Golden Knights Flip the Script—and the Bird—on Maple Leafs

The Vegas Golden Knights just flipped the NHL and the Toronto Maple Leafs the metaphorical bird.

In a late-night deal on Sunday that has all the makings of the Golden Knights daring the NHL to look into the way they do business, Vegas shipped defenseman Nic Hague to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons. Within hours, Hague signed a four-year, $22 million extension with Nashville. The controversy? Just hours before, Hague was mentioned in rumors as part of a potential trade to the Maple Leafs, following the discovery that Toronto might pursue Vegas for tampering, assuming they sign Mitch Marner.

The Hague trade means either of the two things. First, Vegas is clearing a bit of space to make a move for Marner. Second, they felt like trading one of the guys Toronto had their eyes on.

With Lauzon and Scissons coming back in the trade, this isn’t a move by Vegas to clear cap space. Vegas only saves around $600K. However, if Toronto had hoped to secure Hague and forward Nicolas Roy in a potential sign-and-trade for Marner, that’s off the table now.

Did Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon just throw a wrench into Toronto’s plans on purpose?

There is still a chance that a different sign-and-trade deal will take place. However, more and more, it appears the Leafs are going to watch Marner sign with Vegas Tuesday morning and get zero in return.” That means they’ll need to go after Vegas, who doesn’t seem to care.

Will the Maple Leafs Pursue Something with the NHL?

Andy Strickland wrote on Monday:

“According to a league source, the NHL will investigate team tampering if a complaint is filed. As of yesterday, the league had received zero complaints regarding possible tampering. We’ll see if that changes.”

On the surface, it appears the Golden Knights sent a message that they don’t negotiate under pressure. They won’t be leveraged, and if a team is going to threaten going after them with the league, they better be prepared to act on that threat.

A trade might have saved the Golden Knights from a potential tampering scandal, yet this trade appears to welcome it. “If they make a deal with Toronto and send a good player or two… any chance the Maple Leafs file for tampering goes away,” he said. “All that goes away if this deal gets done.” Vegas just made it harder to get a deal done with Toronto.

If the Golden Knights land Marner in free agency, this is going to get interesting. Toronto will have to decide how to proceed and the NHL — who is itching to send a message to a team caught tampering — will have to prove Vegas did what they were accused of doing.

Meanwhile, whether Hague was really ever part of a trade to Toronto or just speculation, Vegas didn’t just trade the defenseman; they made a statement.

Next: Matthew Knies Signs 6-Yr Deal with Maple Leafs