We've been hearing the rumors for weeks, it seems. The noise is only getting louder.
Add another piece of evidence to the pile: TSN senior reporter Frank Seravalli took a dive into the protected and unprotected lists of all 30 NHL teams on Sunday, and came away with a few takeaways and useful nuggets as the process starts to both heat up and wind down.
Seravalli believes the Blue Jackets and Golden Knights have agreement on a trade that will send the No. 24 overall pick in this year's draft to Vegas (a deal that's rumored to include the contract of injured forward David Clarkson) in exchange for a "steer clear" acknowledgement. That acknowledgement will apparently keep goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, forward Josh Anderson and defenseman Jack Johnson safe -- leaving William Karlsson and Matt Calvert as two prime candidates for selection.
This is the breakdown from the TSN report:
It is believed that Vegas already has consideration deals arranged with Anaheim (to lay off Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson), with Columbus (to lay off Joonas Korpisalo, Josh Anderson and Jack Johnson), with the New York Islanders (to lay off Josh Bailey and Casey Cizikas) and Chicago (to take on Marcus Kruger).
Columbus is believed to be parting with the No. 24 overall pick in this week’s draft, the Islanders with a first-round pick, the Blackhawks with and a sizeable package from Anaheim - since the Ducks don’t have a first-round pick this season, but a bevy of young depth on defence from which to deal.
Golden Knights GM George McPhee held media availability on Sunday and issued a warning (challenge?) to his colleagues: if you want to keep your roster intact, we're open for business -- but there will be a cost to doing that business.
Here's the full quote, and it's amazing:
“You can negotiate your way out of this if you wish,” McPhee said. “Every team in this league has a chance to protect their roster. We will not make a claim with any club before we talk to the club.”
Alright then!
Another wrinkle involves teams looking at other unprotected lists and trying to make deals for those players. That window isn't necessarily open yet, but McPhee isn't opposed to making such a deal...on one condition.
"Whatever you want to give us has to be better than what we can claim from that club," he said.
