Golden (Knights) Playoff Run & How We Got Here - '23 Champs
Jun 16, 2023 15:06:34 GMT -5
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Post by Vegas Golden Knights on Jun 16, 2023 15:06:34 GMT -5
My sim league experience started in 2017. Three separate leagues later that all folded unceremoniously by 2019...I was left without a league. Until an open call in the chat box of one of those defunct leagues from Los Angeles Kings, led me to joining the PHL (a great league run by Los Angeles Kings & Seattle Kraken, which I later resigned from as I felt stretched thin across two sim leagues). That league led to a connection & an opening with the VHL as the Vegas Golden Knights GM. I am super appreciative of the work the admins do & I love being a member of a healthy league that has been thriving since 2006! In saying all that, 3 years later, the Vegas Golden Knights are VHL Stanley Cup Champions!!!
July 24, 2020, marks the date the golden era kickstarted when the Vegas GM completed his first trade as GM of the Golden Knights, sending star winger Artemi Panarin to the New York Rangers (now Pittsburgh) for a package of futures. This trade was intended to set Vegas back & patiently build towards the future...it did, just not in the way envisioned at the time. The existing team could chase the playoffs but was not competitive enough to contend. The Panarin trade marked a commitment to further building onto the promising collection of prospects and draft picks that were also inherited by the Vegas GM, who were expected to lead the team's future. However, the return from that Panarin trade was tactically utilized in trades, to help add core pieces of the team today that include Pierre-Luc Dubois, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Mark Stone, all while navigating the 7.95 million in dead cap space that will finally come off the books this off-season, from the Artemi Panarin deal.
Vegas defeated Columbus in the Stanley Cup Finals after winning Game 7 in overtime, 4-3, to secure the franchise's first VHL Stanley Cup
July 24, 2020, marks the date the golden era kickstarted when the Vegas GM completed his first trade as GM of the Golden Knights, sending star winger Artemi Panarin to the New York Rangers (now Pittsburgh) for a package of futures. This trade was intended to set Vegas back & patiently build towards the future...it did, just not in the way envisioned at the time. The existing team could chase the playoffs but was not competitive enough to contend. The Panarin trade marked a commitment to further building onto the promising collection of prospects and draft picks that were also inherited by the Vegas GM, who were expected to lead the team's future. However, the return from that Panarin trade was tactically utilized in trades, to help add core pieces of the team today that include Pierre-Luc Dubois, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Mark Stone, all while navigating the 7.95 million in dead cap space that will finally come off the books this off-season, from the Artemi Panarin deal.
Vegas traded Artemi Panarin (50% salary retained) on July 24, 2020, to the New York Rangers (now Pittsburgh) for Morgan Frost, Jacob Bernard Docker, 2020 NYR 1st (Marco Rossi), 2020 NYR 2nd (Jake Neighbours) and 2021 NYR 3rd (Brent Johnson)
Of the misfits originally inherited by GM Rowsell, only Sam Reinhart remains. Here's a summary of the collection of transactions completed to build the Vegas Golden Knights first VHL Stanley Cup roster:
2020-21 Season:
2021 Offseason:
2021-22 Season:
2022 Offseason:
2022-23 Season:
A large portion of the future was mortgaged to build the championship roster which was more than worth it. With the core locked up, Vegas now has aspirations to repeat and to add to their trophy case. The future is not entirely bare, despite not having any draft picks in the foreseeable future. The team's prospect cupboard still holds promising prospects such as Philip Tomasino, Peyton Krebs, Fabian Lysell, Jake Neighbours & Liam Ohgren, who are expected to be impactful players for the Golden Knights in the future. If history is precedent though, they could be used as trade chips to boost the team's immediate roster.
GM Rowsell is thankful that they secured a championship while captain Mark Stone was still under contract, making the tough decision to extend Horvat and Kuznetsov instead. The team wishes Stone all the best moving forward, who will likely be too expensive for the club in free agency bidding. The team also expects to part ways with Alex Kerfoot, Erik Johnson, Carson Soucy & Anthony Stolartz, who are all pending UFAs. The team may not be the same moving forward; but the players will always be champions in the eyes of Las Vegas!!
Of the misfits originally inherited by GM Rowsell, only Sam Reinhart remains. Here's a summary of the collection of transactions completed to build the Vegas Golden Knights first VHL Stanley Cup roster:
2020-21 Season:
- Vegas trades Brock Nelson, Brent Seabrook, Jack Studnicka & Mike Amadio to Buffalo for Noah Hanifin, Phil Kessel, Ondrej Kase & a 2023 BUF 1st.
- Vegas trades Anders Lee, David Savard, Brendan Brisson, Brett Leason, Dmitry Zavgorodniy & a 2023 3rd to Minnesota for Vladimir Tarasenko.
2021 Offseason:
- Vegas signs UFA Josh Manson.
- Vegas trades Morgan Frost, Shakir Mukhamadulin & Devon Toews to Pittsburgh (now NYR) for Mark Stone.
- Vegas trades Tanner Dickinson & 2022 VEG 3rd (Tyler Muszelik) to New Jersey for Michael Bunting.
- Vegas trades Josh Mahura & 2024 SJ 3rd to Toronto for Anthony Stolartz.
- Vegas trades Nazem Kadri, Tristan Jarry, Ryan Murray, Hendrix Lapierre, Pierre Olivier Joseph, Vitali Kratsov, 2023 VEG 1st, 2023 BUF 1st & 2023 VEG 3rd to Minnesota for John Tavares, Andrei Vasilevsky, Tyler Motte, Kyle Turris & Matt Calvert.
- Vegas acquires David Kampff in 3-way deal from San Jose, for Tyler Johnson & Jared McIssac to Chicago & Erik Haula from Chicago to San Jose.
- Vegas acquires Evgeny Kuznetsov in 3-way deal from Nashville for Jacob Bernard-Docker, Isac Lundestrom, 2022 VEG 1st (Owen Pickering) & 2022 EDM 2nd (Jani Nyman), Vancouver retained salary.
2022 Offseason:
- Vegas signs UFAs Patric Hornqvist, Derek Ryan & Marco Scandella.
- Vegas trades 2022 EDM 1st - Pick 10 (Jonathan Lekkerimaki) to Vancouver for Erik Johnson & Pick 18 (later packaged to move up to select Liam Ohgren).
- Vegas trades Jonathan Marchesault, Cody Glass, Jacob Perrault, 2024 VEG 1st & 2025 VEG 2nd to Pittsburgh for Bo Horvat.
2022-23 Season:
- Vegas acquires Carson Soucy in 3-way deal from Edmonton for Morgan Geekie, Vancouver retained salary.
- Vegas trades Tristen Robins, Tyson Hinds & 2024 VEG 3rd to Edmonton for Mikael Backlund.
- Vegas trades Jake Muzzin, Mads Sogaard, Matthew Robertson & 2023 MTL 3rd to Chicago for Alex Kerfoot, Tyson Barrie & Tyler Parsons.
- Vegas acquires Pierre-Luc Dubois in 3-way deal from Vancouver for Marco Rossi, Yaraslov Askarov & Tyson Barrie, St. Louis retained salary.
- Vegas trades Troy Stecher & 2025 VEG 1st to Boston for Cody Ceci.
A large portion of the future was mortgaged to build the championship roster which was more than worth it. With the core locked up, Vegas now has aspirations to repeat and to add to their trophy case. The future is not entirely bare, despite not having any draft picks in the foreseeable future. The team's prospect cupboard still holds promising prospects such as Philip Tomasino, Peyton Krebs, Fabian Lysell, Jake Neighbours & Liam Ohgren, who are expected to be impactful players for the Golden Knights in the future. If history is precedent though, they could be used as trade chips to boost the team's immediate roster.
Peyton Krebs (shown above) is Vegas's top prospect in their farm system who is expected to be on the NHL roster next season...if he survives the off-season without being traded
GM Rowsell is thankful that they secured a championship while captain Mark Stone was still under contract, making the tough decision to extend Horvat and Kuznetsov instead. The team wishes Stone all the best moving forward, who will likely be too expensive for the club in free agency bidding. The team also expects to part ways with Alex Kerfoot, Erik Johnson, Carson Soucy & Anthony Stolartz, who are all pending UFAs. The team may not be the same moving forward; but the players will always be champions in the eyes of Las Vegas!!
Vegas captain, Mark Stone, celebrates with the cup in what is likely a memorable last game as a member of the Golden Knights
