Vegas will be fine. Keeping Fleury didn't hurt at all. In fact, if anything you'll need both goalies for one of, if not the best NHL tandem

You don't need a tandem for the playoffs though. The best goalie plays, which Vegas showed they think Lehner is the best goalie. Leaving 7 million on the bench isn't what you want to do.

I see what you mean, but they might not have had the choice. Fleury has a NMC if I'm not mistaken.

There had to have been one of the other 20 teams willing to take him on if Vegas sent them picks as well. It's possible, but I highly doubt none of the 20 others wouldn't have done this deal.

I can see why you're frustrated, that's a lot of money to keep tied up in goaltending and the trade return on Schmidt was pretty low for what he provides. As a Canucks fan I was very happy to see the deal go down!

While true, if one guy can't play for whatever reason than having that extra starter is a good thing. Look at Pittsburgh when they had both Murray and Fleury. Murray got hurt and Fleury got Pittsburgh to the ECF in Murray's second year.
While Khudobin is no starter, he is a tremendous backup and helped get Dallas to the Finals.
When Rask bowed out, Halak stepped in and played okay.
And even though it's true those guys weren't necessarily getting paid big bucks, it shows having two really good goaltenders could make all the difference in a key playoff.

I'd have to imagine something could have been worked with Chicago taking MAF with 50% retained along with the 2022 1st and Glass or Tuch in return for Strome. Teams just aren't going to swallow 100% of MAF's cap hit for a late 1st round pick.

I'd say Schmidt is an average to below average top pair guy. But he is definitely a VERY good second pair defenseman. Vancouver got a steal for that third rounder.

A 1st and 2 seconds with one of the seconds being New Jersey's? I think that could have gotten it done. Especially because Chicago needs someone better in net than Subban or Delia.

That seems like a fair assessment. Hopefully he fits well on a pair with Hughes.

But is most examples (same holds true for Darling and Crawford), the goalie tandem didn't have 2 very high priced goalies. Spending over $12M on goalies is generally not a recipe for success.

Agree 1000%. I made a similar comment in the Forums and I've been fooling around with Fleury trades. (One to Ottawa last month and one to Columbus today; I'm working on one to Chicago.) Any price isn't too much to have kept Nate Schmidt, and now that everyone can see what difficulties Las Vegas is in, the price to dump Fleury (if it's at all possible) will be twice as high. I don't see why Las Vegas had to announce Pietrangelo's signing before disposing of Fleury; I suppose that there were certain undisclosed reasons or pressure to do so.

Trading Stastny was essentially required to sign Pietrangelo; that weakened the Golden Knights enough. Trading Schmidt, to me, means the entire exercise was a step back, as I don't think that the upgrade from Schmidt to Pietrangelo compensates for the hole created at #2C.

Don't disagree with that assessment and I get why they wouldn't want that much tied up in goalies. But, it's not the worst move to have two number 1s.

Chicago is rebuilding to MAF doesn't offer much in their timeline. That said, I'm sure they would take him, but late 1st and 2nd rounder and mid 2nd rounder (NJD will be decent this year) to take on a $7M cap hit for 2 years is just not enough. Vegas has to give up a asset other then picks and also retain on MAF which I'm not sure Vegas would do.

Like I said,
MAF (50% retained) + 2022 1st + Tuch = Strome + Subban + 3rd
or
MAF (50% retained) + 2022 1st + Glass + Holden = Strome + Subban + 3rd

Something like that I'd imagine would have got the deal done.

I see what you're saying. Sure Fleury is capable of winning the Stanley Cup as the starting goalie. But I think I'd rather spend that 7 million on another player and bet that Lehner will be healthy through the playoffs. Heck 7 million could almost get you Taylor Hall.

Problem is, teams aren't going to readily take on $7M cap hit for 2 years in a flat cap world for the next two years, so a moot point saying you can spend $7M other places. When younger goalies like Markstrom, Lehner, etc. are available for cheaper why would a team take on Fleury for that much?

I think something could have worked with a third team retaining salary. A team would pay for Fleury at 3.5 million. Say Ottawa retains 3.5 million, gets a first and second from Vegas and a 2nd or third from another team, and that third team gets Fleury. Ottawa would EASILY do that deal. The problem with that is Fleury's 10 team NTC probably had Ottawa so they can't even be a stopping point on the way.

Something that I think we as fans aren't considering - given that we don't have access to the level of detail that the GMs probably do at this point - is that the NHL is going ahead with some form of a condensed schedule. I think the initial plan is to avoid delaying the 2021-22 season, which means as of January 1st, 31 NHL teams are going to be looking to play roughly 60+ games in about 100-120 days.

With that heavy of a schedule, you need at least two goaltenders that can perform at the NHL level, and some of the articles I've read have speculated that a third might not be a bad idea. Vegas is set right now with two starting-calibre goaltenders that are each going to play 30 games (ish) in about 50 days (ish). They have a higher chance of collecting more of those points than other franchises do because of that fact.

Right now, Vegas has seven NHL-capable defencemen (Pietrangelo, Theodore, Martinez, and McNabb is a hell of a top-four) and has Schuldt bubbling under in the system. Losing Nate hurts, but I don't think it hurts this team as much as losing Fleury would for this season. I think it could be problematic after, but Vegas is primed to be winning *now*.

They made the right trade, they just didn't get enough for what they gave away. The fact that this is one of Vegas' worst moves suggests that they aren't doing half bad at the whole professional hockey thing.

Any trade for Fleury would require salary retention which is something that Vegas does not want to do right now.
Even as a Blues fan whose team could possibly use a backup or a 1b(1a), I'm not sure id be willing to give up much for Fleury even with 40% retained.

Not to mention they also have Hague who is a very good young guy coming along. Vegas has options.

I get that. But the goal isn't to be the best team in the regular season. You generally only play one goalie in the playoffs. I think with a $900 k backup goalie this team still easily makes the playoffs. The thought Vegas should have is "what's the least we can pay backup goalie we can get away with and still make the playoffs?" Knowing that Lehner is going to play every game come postseason time. This team shouldn't miss the playoffs regardless of who the backup goalie is.

There had to have been some third team that was willing to accept picks (a 1st and 2 seconds) to retain 3.5 million in salary for 2 years. Detroit and Ottawa to name a couple.

I guess from the standpoint that Vegas doesn't mind losing a first right now I understand that idea of trading picks. However, i would also argue they probably want to save some of those picks in order to get someone at the deadline. Maybe they dont mind though. One thing that Vegas does have an advantage of though is that they dont have to worry about protections in the Seattle draft.

You don't get to the postseason without being one of the top teams though. Sure, the Pacific has the depth of your average pop can, but Vegas has the pieces to come away with a commanding division lead and play a much weaker opponent, likely from the central. Would you rather play what's left of the Predators or try your luck against a pissed-off McDavid or a hot Markstrom?

Unlike this season, there isn't going to be that massive divide between the end of the season and the playoffs. A Cup-contending team is adding about 25 games in twice as many days to an already busy schedule. Vegas could run with Fleury for the entire first round just to give Lehner enough of a rest to play the rest of the playoffs. If that's the move that wins you a cup, is it not all worth it in the end?

Teams have had cup runs demolished by losing a quality goaltender to injury (I would know). The Penguins went back-to-back with two starting goaltenders despite the initial assumption that Fleury was the bona-fide starter. He's expensive sure, but the Golden Knights had so many viable options on their blueline, and the market for starting-caliber goaltenders evaporated over the first two days of free agency. There wasn't a team taking Fleury in a trade that wasn't debilitating for the Knights. You probably don't get Pietrangelo if Vegas has to retain 50% on Fleury: too many other pieces have to fall.

They made the right move, they just undersold their piece.

If they have a plan to add someone at the deadline then fair enough. Are you going to get someone at the deadline better than Nate Schmidt though? And you're going to pay more than Vancouver did for Schmidt. That's my problem.