Vegas Golden Knights
Tomas Nosek, Ryan Reaves, and Deryk Engelland are all set to become UFAs. They’re also not the only ones on the Golden Knights roster about to hit the open market. The same is true for Jon Merrill and backup goaltender Robin Lehner.
It would be highly improbably to believe that the Knights will re-sign all these free agents but based on the team’s surprising team success, it wouldn’t be surprising if GM Kelly McCrimmon tried to make that happen.
Ryan Reaves
The highest-paid of the Knights’ UFAs is Ryan Reaves. He was earning $2.775 million in the final year of his two-year deal. He patrols the ice for the Knights as their tough guy, adding physicality to the team in a big way.
Reaves played all 71 games this season and spent his time on ice punishing opponents. He threw 316 hits, the most he’s ever laid in a single season. There’s no doubt that the Golden Knights will be looking to return that grit to their lineup.
Tomas Nosek
When Nosek scored his third-period goal to help the Vegas Golden Knights defeat the Washington Capitals in Game 1 of the 2018 Stanley Cup Finals, he probably didn’t think about the fact that he and the first two players to hug and celebrate with him would all become unrestricted free agents together. Then again, maybe he did.
Nosek, has been with Vegas since its inaugural season. About to complete his contract, the Czechoslovakian center averaged 11:36 minutes of ice time this season, which is oddly the same time average for his career. Going into next season, Nosek will be looking to fill a job at the bottom of an NHL roster.
Deryk Engelland
Engelland joined Vegas when he was selected from the Flames in NHL Expansion Draft. The move was a good one for the Golden Knights. Engelland has played in 202 games in the Golden Knights blueline. He scored 8 goals and 33 assists for 41 points in that time.
Recently, Engelland sat out of multiple games as a healthy scratch. It’s about the last position that the defenseman would have wanted ahead of negotiating a new contract.
Robin Lehner
Even Robin Lehner has been a nice addition for Vegas. They traded for the tender on trade deadline day, giving up a package of Malcolm Subban, Stanislav Demin and their second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft to get him.
Lehner took the net in three games for the Knights and not just won them all but only gave up a total of five goals. If Vegas can work something out with the goalie, they’d surely love to try and keep the band together.
Jon Merrill
Merrill, Nosek, and Reaves are all pending UFAs and happen to all play together on Vegas’s fourth line. If McCrimmon wants he can let all three walk away from the organization and replace the entire line.
Merrill is another one of hockey’s utility players. Despite playing as a left-winger, he’s actually a natural defenseman. It will be interesting to see in what capacity he gets signed in the offseason. Will he join a franchise as a forward or defenseman?
Now 28 years old, Merrill has played a total of 356 games. He’s recorded 12 goals and 49 assists while playing an average of 18:24 minutes of ice time.
Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow where every UFA in the Western Conference’s Central Division will be broken down.