Vegas Golden Knights Acquire Ivan Barbashev
The Golden Knight are officially on the board for NHL’s trade season. Former Stanley Cup winning forward with the St. Louis Blues, Ivan Barbashev has been shipped to Vegas. The Blues have already shipped out Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly. Barbashev becomes the next Blues casualty as they look to re-tool their roster.
TSN’s Darren Dreger was the first to report the news:
This is a jack of all trades addition by the Knights. Barbashev, 27, is a pending free agent following this season. Thus far Barbashev has 29 points in 59 games. However, maybe the former Blues forward can recapture the magic he had a year ago. Barbashev had a career high 60 points last season and now will be surrounded by a much better supporting cast with St. Louis out of the playoff race.
Barbashev has the ability to play center and wing. However, as seen by the player card, his defensive outlook isn’t exactly the best. He’s likely suited much better as a scoring winger and in Vegas, that’s likely exactly what he’s going to be doing. Since the break head coach Bruce Cassidy has shifted Chandler Stephenson back as the third line center. This Barbashev addition likely doesn’t change that.
UPDATE:
It sounds like Zach Dean is the prospect heading to the Blues. Dean is the former Golden Knights first round pick in 2021 (30th overall). I’m not sure how much to trust prospect rankings but SinBin Vegas had Dean as Vegas’ 5th ranked prospect. A former first round pick that’s lost some luster and still hasn’t made his way over to the AHL yet.
