reason I would keep Theodore over him. I’m interested to see the moves. Also to see if the cap raise happens. Mantha 100% is out, I agree with Hertl as well it’s very hindering. All in all I’m excited for next season.

The Hertl trade wasnt supposed to look good for SJ until a couple years from now when Hertl's game slows down and we see what happens with Edstrom plus the 1st next year. I think its fair to say Vegas would like an undo on that one

stone was clearly injured though. As an Avs fan if Vegas made the 2nd round I would have been way more confident than I am- which is still quite confident

Not a Vegas fan but speaking of Mark Stone I know myself how backpains can really kill you. With my background of these ailments I think Stone should be cheered for even showing up the ice. I had to end my way less physical career in my mid thirties mostly. The pain of just moving around is pure pain and it can shoot out to your limbs. My real thinking is, is Mark Stone able to come back? Maybe some wizard who resurrected Eichel might go and give it a try but I think it has already been discussed.

7 years the Knights have been a team. Wow

I still do not understand why they would trade for Hertl... An older and often injury prone forward on a pretty massive contract. And they gave up a first round pick to acquire him.

Can you please make one of these for Nashville?

Unless a Top 10 forward slides down to #19, I can see VGK drafting a skilled dman there... then VGK will trade Shea Theodore (2025 UFA) for a high pick and a young middle six forward with upside (like Nic Roy when he came from Carolina). They will use the money to re-sign Marchessault and Will Carrier. If Ammo and Dorofeyev can agree to team-friendly deals, I could see them both staying as well... all other UFA's are gonzo, unfortunately. I think most VGK fans would be ok with these moves.

The Hertl move didn't make sense to me either. VGK will have a very interesting offseason to say the least.

love the title 😂

Crazy it's already been 7 seasons. Feels like yesterday.

The title of this video is hilarious! 🤣

I really hope stone doesn’t have future issues from coming back, he def went through a lot

It is a weird take to perpetuate Vegas (FO, players, or otherwise) are doing anything wrong. They made moves that any team could do, and no one should have to apologize for them. The vibe that comes from the hate also ensures that I really don’t watch any games outside of Vegas playing. Why would I want to cheer on any other teams when everyone actively and loudly hates on yours? The hate is unwarranted to Vegas, and it’s a gatekeeper mentality just because Vegas broke the script and continue to be relevant each year. Regarding Hertl, I’m not worried. Many thought Eichel would be a bad trade as well, even saying Vegas got fleeced. Look how that turned out. I’m proud to rep Vegas, and love the organization and the city wherever I go. Looking forward to the next cup parade.

Knights will get creative. Will it be tough to get another Cup - no doubt. Probably the hardest trophy in sports to secure. Doing it once in a prime window is tough - doing it twice like Tampa, Chicago or the LA Kings have in the modern era to me is extraordinarily impressive. However, if healthy, and even with some subtraction of the names on the board like Martinez and Stephenson it is not out of the realm of possibility that this team reloads and goes on another 22-23 like tear. I do think Marchy is a key piece to rolling it back as a glue guy. I think a lot of the names you have listed outside of him will likely be gone filled in with cheaper cap friendly options. This could hurt the depth a bit but then again Vegas has been a spot where so-so players sometimes find jam - see Wild Bill and Marchy and 22-23 Stephenson. Can they find some cheap FA’s that fit that bill using their analytics - maybe. Hertl is one I’m torn on - I do think with another year in Cassidy’s system he could return to form and with Vegas’ luck don’t be surprised if that trade ages better over time. I guess my point is - don’t underestimate Bill Foley’s desire to fill the trophy case before he shuffles off this mortal coil. He is getting up there in age but with the time he has left I expect him to remain a demanding owner and tough boss but also a winner as he- has been throughout his career.

Love me some Disneyland... but the crowds have gotten f*cking nuts!

Being a sharks fan watching this, man I haven’t been on this side of being a thorn in the side of another team since Sean Avery was on the rangers. Goodness time flys, but I’m def curious to what Vegas will do. They are in a dicey situation for certain, but I can see them bouncing back. Not sure what they’ll do with Hertl tho (I still miss him ngl)

I think Stone will start the season on LTIR.

Can’t wait for half this comment section be about the LTIR/hertl trade

That 2026 unprotected 1st rounder could be interesting

I don't think there's any reason to worry about Hertl yet, he played like 4 games with the team before the first round. He's going to be a strong, down low center that can play the net front. The cap is messy, but the fact of the matter is, they have a core of Eichel, Karlsson, Hertl, Roy, Petro, Hanafin, McNabb, plus both goalies who have been excellent in the playoffs. The window is as long as Eichel is here

Looking at the jersey, I suddenly realized the shape of the helmet also has a V in it. Extremely slowpoke, I know.

Does that 866k in cap space already include the amount that the cap is going up?

House of cards!

Hertl is another good LTIR candidate for next season. His age and injury history give you some plausible deniability in case people get suspicious.

Thank you for welcoming me back since 2017. (Been subscribed across multiple accounts)

Honestly we ask these cap questions every year and it we will figure it out. Not worried about it.

I'm sorry, the what they are in?😂

I just have this feeling Kelly McCrimmon somehow brings in Mitch Marner from Toronto and moves Shea Theodore. Vegas still had some young depth D-Men in Hutton and Korczak, that looked pretty good when they played. Plus, Brisson could take the next step this offseason and fight for a spot in the lineup.

NHL gotta #StopTheCap

Flyers can give you Risto back for Petro if you’d like 😊

I honestly could see them putting Stone on LTIR for the entire season

Spleendid!

They need to put the whole roster on LTIR, call up their farm team, and use the whole salary cap to field a brand new roster. Then everyone gets healthy for game 1 playoffs and problem solved.

Someone is going to throw the bank at marchessault. Idk how they keep him

LOL, that title. Prediction: Marner to Vegas, for draft picks they don't have yet and future considerations, Toronto to retain all of his salary. Somehow it'll happen.

At this point it seems more like Cap escapism. Las Vegas Houdinis

March coming back is very important. Him and Stone are the face of this team. The defense is fantastic hope they don’t mess with it. The strategy is to just chip gingerly at periphery players to free up enough cap.

A time is likely coming when the Knights are a mediocre team but they have won so much they should have a solid fan base forever especially when you consider 1/3 the league has never won the cup.

Armchair GM opinions: Dorofeyev, Carrier, and Amadio are players I'd target and get on cheaper, shorter contracts. Getting two of these would be worth. If you can get Marchessault for less than six you go for it; otherwise you can let him walk. I think the Hertl Experiment hasn't reached Tatar levels of failure yet. There's a whole off-season to gel into the system. Martinez is a hard walk, but unless he takes an insane discount you have to move on. You have to hope that Whitecloud and Hague have a bounce back year. There's no escaping Pietrangelo's contract truly. And he hasn't been THAT bad. Stone will likely never play a full 82 and that's fine. If he's healthy for playoffs then it's great, if not then you hope he gets you a better position. Trading away Theodore or Karlsson, or other players feels like a mistake. They really just need to find a way to ice a consistent roster. Which is perfectly possible. The McGMs are gonna pull a ridiculous trade that invalidates this video soon anyways....

At the risk of sounding conspiratorial, all Vegas needs to do to be a contender again is to put a sizeable contract on LTIR for almost the entire season. Whether it was strategic or not, it typically works. It didn't this season, but it worked last year, so it can work again when you have a team like VGK. If Hertl, who was a failure this season, gets hurt for a while, there's almost 7 million they can use to take a flyer on someone else. Vegas has almost been a revolving door of players since their first season. They know how to use the rules to their advantage, whether people like that or not. Even if they sign a guy for more than they're worth and they bomb, they seem to be able to get out of those contracts and stay competitive, except for the one year they missed the playoffs. I don't see any reason why, pending another down year, they can't figure something out. They seem to be able to accomplish things few others team can. I'm not saying there's any funny business going on, but things just work out for them.

Banners fly forever and Vegas management should be credited for getting that Cup. I do think this is the beginning of the devil coming to collect.

The St. Louis Blues went through that expansion success but they are due for down years and it wil be within a year or two

Put the entire team on the LTIR, have the space to deal for anyone they can think of.

The cap is working to increase parity in the league. Stone will be on LTIR to start the year.

Sorry Hertl Never leave San Jose again!!

wait question, doesnt the cap go up next year by 7 million?

As a Knights fan, I see the VGK doing as follows: Let Martinez walk/retire, let Stephenson walk, let Mantha walk, and let Carrier walk. Letting all of them walk frees up a combined $12.25 million from the cap at a minimum, allowing Vegas to re-sign Marchessault at a $6M+AAV deal for a few seasons (prediction), then with the leftover space, re-sign Amadio & Dorofeyev, and then, maybe you think about trading Theodore’s $5.2M hit, and see what kind of return you can get for a defenseman that has high potential like he does. I think his development has plateaued in Vegas, but that doesn’t mean he can’t become something more somewhere else - I just think the Hanifin trade + extension means Shea is expendable, not to mention Vegas actually has some really good looking defenseman prospects coming up from Henderson. Any additional cap space following those walks & re-signings will go to bottom-6 free agents, as I think Vegas’ top-6 is solidified. Pietrangelo, even though IMO we’re hitting the point where that contract will begin to look bad, I believe stays at least for 1 more year, before Vegas will really begins to push for the full NMC to be waived. All in all, I think this team is still incredibly talented, will still be incredibly talented after this offseason, and if they can just have a healthy season as a team next year, I have no doubt they will contend for the cup again.

Small changes wouldn’t blow the whole thing up

Will Carrier missed a bunch of games due to injury, as well.

Wouldn’t be surprised if they went nuclear and basically went straight for a rebuild. They already won!

Vegas is a great team, but has also demonstrated that there are no rails on what they will do with the roster. I think they've correctly identified that fan loyalty is more closely tied to a team than it is to specific players or 'core guys' ... ask any leaf fan if they would trade Matthews, Marner and Tavares all for a cup win. I'm still salty about the Fluery trade but I'm happy they won a cup

let's ask stone how he's feeling first.

It feels like McCrimmon is taking the Holland approach to GMing

If the salary cap goes up to 88 million, like projected, they'll have 10.5 million to work with. Marchessault and Stephenson are probably both gone regardless though.

Marc stone is a beast people just don’t wanna accept that

I want Hertl to play well but man he was bad vs Dallas.

I've accepted for awhile that Marcy is gone. Keeping him makes no sense from a cap perspective and someone will give him a crazy contract in free agency we cant come close to matching. The goal should be to bring back some combo of amadio/stephenson/carrier and fill out the rest of the roster with some young guys to see if we have anything and a ring chaser vet or 2. The real cap crunch is next offseason when Theodore, Hill, McNabb, Kolesar, and Logan Thompson all become UFA. Would be shocked if Pietro waved his NMC and a buyout only gives about 2.5 in savings the next few seasons and then we would carry 1.9 cap hit till 2030 according to cap friendly

Resign #81 and the VGK will be ok

would be nice to see the Knights as bottom feeders and somehow get the #1 overall pick which is given to the Sharks giving them back to back #1 picks

Ppl keep harping on how Vegas is manipulating the cap, but doesn’t the Leafs do this thing where they shove bad players on LTIR to avoid the cap claiming they’re ‘unfit to play’? Aka Robidas Island

I honestly think we will see a decline in their "dominance" in years to come. Not having those draft picks is unreal! there's teams in the WC that will definitely be much improved from this season. Good luck to Vegas, but it's going to be an interesting off-season for them.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Martinez go, as well as Stephenson, and (maybe) pietrangelo. We have some good defensemen from the Silver Knights whom I thought had some really good games I just hope they re-sign Marchy. They simply have to.

lmao

Ah, their GM is from Boston, that explains it.

Mark stone spending this offseason thinking about which ltir injury he’s taking next year for cap space

I think Hertl wasn't on 100% either. I believe, he had hard time to adjust to Vegas system and he will be fine after training camp. He seems to be great fit to Vegas style-wise, he just need more time to adjust. Not every player is a world-beater right after trade...

I'm also concerned about Stone's longevity... Back is a very sensitive part, and at some point, it can start threatening his everyday life after hockey... I don't think he will play for long time maybe a year ?

I wonder how they are going to fit both Marner and Gentzel under the cap and still add Buchnevich at the deadline? Exspleen that to ne

Come on, it's Vegas, they have $20 - $30M in cap space. They'll be fine. Vegas would like to say thank you for creating next years LTIR list.

NHL 2019: Dear Vegas we are sorry you don’t know what a penalty kill is.

As a kings fan Martinez will be the one to watch

We all know what they are going to do…

As a vgk fan I think we trade pietranleo and give korczak more of a chance

The time of reckoning for their salary cap sins may finally be at hand...

As a Sharks fan, it feels good to see the Golden Knights hurt from a deal with us. I never felt like Vegas won the Hertl deal, and this just affirms that. An unprotected 2025 pick from the Knights could be a lottery pick for the Sharks if they continue their downward spiral.

Resign marchy most importantly and Resign most of the others there

They really only need to sign 2 forwards for next season for $5.8m ....very doable. Not a lot of forward depth but the cap hell aint that bad but your bottom 2 lines are not great.

marner in vgk would be amusing to me