The Vegas Golden Knights will regret trading for Max Pacioretty instead of Erik Karlsson.
The Vegas Golden Knights have taken the NHL by surprise. They made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final last season. Even though the Knights will most likely experience regression next season, adding Paul Stastny and Max Pacioretty should help significantly negate that. They’ve also been talking to the Ottawa Senators about Erik Karlsson, but those discussions haven’t gone far.
They made a mistake in trading for Pacioretty. Now, he’s a darn good player and he gives the Knights a reliable goal scorer. Even after a down year, Pacioretty’s a good bet to hit the 30 goal plateau again, especially if he’s flanking Stastny.
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However, the Knights would have been much better off trading for Karlsson instead. In theory, they could still trade for him. But it will be much harder to do without Nick Suzuki, who was arguably their second best prospect.
In order to get Karlsson, the Golden Knights will likely have to part with either Cody Glass or Erik Bannstrom. Most teams could afford this, but Vegas is a special case. They don’t have many future assets since they literally just became a team in 2017.
Another option is the Golden Knights could take on Bobby Ryan‘s contract to lessen the cost for Karlsson. This would take a pretty significant financial commitment even before factoring in an extension for him. Because let’s be honest, what’s the point in trading for Karlsson if you’re not going to extend him? That’s like renting a Ferrari for a year instead of buying one.
While it’s true that prospects aren’t known commodities, take a look at the recent teams to win the Stanley Cup. The Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Boston Bruins built from within.
Obviously, the Golden Knights are an exception because of the expansion draft. But still, prospects are important because the more great ones you have, the more entry-level contracts you’ll have.
Karlsson would have fixed the Golden Knights defense. Not only that, he would have made an already good defense a great one. The kind of defense that could carry the Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup.
While the Golden Knights have a strong defensive system, Nate Schmidt is their number one defenseman and he’s gone for the first 20 games. Schmidt certainly isn’t a scrub, but Karlsson is much better than him. When he’s healthy, very few defensemen (arguably none) have the impact that he does.
Off the ice, Karlsson would give the Golden Knights another face of the franchise. He’s a very likable guy who the team could market as they continue to turn Vegas into a hockey town.