Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostCookie
Last I looked, pretty much all their big LTIR contracts are expected back by around the Olympic break. Contrary to popular belief, Vegas can't "Kucherov" the situation, because he will be back well before the salary cap stops mattering, and it's highly unlikely they find a way to drag it out an additional 6-8 weeks. Kucherov worked out the way it did because it lined up perfectly with the playoffs. Anything the Knights do to delay Eichel will be pretty obvious and the other 31 GM's will be pretty quick to cry foul and force the NHL's hand on the matter.
The biggest problem Vegas will have is the off season. With everyone back, they will have nearly 78mil tied up in 16 players (9 forwards, 5 defense, 2 goalies), meaning around 4 million plus whatever the cap increases by to tie up at least 4 players, one of which is their top remaining prospect who is due for a raise. 8 of their existing contracts have some form of trade protection making it harder to turn around for good returns (9 if Eichel has something). The following year doesn't exactly yield a bunch of bad money off the books, as even though Patch's contract ends, it's not like they won't want to keep him based on how he has been prior to injury.
And lately Vegas has been exposed as not valuing player loyalty at all, which over time will raise the cost of signing FA's as most will either want to bake in NMC/NTC protection, or bank on the assumption they will get tossed for the next shiny toy Vegas finds.
Other posters are correct in saying that if Adams really badly wanted Krebs, then the cost to outbid isn't just making a somewhat better offer, but a MUCH better offer, and it probably just wouldn't be worth it.
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I very seriously doubt the league will step in at any point to stop Vegas from delaying Eichel’s return. It’s a serious back injury recovery. All it will take is for eichel to say he doesn’t feel like he’s back to 100% and that he’s worried about re-injuring himself if he comes back too early. Whether it’s true or not will not matter one bit. How could the league force a player back before he and the team feel comfortable about his health. All you can do is take his word for it.
I honestly would love to see the league do something about this. But when have they ever stepped in and stopped a team from “circumventing the cap”? We all knew exactly what Tampa was doing last year and the league let it happen. Eichel will just practice with the team for 2-3 months getting into “gameshape” before being ready just in time for game 1.
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