Golden Knights injuries mount with loss of Max Pacioretty; will this prompt trade for Jack Eichel?
Anthony Scultore
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The Vegas Golden Knights have announced that forward Max Pacioretty is week-to-week with a fractured foot, coach Peter DeBoer said Saturday.
Sportsnet, however, reported Pacioretty could be sidelined as many as six weeks after blocking a shot with his skate in the Golden Knights’ 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
“Blocked an innocent looking shot. Just one of those things,” DeBoer said Saturday.
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Golden Knights injuries mount
Pacioretty, 32, collected two goals and an assist in Vegas’ 4-3 win over the expansion Seattle Kraken in Tuesday’s season opener. He was held off the scoresheet versus the Kings. He has 608 points (306 goals, 302 assists) in 813 career games with the Montreal Canadiens (2008-18) and Golden Knights.
He will be sorely missed, but so will Mark Stone who is listed out and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
There’s a chance that Stone could be out awhile after he suffered what appeared to be a non-contact injury also against the Kings. The 29 year-old forward, needed to helped off the ice and was unable to put any weight on his feet.
Both players are just more names added to Vegas’ long list of missing Knights.
Will this prompt the Golden Knights to trade for Eichel?
The latest reports on Jack Eichel is that at least five teams are in on him. Vegas has long been attached but cap constraints have kept them as unlikely destination.
Does the possibility of trading for Eichel, letting him have the surgery, and putting him on LTIR increase the chances? It’s starting to look like it. The initial talk is that whatever team acquires Eichel will let him have the artificial disc replacement he seeks. Multiple reports indicate that he will be out at least four months from the point of the surgery.
If the Golden Knights can slow things down, they could maneuver this year’s cap constraints using LTIR similar to the way the Lighting did last season.
Eichel deal was close
On a recent episode of ESPN’s The Point, Emil Kaplan provided the following update:
“It’s true,” Kaplan answered that Eichel was almost moved. “Behind the scenes the NHL and NHLPA have intervened to push things along. They don’t like the stalemate. I was told as of Thursday (10/7) there was serious optimism that a trade was imminent. Everyone felt really good about it – they thought it was going to happen. But then on Friday it went quiet.”
She also noted there are five teams involved and all would let Eichel have his preferred artificial disc replacement surgery. Host John Buccigross added that he felt the team that would get him are the Vegas Golden Knights.
Maybe now is the time for the Knights to strike a deal.
–Field Level Media contributed to this article