Just when everything was looking good for the Vegas Golden Knights and forward Jack Eichel, after the trade to Vegas and his successful surgery, it looks like things are getting tricky.
This is putting the Golden Knights in a dilemma with defenceman Alec Martinez, who carries a $5.25 million dollars annual salary and is also set to return. The Golden Knights don't have enough cap space for forward Jack Eichel.
GM Kelly McCrimmon is going to want to have both Eichel and Martinez in the Vegas lineup, Jack Rosen had some ideas on things for Vegas saying,
"For starters, the Golden Knights would have 25 players if Eichel and Martinez are activated and no one else goes on injured reserve, 26 if forward Adam Brooks is activated too. They can only have 23, so they'd have to start by trading or waiving some depth players. Waivers is the easiest route, but if they lose the player it thins their depth. If the Golden Knights are still over the $81.5 million salary cap, they would then likely have to move a more impactful player, potentially forwards Evgenii Dadonov or Reilly Smith. Each carries a $5 million cap charge; Smith is in the last season of his contract, and Dadonov is in the second of a three-year contract. Any team with a need for a top-nine forward will be calling Vegas to try to take advantage of the cap situation. If that's still not enough to get under the cap, the Golden Knights would have to make another move."
"Even if the Golden Knights have a healthy roster, activating Eichel and Martinez will make them better, but at the price of making their depth thinner.»
There is no doubt that it will be exciting to see Eichel performing with a contender, Vegas fans are aware of his talent, but his times in Buffalo didn't allow him to fully shine with the never improving Sabres and Eichel had limited talent to play with during his tenure in Buffalo.
However, Vegas is looking forward to getting him on board no matter what it takes, because Eichel will make this very talented Vegas team deadly.
