Vegas Golden Knights: Making the Playoffs Doesn’t Hurt Future

LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 28: James Neal #18 of the Vegas Golden Knights (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 28: James Neal #18 of the Vegas Golden Knights (Photo by Jeff Bottari/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Vegas Golden Knights are tied for the lead in the Pacific division. So why would they be a seller at the deadline? Why not try for the playoffs in their first year?

This might be the coldest take you’ve read on Puck Prose in quite some time. Possibly ever. But making the playoffs doesn’t necessarily negatively impact the Vegas Golden Knights. They shouldn’t sell at the deadline if they are contenders. In fact, the Golden Knights should instead focus on making the postseason and doing as well as they can in their first season.

This goes against the plan that owner Bill Foley and general manager George McPhee laid out before the season. The Knights would be bad for a season, trade for picks, and be ready to go for a Cup in three to five years. But that plan changed immediately out of the gate. Now the Golden Knights could be ready for a Cup in year one.

Which leaves a dilemma: do they tank and go for picks the rest of the season? Or do they go for the playoffs, build their fanbase, then disappoint them some as a few of the key free agents walk? I’ve already said my answer.

Don’t Sell, Don’t Buy

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Should the Vegas Golden Knights be in the playoff hunt at the trade deadline, they should do nothing. Don’t trade James Neal, don’t trade David Perron, but certainly, don’t buy.

Their success likely still awaits in the future. Trading picks, which is really all the team has as future trade pieces, isn’t acceptable. Yes, getting more picks would be an even bigger boon. But getting to the playoffs gets them more money and a bigger fanbase in the short term. Remember, ownership had to pay a huge expansion fee. A playoff run could certainly help replenish those funds.

Neal and Perron have both been incredibly important to the Knights through the first quarter. Which is why they will have massive trade value. When Perron got hurt, he had the most points on the Knights roster. Neal is second on the team in goals, with four game-winners. That importance can’t be replaced, and if the Vegas Golden Knights are going for the playoffs, they will need the two of them.

Buying a player at the deadline not only messes with the future of the Golden Knights, it could mess with team chemistry. This oddball bunch has come together and played lights out without any outside help. Trading for a player might change that, and that’s something that should be avoided. The locker room is likely contagious in their positive attitude. Adding a player like Evander Kane or Ian Cole could hamper it.

Even the First Round Helps

For the Golden Knights and their fans, even a taste of the playoffs will help with a long road to the Cup. Making the first round and losing will delay their rebuild for a year, but they have plenty of picks this year to make up for it, and they don’t have a second rounder. It may be the best season to delay their build if they’re going to.

Fans of other teams would realize that hockey in Vegas works. Going to Las Vegas to watch a team not seen as a gimmick would be a boost to the Golden Knights’ profits.

Next: Golden Knights Bold Predictions

While there would be a one-year age gap between players like Nick Suzuki, Erik Brannstrom, Cody Glass, and their next group of great talents, they will eventually have them all together. And the Knights still have a first-round pick this year. If George McPhee is able to draft as well as he did with the Washington Capitals, the year will still produce a great talent.