Isaac Brekken/AP
St. Louis Blues forward Ivan Barbashev celebrates his goal against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in Las Vegas.
Monday, Feb. 27, 2023 | 2 a.m.
It doesn't look like the Golden Knights are going to make a big splash at the trade deadline.
Following the acquisition of forward Ivan Barbashev from the St. Louis Blues on Sunday morning for 2021 first-round pick Zach Dean, Vegas appears to have made its significant deal before the deadline at noon Friday.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon on Sunday said there aren’t any glaring issues left to address in upgrading the roster after the Golden Knights grabbed Barbashev to fill the void left by Mark Stone being placed on long-term injured reserve following back surgery.
“You can always get better, and I think that’s why you keep doing the work and evaluating players,” McCrimmon said on a Zoom call Sunday evening. “We needed a forward. We were mindful of that even if we went into the season that there might be a point in the year where we’d want a forward.”
Barbashev, who was a second-round pick of the Blues in 2014 and a member of their 2019 Stanley Cup champion squad, has 29 points in 59 games this season. Last season, he had a 60-point campaign.
But a lot has changed from then.
The Blues took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche to six games in the second round last year, but now find themselves struggling to make the playoffs.
So much so that they traded captain Ryan O’Reilly, former All-Star forward Vladimir Tarasenko, and now Barbashev within the last 17 days.
McCrimmon said they have kept tabs on Barbashev 45 times throughout this season alone, as well as numerous times over the past few years.
Being on a struggling team could lead to below-average production, but McCrimmon isn’t seeing this move as a return-to-form type of deal.
“Ivan’s been a real good player. I don’t think (high scoring) is what we expect,” McCrimmon said. “When you watch Ivan play, he’s a real effective player right now.”
Barbashev is an unrestricted free agent this summer carrying a cap hit of $2.25 million. McCrimmon said the Golden Knights would be interested in an extension with Barbashev, but there hasn’t been any discussion with his agent.
“Talking with Ivan this morning, he was extremely excited to be traded to Vegas,” McCrimmon said.
The Golden Knights were also tied to Timo Meier, who the New Jersey Devils acquired Timo Meier from the San Jose Sharks on Sunday evening.
The Athletic reported that Vegas and New Jersey were the frontrunners for Meier, but ultimately, the Sharks were not prepared to do business with the Golden Knights unless their division rival was prepared to break the bank for the 31-goal scorer.
San Jose received two first-round picks, four players and a seventh-round selection to send Meier to the Eastern Conference.
Vegas still approximately $7.25 million in available cap space remaining, which means they could still enhance the roster.
The Golden Knights won’t be involved with Chicago’s Patrick Kane, who appears to be heading to the New York Rangers.
If the Golden Knights wanted to add more depth at forward, Philadelphia Flyers forward James van Riemsdyk is available. The 33-year-old forward has just 23 points this season, but he is a reliable net-front presence, something Vegas could use at 5-on-5 and on the power play.
Perhaps Vegas looks to another division foe, the Vancouver Canucks, to check on the status of forwards J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. This would be filed as ‘highly unlikely,’ but the Golden Knights will not stop listening until the deadline passes.
For now, the Golden Knights have their Stone stopgap at a much cheaper cost. What else happens between now and Friday is anyone’s guess.
“You continue to work if opportunities present themselves and make sense,” McCrimmon said. “There’s still time to act on that.”
Barbashev will his make his Vegas debut tonight when the Golden Knights visit the Avalanche (6 p.m., ATTSN-RM).
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
