Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights
Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Sun: As Jack Eichel gets closer and closer to playing, the questions rise. For one, the Vegas Golden Knights must find a way to fit Eichel into the lineup cap-wise. That is far from the only complication.
Consider that Alec Martinez is also close to returning from injury. His long-term injury puts Vegas a hair less than $10 million over the salary cap. That is, if there was no LTIR.
The trading option is prevalent. Candidates range from fan favorites like Reilly Smith or even Jonathan Marchessault. Also, Vegas moving Evgenii Dadonov is possible but he has two years left on his deal. Kelly McCrimmon would need a sweetener to help that deal along.
Again, it is Martinez who is the real wild-card here. The sooner he comes back, the sooner a move becomes a necessity.
More Eichel and Vegas Possibilities
Owen Krepps of Vegas Hockey NOW: There are plenty of options to explore. The one thing that Vegas has arguably is time. Plus, if someone were to be injured, that would only help their situation.
Cue Mark Stone. The elephant In the room is that Stone is playing with a back injury. This apparently has bothered him for months. Would the Vegas Golden Knights consider shelving their leader until the playoffs? If Stone truly does not need surgery, the rest would be more than 2 1/2 months.
This frees up almost all of the cap space Vegas needs (within about $500,000). Only a few minor tweaks would be necessary after that.
Now, if Stone is not placed on LTIR, again Vegas has options. Even Mattias Janmark was mentioned in a possible trade along with Laurent Brossoit. With Logan Thompson extended, the time could be now.
Needless to say, even William Karlsson’s name was thrown into the mix which suggests all options are open. Jack Eichel could return as soon as next week. Speculations will only keep rising.
The Maple Leafs are in Vancouver and are -200 on the moneyline with Betway
Cap Friendly: “Interesting..
Stone’s $9.5M to LTIR would solve their cap issues:
Vegas currently has a 23 player roster, if Eichel & Martinez are activated, they need to assign 2 players.
Assuming Amadio ($750k) & Miramanov ($843k) are reassigned, no further moves are required for compliance”