A good way to look at it is to ask yourself, if Hertl was a UFA this summer, would you be happy to sign him for 6x$6.75M? If the answer is yes, it’s a good trade. But I just don’t see how he fits in. It looks to me like he’d be their 3rd line center. But there are going to be changes in Vegas this off season, so maybe it’ll all make sense then. If not, they’ll just find a way to get rid of him. They’ve always been good at finding ways to get rid of people when they need to clear cap space.
The player? Yes, ecstatic. The AAV? Sounds good. The term? Not great.
Vegas and their annual tradition of trading their 1st round picks
edit:
Vegas Golden Knights first-round picks:
2026: Traded
2025: Traded
2024: Still have
2023: David Edstrom (traded)
2022: Traded
2021: Zach Dean (traded)
2020: Brendan Brisson
2019: Peyton Krebs (traded)
2018: Traded
2017: Cody Glass/Nick Suzuki/Erik Brannstrom (all traded)
Doesn't seem wise at all after all the Leafs do the same thing.
Oh wait, Vegas wins the Cup and are top contenders again. Guess, some teams know how to trade.
I'd like to hope it can't be that hard to convince a 27 year old to be a millionaire in Las Vegas with one of his best friends on the team.
Who knows what motivates the guy. Everyone has their reasons, but staying in Vegas is probably a good option for him if they offer him money and trade protection. Who is he buddies with?
Doesn't seem wise at all after all the Leafs do the same thing.
Oh wait, Vegas wins the Cup and are top contenders again. Guess, some teams know how to trade.
Tampa Bay has a similar thing going with their 1st rounders going back to Vasilevsky.
You’re talking like Hertl is ancient. 30 ain’t old.
Peak for NHL forwards is 28-29. By 32, they tend to have a serious drop off. Furthermore, he's not that good right now. He's a 60-point centre who isn't good defensively.
Quoting: Andy_Dick
Your reasoning is basically give nothing up ever for anyone because they can age out.
No, my reasoning is this:
1.) He's not living up to his contract now. He's not even living up to the reduced contract Vegas has to pay.
2.) He's 30 already, which is past the peak for an NHL forward and this already bad contract has six more years on it.
3.) You don't give up a 1st and a solid prospect for a bad contract, not even with two 3rds coming back.
Peak for NHL forwards is 28-29. By 32, they tend to have a serious drop off. Furthermore, he's not that good right now. He's a 60-point centre who isn't good defensively.
No, my reasoning is this:
1.) He's not living up to his contract now. He's not even living up to the reduced contract Vegas has to pay.
2.) He's 30 already, which is past the peak for an NHL forward and this already bad contract has six more years on it.
3.) You don't give up a 1st and a solid prospect for a bad contract, not even with two 3rds coming back.
It’s not a bad contract. He’s a big, play driving Center at 30. Injuries happen. Hes still very productive. Hertl has put up positive value on one of the worst rosters in HISTORY!
“He was the only Sharks player this season with a positive Net Rating. His relative expected goal differential per 60 of 0.66 is right in line with where he was back when the Sharks were contenders. He also managed a 58-point pace despite very little help around him. He’s still very good.”
He’s had a slight drag from previous seasons but on a truly awful team. He has no reason not to regain his top form at only 30. Maybe in 4 years you can say a bad contract but we’re living in today’s reality not what ifs. You pay for current form in most cases besides exceptions like an EK65 but Karlsson is drastically overrated by every model and isn’t much more than a rover. Hertl’s 200 foot game is what you look for when you invest long term.
Who knows what motivates the guy. Everyone has their reasons, but staying in Vegas is probably a good option for him if they offer him money and trade protection. Who is he buddies with?
And one of them will gonna be their best player in points................
What a massive mistake by Vegas to trade Suzuki away !
You win some, you lose some. The rest all seem to have worked out well. Even the Suzuki trade didn’t turn out too badly for them because they got some good years out of Pacioretty. And who knows if Suzuki would have developed the same way in Vegas’s system? Vegas doesn’t develop players. They acquire them.
Vegas and their annual tradition of trading their 1st round picks
edit:
Vegas Golden Knights first-round picks:
2026: Traded
2025: Traded
2024: Still have
2023: David Edstrom (traded)
2022: Traded
2021: Zach Dean (traded)
2020: Brendan Brisson
2019: Peyton Krebs (traded)
2018: Traded
2017: Cody Glass/Nick Suzuki/Erik Brannstrom (all traded)
I think they’re hosting the draft this year, so I suspect that’s the only reason they still have their 2024 pick. I don’t know if the league makes having a first round pick a condition of hosting the draft, or they hung onto it voluntarily because they thought it would be weird hosting the draft without one. I suspect they’ll pick somebody and trade him at next year’s deadline.
You win some, you lose some. The rest all seem to have worked out well. Even the Suzuki trade didn’t turn out too badly for them because they got some good years out of Pacioretty. And who knows if Suzuki would have developed the same way in Vegas’s system? Vegas doesn’t develop players. They acquire them.
Henderson is a graveyard for forward prospects, so I'm glad Suzuki gets to be a 1C somewhere else. As an organisation, they won't prioritise skill development. They want playoff depth ready to step into the bottom 6.
They'll have to make due with Eichel & Hertl somehow
Henderson is a graveyard for forward prospects, so I'm glad Suzuki gets to be a 1C somewhere else. As an organisation, they won't prioritise skill development. They want playoff depth ready to step into the bottom 6.
They'll have to make due with Eichel & Hertl somehow
Again it's just a bad philosophy that many teams have. You can't expect a point producing, high end skill guy to be called up and play a bottom 6 PKing Checker role. It simply doesn't work, for some reason GM's don't know this and continue to try, and watch high end prospects fail and lose confidence and ruin their careers because of it.
Yes it is. He hasn't been worth $6.75 million this year, or last. There's zero chance he will be worth $6.75 million next year or the remaining SIX YEARS of his contract.
Quoting: Andy_Dick
Hertl has put up positive value on one of the worst rosters in HISTORY!
His on-ice goals against average is 13.5 BELOW expected. No other top-6 forward on the Sharks was worse than that. You think that's going to get better with Vegas?
It's really hard to fix a mess that Doug Wilson created. Was it all Doug Wilson or did ownership have its part in it all. I'll never know. Does Grier have "cart blanche" with regards to all decisions or are there those above directing him to shed money as best as possible? I remember thinking that they should trade Hertl due to the aging core even though Hertl wasn't the main part of the problem and could have been part of the ongoing solution. If Hertl's contract hadn't been like many of those that Doug Wilson had already doled out to so many other players, maybe Hertl wouldn't have been a casualty of what Doug Wilson created.
Of course. Everyone loves an underdog. Nobody actually likes Vegas outside Knights fans but I respect the hustle of management. They dont give a crap about appearances and are willing to trade 1sts along with prospects (mystery box) for actual talent. What ppl always forget is that these 1st rounders and 'high end' prospects at best will end up like a Hertl. Its ludicrous to simply look at the what ifs side like you are debating buying a lottery ticket instead of food for the week. Its the same energy,