Vegas eventually will need room down the middle for Suzuki and C.Glass, so getting Tavares wouldn’t work.

Haula, Lindberg, and Bellemare are all cross-listed at wing. But Vegas is in a unique position of having two top center prospects and not needing to rush either of them. McPhee has always preached patience with prospects, and shouldn't mind playing either in the AHL.

If Tavares and McPhee had a good working relationship in New York, this is not impossible.

Tavares would have to solve the following equation: if the New York Islanders are not a playoff team with Tavares and Nelson at a combined 6M cap hit tearing up the goal scoring leaderboard, is it worth packing up and moving to a team that's already good enough to make the playoffs without Tavares, and having a chnce to win a cup during his forseeable career.

Moving is really hard, and Vegas is pretty unknown in hockey circles. But if he's more interested in winning a championship than in keeping the same house and having short commutes to most of his away games, or staying in a town where people have heard of him... this has to be a team he's thought of playing with.

I know its not impossible, but Glass and Suzuki are not just going to stay in the minors for the next 7 years while Tavares is here. If he wanted like a 4 year contract with them, that could work, but u dont want to waste away a few good years of these young kids’ NHL careers in the minors while Tavares is here.

If you had a top five team in the league and had a shot at tavares why wouldn't you sign him. Having a better shot at the cup now is worth more than roster room for prospects 2 years into the future.

Tavares on the 2nd line??

Malkin on a 2nd line?



Last summer, Marchessault was listed as a center. Switching to wing is the easiest transition in hockey. Most rookies who aren't top three overall picks don't start out on their team's first line, or necessarily in the position they like to play. With the Capitals, Burakovsky switched to center to meet team need, while Kuznetsov switched to wing in his rookie season. Backstrom started on wing. Laich was rotated through center and defense before mostly settling at wing.... I'm sure fans of other teams have examples. Fedorov is the classic case of someone who could play any position, but so could Larionov. So can a lot of people..

Where’s Vegas going to get the Cap Space for the players that are actually important to them? U dont just let a G like Fleury walk, and u got him, Subban, Tuch, Lindberg, and Schmidt to resign next summer with not a lot of space becoming available.

You only win Stanley Cups one year at a time. Once you win one, each of your players' trade value goes up. Looking at the depth on that third line, I think this team is a contender.



Crosby starts 56% of his shifts in the offensive zone this year and has 23 goals. Karlsson has even zone starts and 36 goals, so far this year.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/karlswi01.html

I'm sure Crosby will go on a big scoring streak down the stretch, or get hurt. One of those. We'll see.



I dont' think they're benching Engelland who has played 2nd pair minutes this year, or Bellemare who's been on the third line, ahead of Jon Merrill or Ryan Carpenter, but otherwise this is pretty spot on.

If you're writing a depth chart, you're free to slot Tavares in as the best of the best, but in terms of teach chemistry, the first line that helped W. Karlsson break out and score thirty goals this year is sticking together, and it will either draw other teams' top defensive pairs or feast against weak competition. Now, I think that means Karlsson gets Marchessault and Neal, leaving Smith and Tot for the new guy.

Keeping Haula in a third line role lets this team just roll over most of the West.