Golden Knights getting heat from rivals clubs!

Isn’t it perfect timing in Vegas? On Monday, Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon announced two major statements regarding the team: the first is that captain Mark Stone will be going on LTIR and the second is that Jack Eichel will make his Vegas Golden Knights debut on Wednesday against Colorado.

How convenient!

The timetable for Stone is unknown but given that he has landed on LTIR that means he will be out for a minimum of ten games or 24 days. However, it seems clear that the Golden Knights have taken the “Nikita Kucherov” route in circumventing the NHL’s salary cap by placing the captain’s $9 million contract on long-term injured reserve. This allows them to active Eichel and his $10 million contract.

There is no doubt that Stone is injured: he has been dealing with a back injury since before the start of the season. McCrimmon stated that Stone has been dealing with this specific injury since last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. He has been to six specialists to try and get it healed and hopes to find the best recovery - in time for the playoffs, of course.

That’s why Chris Johnston revealed on last night’s Insider Trading that rival teams are unhappy with the route taken by Vegas. Last season, there were some discontent with the Tampa Bay Lightning’s moves on the cap after the regular season, but it was a new spin. Now, teams are reacting:

“There was certainly some grumbling from rival teams. I think that’s to be expected in a case like this when executives say that it makes a mockery of the system. But optics aside, I don’t think there’s a whole lot the National Hockey League can do in this case other than require documentation of a back injury to Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. It’s a back injury that put him on the long-term injury reserve and sources insist it is a legitimate injury, so it won’t be difficult for the Golden Knights to produce that kind of documentation.”

And we all know that on Wednesday night, the focus will shirt to he Golden Knights finally getting to see the debut of Jack Eichel against the Avalanche at home.