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The end of the season locker clean out in Las Vegas was an intriguing day - normally the room is thick with frustration and sadness; frustration over being eliminated from the playoffs, and sadness over the thoughts that this could be the last day that this group of guys stands in the same room together. The Golden Knights locker room, however, had a tinge of happiness and pride. No matter where the players find themselves come September, they share the pride in knowing that they put their names in the history books as one of the few expansion teams to ever make the playoffs in their first season of existence, and no one will ever be able to take that away from them.
For some, the end of the playoff run means a return home to recuperate a bit, and begin the endless phone calls with their agents. Players like Ian Cole, Antti Raanta, Evander Kane, and Lars Eller are all unrestricted free agents come July 1st. Raanta has made known his desire to test the free agent market - he believes he can be the starter, and with Craig Anderson under contract for 2018-19, Raanta wants to see what teams would be looking to give him the starting job. Kane hasn’t ruled out a return to the desert, but rumor has it he is looking for at least a 4 year deal with a $6.5M AAV - numbers that most pundits think would be a stretch for a guy coming off a year like Kane’s (19-23-42) would struggle to get. GM Dan Hampton has acknowledged talks between himself and Kane’s agent, but wouldn’t divulge any specifics. Insiders have alluded to the midseason trade that acquired prospect Jordan Greenway as an indication of the team’s reticence to give Kane the contract that he’s looking for.
For other players, the World Championships come beckoning. The Golden Knights sent a good number of players to the Worlds to represent their home countries: Raanta and Julius Honka are playing for Finland, Dennis Seidenberg for Germany, Ondrej Palat for the Czech Republic, Lars Eller for the Danes, and Kevin Shattenkirk and Tyler Johnson representing the USA.
Lastly, for some, it’s a chance to go home, spend some time with their families, and focus on what they can do to improve their games this summer. We caught up with defenseman Jordan Subban on his way out, and he mentioned that his goal for the summer is to solidify his game on the defensive end. Management had high praise for his stick handling and scoring prowess (5 goals and 15 assists in 28 games) but, especially with Coach Luke Richardson’s defense-first scheme, Subban found ice time hard to get with some of his defensive deficiencies. “I know there’s a lot of things I can do to bring my game up to the next level,” Subban said. “I’m really looking forward to camp in September, to showing up and proving that I deserve to be out there on the ice 82 games a year.”
Meanwhile, the NHL playoffs roll on. In the Western Conference, the Sharks blew past the Oilers in 5 games, while the Blackhawks fought off a feisty Winnipeg team in 7 to set up the conference finals matchup. In the east, the Rangers swept the Bruins and enjoyed some time off while waiting to find out their opponent - Ottawa eventually prevailed in 7 over Buffalo to push them one step closer to the Stanley Cup. We’ll be back with a Stanley Cup Final preview after the conference finals, and expect to hear more from the Golden Knights management team by then as well.
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