What Vegas Golden Knights should do in Free Agency

After losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the 3rd round of the playoffs, the Vegas Golden Knights have some major decisions to make in the offseason before free agency because they really need to address some weaknesses on the team.

Heading into the offseason, the Vegas Golden Knights have a little over 6 million in cap space to spend in free agency, so they will need to make some moves to free up some cap space.

Before the Draft, Vegas need to trade one of their starting goalies.

The most logical thing to do is to trade Marc-Andre Fleury because he is the more established goalie and is coming off a Vezina Caliber year. Fleury's value has never been higher and if they don't trade him now, his value could drop off a cliff next year, so it is best to trade him before his play starts to decline.

Vegas Golden Knights make a 3 team trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs get Marc-Andre Fleury and Alex Chiasson (who is a pending UFA),

Edmonton Oilers get Fredrik Andersen and Tomas Nosek (both pending UFAs)

Vegas Golden Knights get Timothy Liljegren, Travis Dermott, Alex Galchenyuk, Mike Smith, Kyle Turris, 2nd round pick '21 (from TOR).

This trade has a lot of parts but most importantly are the two goalies involved in the trade: Marc-Andre Fleury (Traded to Toronto) and Fredrik Andersen (Traded to Edmonton). Vegas gets a top Defensive prospect in Timothy Liljegren, Travis Dermott, Alex Galchenyuk, Mike Smith (to back up Robin Lehner), Kyle Turris, and a 2nd round pick.

Overall, this trade helps out all parties involved and addresses the immediate issues on all three teams.

Vegas makes another trade before the draft:

Vegas Golden Knights trade Brayden McNabb, Mattias Janmark, Kyle Turris to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Emil Benstrom, 3rd round pick '21, 6th round pick '22.

This is a cap dump for the Golden Knights, and they get a nice young winger in Emil Benstrom as well as a few draft picks.

2021 Draft

30-Fyodor Svechkov

36-Conner Roulette

57-Dylan Duke

69-Ethan Del Mastro

114-Benjamin Gaudreau

The Vegas Golden Knights drafted three reliable two-way forwards with the additions of Svechkov, Roulette, and Duke. Del Mastro as muscle on the Back end of Vegas and Gaudreau adds depth in goal for Vegas.

After the Draft, the Golden Knights make a minor trade:

Ryan Reaves is traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for 5th round pick '22.

The Flyers add more muscle on their fourth line, while Golden Knights free up some cap space.

After the trades made, the Golden Knights have 18.08 million in cap space left.

Alec Martinez is one player who needs to be re-signed; Martinez is a cagey veteran defenseman with Cup experience, so he is a player who must be re-signed.

Alec Martinez is re-signed to a 5 yr deal worth 5 million per season.

Mike Smith should be brought back for one year to back up Robin Lehner; Smith had a great year with the Edmonton Oilers last season, he should okay playing 25-30 games next season.

Mike Smith is re-signed to a 1 yr deal worth 1.5 million.

Travis Dermott also needs to be re-signed, he was used as a depth defenseman in Toronto, he could see a greater role with Vegas.

Travis Dermott is re-signed to a 2 yr deal worth 1.5 million per season.

After re-signed Martinez and Smith, the Golden Knights have 11.58 million left in cap space to spend in free agency.

Vegas Golden Knights need a top-line center between Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone; Chandler Stephenson did a good job this season, in the postseason it wasn't enough to get them to the Finals.

Vegas Golden Knights sign Philip Danault to a 7-year deal worth 5.75 million per season.

Danault is the perfect center to play with Stone and Pacioretty and is a better defensive center than Stephenson. By signing Danault, it pushes Stephenson to the third line with Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch, this gives the Golden Knights more depth in the lineup.

This is how the Vegas Golden Knights look like in the 2021-22 season:

2021-22 Vegas Golden Knights

M.Pacioretty-P.Danault-M.Stone

J.Marchessault-W.Karlsson-R.Smith

P.Krebs-C.Stephenson-A.Tuch

W.Carrier-N.Roy-K.Kolesar

S.Theodore-A.Pietrangelo

A.Martinez-T.Liljegren

T.Dermott-Z.Whitecloud

R.Lehner

M.Smith

Top prospects: C.Glass, N.Hague

The Vegas Golden Knights used the cap space freed up from the trades to sign Philip Danault and also retooled their defense a bit; this allows Vegas to be a contender for the Stanley Cup once again next season.

FANTASY HOCKEY WAIVER WIRE PLAYERS TO PICKUP

C Sean Couturier -After missing 2+ years, Sean Couturier is back and it seems like he hasn't missed a beat. Believe it or not, Couturier has been one of the top centers in the league so far with his all-around play, putting up 2 goals, 3 assists, 2 PPP, 63 FW, 24 SOG, and 1 SHP. Despite showing that he is still an elite center, Couturier is only owned in 20% of fantasy leagues. Pick him up now, while you still can. Ryan Johansen - Serves as the Avalanche's 2nd line center and plays on their all-world 1st pp unit. Despite not being the player he used to be, Johansen is still a valuable fantasy asset because of the players he plays with. Johansen has 4 goals and 4 PPPs along with 63 FW so far this season. He is owned in 29% of fantasy leagues. Sean Monahan - Someone must have gotten a time machine and put Sean Monahan in it because he is playing like he was back when he was in his prime. Monahan has been arguably the best player on Montreal this year, with 3 goals, 6 points, 2 PP

FANTASY HOCKEY WAIVER WIRE PLAYERS TO PICKUP

Here are some players you should pickup in Fantasy Hockey, sorted by position. Center Colton Sissons Colton Sissons is one of the best 4th line centers in the league, but in fantasy hockey, he could be even more valuable than he actually is in real life because of what he provides in the peripheral categories. So far this season Sissions has 5 goals, 1 PPP, 1 SHP, 12 PIM, 20 SOG, 89 FW, 15 hits, and 9 blocks. This is a terrific stat line and although you can't count on Sissons scoring a ton, he will fill out the FW, Hits, and blocks usually. Sissons is owned in 6% of fantasy leagues, snag him up while you can. Nick Bjugstad Nick Bjugstad is having an excellent year so far with the Arizona Coyotes, in fact he has played so well that he earned himself a promotion to play on the 2nd line along with Mattias Maccelli and Lawson Crouse. Bjugstad also gets time on Arizona's 2nd PP unit and 2nd PK unit. Bjugstad may not be a name who stands out to casuals, but his fantasy stat line is

Fantasy Hockey Forwards to Trade For

Here is a list of Players who you should consider trading for in Fantasy Hockey. Tage Thompson Tage Thompson had very high expectations of him heading into this season but has been a massive disappointment to this point in the season with only 7 goals, 8 assists, 4 PPP, 60 SOG, and 99 FW. Thompson has been better after coming back from injury and you would think that he is going to eventually start putting points in bunches. Because of how bad Thompson's statline is this season. it would be a good idea to trade for him because you may not have to give up a lot in return. Elias Lindholm Elias Lindholm is another player who has had a slow start to the season with only 7 goals, 10 assists, 3 PPP, 68 SOG, and 297 FW so far this season. Lindholm is definitely going to want to play better if he wants to increase his value for his next contract and also showcase himself for a trade at the deadline. If Lindholm gets dealt to a contending team, his fantasy value would drastically improve b

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