What Should The VGK Do With Robin Lehner?
I bet you haven’t heard that name in a while. The Vegas Golden Knights are in the Stanley Cup Finals and Robin Lehner hasn’t played a game for the team. Does Lehner get a ring if the VGK wins the Stanley Cup? More importantly, what the hell do the VGK do with him this upcoming offseason? After missing the entire season via hip surgery, the man known as the Panda should be good to go for the 2023-24 NHL season. It’s just a matter of if he’s going actually to be on the roster when that season takes place.
Let’s just run through the roster quickly to get a better understanding of the starting point. Logan Thompson is basically guaranteed to get one of the spots on the roster next year. Lehner is already under contract for two more years carrying an AAV of $5 million. Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit, and Jonathan Quick are unrestricted free agents coming up here this offseason. Jiri Patera and Carl Lindbom will both be in the minors. Both of whom seem to have potential.
Dan Kingerski made the case in his post that Vegas should look to buy out Lehner to re-sign Adin Hill. I think that would be maybe as big of a brain-dead move as humanly possible. I don’t think any reasonable person expects that to be the outcome here. Plus with Lehner given all the legal trouble he’s in, the VGK goalie can just remain on LTIR after the hip injury. Probably not a likely outcome but one that shouldn’t be ruled impossible. Any scenario where the VGK are eating dead cap through 26-27 cannot be considered.
At this point, you’re looking at two options. I’m not sure why nobody is talking about it but people should be.
A: Trade Lehner
Part A is a two fold question. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that you use Lehner to acquire another goalie. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a pure cap dump. This is just a thought but I think this sort of idea is something Kelly McCrimmon should consider if the right opportunity presents itself.
The first one that comes to my head is a guy like Carter Hart who carries an AAV of $3.979 million next season before becoming a restricted free agent the year after. New Flyers GM Danny Briere didn’t exactly say Hart was off the table in trade talks. Does a trade like this work for both teams?
For the Flyers, this is a way to extract a future asset while buying low on Lehner when you can sell him down the line after he proves to be healthy again.
For the VGK, you get a goalie who has been stuck on a bad team that you know will perform better in your system. Also while getting that guy on a lower cap number and getting out of Lehner’s deal.
Again, it’s just a thought. If you’re going to trade Lehner, that would seem to be an ideal scenario.
I do think Lehner has *some* trade value. This is still a goalie that carries a .917 SV% for his career and should have plenty of juice left at 31. The free agent goalie market isn’t exactly barren carrying names like Freddie Andersen, Tristan Jarry, and Cam Talbot. We always know how this stuff goes. Somebody always has a need for goaltending.
If Pittsburgh loses Jarry, would they have interest? Would Seattle take him if they want to upgrade over Martin Jones? Columbus doesn’t really have a goalie and their front office is under pressure to compete. The Canucks always do weird stuff. Could you send him to Vancouver if they want Thatcher Demko insurance? There are options that exist barring Lehner not being ready to play.
If you can find a taker for Lehner on a deal that lowers that cap number, that goes a long way toward re-signing Ivan Barbashev and one of either Hill or Brossoit.
B: Keep Lehner, see if Jonathan Quick wants to return on a retirement tour as the third goalie.
I don’t hate this option. Bruce Cassidy is the goalie whisperer and it’s why I thought he deserved coach of the year. I don’t think it’s an accident that guys like Hill and Brossoit overachieved. If Lehner is ready to go why not give him a run with Cassidy as his coach? Lehner is basically Hill with more talent. Enormous bodies that don’t have the best short area quickness. Having a duo of Thompson / Lehner doesn’t sound like the worst idea. Plus, you could always look to trade at the deadline if Lehner doesn’t work out. I think the Knights will find a trade partner but I don’t think this is a terrible fall back option.
