The Vegas Golden Knights continued their winning ways last night with a 4-2 victory over the downward-spiraling New York Rangers at T-Mobile. The Rangers have lost four games in a row and have been outscored 22-5 in the process.
These are two teams going in opposite directions, as the VGK have won seven games in a row, one shy of a franchise record of eight. They’ve outscored their opponents 23-9 in these seven games. The Knights have a 10-game point streak with a record of 8-0-2 in those 10 games, and continue to be a force at T-Mobile with a 12-game home point streak of 10-0-2.
This all sounds great and it is — until you realize that the business of hockey can be very slippery, even when you’re not on the ice. Brandon Pirri has just such a problem. Actually, it’s not his problem, but he’s causing it.
Did you think the Pirri Problem was solved when he was returned to the Chicago Wolves after the game on Jan. 1, 2019, against the L.A. Kings, where he just happened to score the winning goal in the 2-0 victory? It was no accident that he was returned then. That was his seventh game this season. If he plays in 10 games and the VGK attempt to return him to the Chicago Wolves, it will require him to clear waivers. Not wanting to lose him to another team, the safe and wise business decision was to return him to Chicago after Max Pacioretty was cleared to play and needed to be removed from injured reserve (IR). Problem solved?
Not so fast.
William Carrier comes down with the flu and is unavailable to play. Reilly Smith suffers an undisclosed injury in the game against the New Jersey Devils and is also not available. So Brandon Pirri is once again recalled and inserted into last night’s lineup for his eighth game of the season. He’s put on the second line with Alex Tuch and Paul Stastny; Max Pacioretty is moved up to the first line with Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.
Pirri picks up right where he left off on New Year’s Day by scoring a power-play goal in the second period, his seventh in eight games this season and his 10th as a VGK in just 10 games spanning both seasons. It would have been the winning goal if Jesper Fast didn’t sneak a puck past Fleury with just 23 seconds left in the game.
Pirri has one more “free” game to play before the waiver wire rears its ugly head for the VGK. The Pirri Problem is going down to the wire and Thursday’s game is the end of the line.
Pirri is too valuable of an asset to lose for nothing and I just don’t see GM George McPhee allowing him to play past Thursday night. As fate would have it, the VGK will be flying to Chicago on Friday to play the Blackhawks on Saturday night. The question, to which no one seems to know the answer, is: Will Pirri have a one-way ticket to Chicago or will it be a round trip back to Las Vegas?
The VGK have a few options and I’ll break them down for you. The craziest option, but one that could preserve all the players currently on the roster, including the injured players, would be to send down the only player on the team who is exempt from the waiver-wire rule: Alex Tuch. But that’s never going to happen. I at least wanted to tell you all of the available options.
Another is to return Pirri to the Chicago Wolves. Even if Carrier and Smith aren’t ready to return to the active roster, Valentin Zykov could be inserted into the lineup to evaluate his future with Vegas.
Then there’s the gamble of exposing another player. In no particular order, those are Lindberg, Hunt, Carpenter, and Merrill.
Of these four, the one who may be worth the gamble is Lindberg. His salary is $1.7 million per year. In this cap-crunch NHL, that’s an expensive salary for a player whom you hope can mesh well with your team, plus he’s an unrestricted free agent (UFA) at the end of this season.
Hunt and Carpenter are also UFAs, but only carry $650,000 cap hits, which might tempt a team to gamble with.
Merrill has a $1.375 million cap hit and is signed through the next two seasons. Playing well of late, Jon is, in my opinion, the least likely to be exposed to waivers. GM McPhee likes to carry eight defensemen and Hunt when he plays has been steady in his 13 games, recording 7 points.
This leaves GM GM two options only. The first is to return Pirri to the Wolves, as opposed to exposing him to the wolves of the other 30 teams who would love nothing more than to weaken the VGK. The three teams who would have the first shot at Pirri if exposed are those with the lowest points: Ottawa, Philadelphia, and L.A. The Kings would claim Pirri just to remove him and the depth his scoring adds to the VGK organization.
Remember, Pirri can return to the VGK on Feb. 25 without any restriction to the VGK roster, as the 23-man limit is lifted on the morning of the trade deadline. The business of hockey can sometimes feel like Adam McQuaid felt getting pummeled at center ice last night by Ryan “Revo” Reaves.
Now back to the pleasant side of hockey.
Last night was the VGK’s 27th win of the season and Marc-André Fleury’s 25th league-leading win for a goalie.
Alex Tuch’s behind-the-back no-look pass to Cody Eakin for the VGK’s first goal 16:02 into the first period extended Tuch’s seven-game point streak of eight points with two goals and six assists.
Max Pacioretty picked up an assist on Brandon Pirri’s power-play goal, which gives Patches points in all three games since his return to the lineup after missing seven games to an undisclosed injury.
Pirri’s power-play goal was the VGK’s first PPG in their last 18 attempts.
Jonathan Marchessault’s goal was his 14th, which ties him with Alex Tuch for the second most goals scored this season; it broke a seven-game goal-scoring drought.
My 3 Stars of the Game: 1) Brandon Pirri (PPG and his seventh goal in just eight games); 2) Cody Eakin (1 goal, his 13th, and he continues to play all 200 feet of the ice); 3) Marc-Andre Fleury (the gift for whom we can never thank Pittsburgh enough, with 27 saves for his 25th win).
The VGK take on the San Jose Sharks tomorrow, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. at T-Mobile. This next game is a doozy. It will have a profound effect on the Pacific Division standings.
Your comments and opinions are welcome and appreciated here at Las Vegas Advisor (to comment, you just have to register on the site, which takes all of 30 seconds and is free, of course). You can also contact me directly at [email protected] or visit my Facebook page, Vegas Hockey Guy.
And for the most comprehensive coverage of the Vegas Golden Knights’ historic inaugural season, take a look at our book Vegas Golden Knights—How a First-Year Expansion Team Healed Las Vegas and Shocked the Hockey World.
Here are the video links top the post-game interviews:
Coach Gallant Part 1 and Part 2
Never miss another post
Just read your article. You really know your stuff! It’s obvious, you are not just a great Hearts Player
Talk to you soon!