The Vegas Golden Knights Need Center Help
Dave Pagnotta and Dennis Bernstein of the Fourth Period joined Steve Kouleas on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio to discuss the Vegas Golden Knights’ second-line center position. Pagnotta and Bernstein discuss the possibility that, with William Karlsson done for the season, they could add Nazem Kadri or Vincent Trocheck.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Steve Kouleas: “So you have no gap between you put the (Edmonton) Oilers or you put the Vegas Golden Knights in this group, that regardless of where these teams are in the standings?
Vegas, remember, (Mark) Stone’s only played 28 games, and he’s having one of his best seasons. They’ve done it with a Akira Schmid, right? There three guy. He might be the two. He might be the one. He might be trade bait. We’ll see. So Vegas has a lot of options, as they’ve made it work. As you alluded to earlier, Marner is a centerman, right?”
Dennis Bernstein: “Well, that’s the challenge Koul. Though, the William Karlsson injury is very impactful here. Kelly (McCrimmon) may have to go out and get a center at the trade deadline, because, yeah, you want Mitch Marner, but is he a shutdown center? Who’s their shutdown center when you get to the playoffs? They don’t have one.”
Kouleas: “You’re talking me into Nazem Kadri.”
Bernstein: “That would be a jackpot for them, for sure.”
Kouleas: “Then you’re Eichel, Kadri, Marner moved over. Hertl”
Bernstein: “Is that going to be enough to compete against Colorado? It does. And Dallas, it does. I’m not saying it would beat those teams, but it would give them a chance.”
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Kouleas: “Vegas is bold. We have seen it there. This roster that exists right this second is not the roster I’m going to see on March 7.”
Dave Pagnotta: “They’re not afraid to take those swings, and they’re not afraid to spend the money. We all know this. If Kaarlsson is done, this is what they need to figure out. Is he done for the regular season? If he’s done for the regular season and could come back in playoffs, then it’s only $3.8 (million) and change that they can free up in cap space, and then they’ll worry about the playoff roster when they need to.
If he’s done for the playoffs, you throw him on season-ending LTIR, and you’ve got a full $5.9 (million) to work with. Makes it a lot more palatable to pull off a Kadri-type acquisition, or, whoever else at the center position is available. That’s top tier. That fits that. That 2C. The guy you mentioned before”
Bernstein: “Vinny Trocheck. Put him on the team.”
Kouleas: “Is that the team who called?”
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Pagnotta: “Well, maybe no, not the one that I’m alluding to. I’m waiting for a text back to see if I can, okay, if I can say who the team is. We’ve actually talked about it already on the show, and might have mentioned it moments ago, but I don’t know if it’s Vegas. But like, there are, teams that want to fill that slot. And for Vegas, they need to figure out just what the realistic timeline is for Karlsson.
How much wiggle room do I actually have here? Do I have money to play with? And if so, how much? And that’s what I think Vegas needs to figure out with Karlsson.”
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