After winning the Stanley Cup, the Golden Knights made a conscious effort to bring back as many of the names engraved on the trophy as possible to begin the following season. A few supporting players left as free agents and only one major contributor, Reilly Smith, was sent to another team due to a lack of cap space.
The team got off to a blistering start and looked like its brilliant run to the Cup would continue in defense. But then injuries began to pile up and results softened. Vegas went from leading the division on Jan. 1 to clinging to the final playoff spot on trade deadline day, March 8.
The trades for Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin and Anthony Mantha began as attempts to bolster a battered roster and position Las Vegas for another shot at winning the Stanley Cup. When that didn’t come to fruition, those moves proved to be the start of a roster makeover that will determine the team’s direction for the next few seasons.
Staff rotation from March 1, 2024
In
Noah Hanifin
Tomas Hertl
Alejandro Holtz
Victor Olofsson
Ilya Samsonov
Akira Schmid
Outside
Jonathan Marchessault
Chandler Stephenson
Alec Martinez
Logan Thompson
William Bearer
Miguel Amadio
Pablo Cotter
Daniil Miromanov
The Golden Knights also parted ways with two future first-round picks, their 2023 first-round pick, David Edstrom, and a second-round pick.
From the front six to the back six, defense and goalkeeping, there is a major change at every level of the squad.
This isn’t a new phenomenon for the Golden Knights. They’ve never been shy about making significant changes, even if it means saying goodbye to some of the franchise’s most iconic players.
The difference this time, however, is that there are no genuine replacements already in place.
Following the Cup Final appearance in Year 1, Vegas traded James Neal and David Perron for Max Pacioretty and Paul Stastny (and then, eventually, Erik Haula for Mark Stone). When it came time to let Marc-Andre Fleury go, Robin Lehner was already there to take his place. Alex Pietrangelo was signed before Nate Schmidt was let go, Ivan Barbashev was traded for Reilly Smith, and Jack Eichel was traded outright for Alex Tuch.
This time, Hanifin perfectly replaces Martinez, but Hertl cannot fill the space of Marchessault, Stephenson, Amadio, Carrier and Cotter.
The salary cap gripped the Golden Knights harder than ever this summer and forced them to put their faith in some high-risk, high-reward castoffs from teams that missed the playoffs.
It may work, it may not. Being as aggressive as Vegas has been over the past seven seasons comes at a cost. Never has that been more so than over the past four months.
