How to be a lazy sportswriter: drop a gambling analogy in the lede of a Vegas Golden Knights story.
Never done it. Don’t want to. But standing in the Golden Knights dressing room following their convincing 6-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs Tuesday night, it was hard to describe Shea Theodore’s expression as anything but a…poker face. Ugh. Sorry.
Theodore was responding to a question about anticipating the March 8 NHL Trade Deadline. Given star forwards Mark Stone and Jack Eichel are out long-term, with Eichel (knee) on long-term injured reserve and Stone (lacerated spleen) likely to take his place there soon, the defending Stanley Cup champions have a Grand Canyon grade hole in their lineup right now. They also have played mediocre hockey since the all-star break in their absence, compiling a 4-5-1 record. That won’t do for a franchise whose defining characteristic is its ruthless pursuit of excellence. Owner Bill Foley and GM Kelly McCrimmon are committed to chasing every shiny thing that becomes available and will jettison first-round picks, prospects, even at one point a reigning Vezina Trophy winner, if it gets them closer to their goal. So it was valid to ask Theodore if he and his veteran teammates were simply holding their breath, waiting for their annual upgrade(s). They landed Stone at the deadline in 2019 and Barbashev last season, after all. They bagged Eichel in 2021 several months before the deadline, too. They’re looking at $9.5 million in LTIR space to play with. They have to be in on the big game such as Jake Guentzel and Pavel Buchnevich, right?
Theodore didn’t take the bait.
“We’re not looking ahead,” he said. “That’s out of our control. We have the guys we have in the room. Whoever’s on that lineup has to come in and do the job. We have a lot of guys step in, a lot of guys playing really well. And that’s up to management.”
That’s one way to play it. The other is to take Barbashev’s approach and be direct as can be about the team not being good enough without Stone and Eichel and the healthy veterans such as himself, William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault, each of whom scored Tuesday, needing to step up.
“Definitely have to do it now. I feel like we’ve been struggling a little bit about it,” Barbashev said. “I still think the leaders and the guys who’ve been in the league a while now, we all have got to step up. This is something I feel we’ve probably failed (at) in this little stretch especially with Stoney and Jack out, but hopefully today was a turnaround for us.”
Barbashev’s beautiful breakaway goal was the highlight of an impressive win that halted Toronto’s winning streak at seven games, but his concerns are valid.
Eichel last played Jan. 11. Since then, Vegas holds a 9-6-2 record and the 16th-best points percentage in the NHL at .588. Things look worse under the hood, as they have been one of the weakest 5-on-5 teams in the NHL on offense and defense over that timeframe, sitting 22nd in expected goals per 60 and allowing the sixth-most expected goals against per 60, propped up by consistently strong netminding from Logan Thompson and the now-healthy Adin Hill.
Theodore can pump the tires of his teammates as much as he wants, but the Golden Knights clearly need and should expect McCrimmon to add reinforcements in the coming days. It’s not like they can coast and await the returns of Eichel and Stone with little left to play for in the standings. They have a 10-point cushion on a playoff spot over the ninth-place Calgary Flames, but probable Round-1 opponent Edmonton sits one point back with two games in hand, while the Los Angeles Kings are still close enough that they could knock Vegas down to a Wildcard spot with a late hot streak.
The urgency to pursue an upgrade is therefore obvious. The Golden Knights might not show us their cards yet (sorry), but this is the player at the table we know very well (sorry). There is no team likelier to make a splashy all-in bet between now and next Friday.
Sorry.
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