The Penguins may have an extra third line center option available to them. The Vegas Golden Knights are fumbling their roster management and Vadim Shipachyov isn't too pleased about it. The Golden Knights sent Shipachyov, one of their more talented players, to the AHL to start the season. He was waiver eligible and for some reason they felt like making Shipachyov upset instead of sending down one of their many defensemen that have little to no value.
Shipachyov wanting to head back to the KHL is an embarrassment for Vegas and George McPhee. He should be a lock in their top-six.
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) October 9, 2017
Shipachyov is 30 years old and has yet to play in the NHL. He is coming off an impressive year in the KHL. He had 76 points in 50 games.
Sense is that Shipachyov does prefer returning to KHL, than being screwed over by another NHL franchise, but Vegas are listening to offers. https://t.co/ylKkK3GAcH
— Aivis Kalniņš (@A_Kalnins) October 9, 2017
Talent wise I like the idea of acquiring Shipachyov. I don't think the Penguins are going to be a great defensive team and they should embrace being an elite offensive team. Shipachyov was supposed to be a top six center in Vegas. Playing on the third line in Pittsburgh would be a great situation for Shipachyov to be offensively productive.
There is one hurdle getting in the way. Shipachyov has a two-year contract that pays him 4.5M each year. Pittsburgh has about 2.6M in cap space right now. They would have to move some salary out. Would Pittsburgh move a player like Hagelin to shore up their third line center role? This is only feasible if they can move a contract.
The more options the better for Pittsburgh even if some of them aren't perfect like the one above.
Thanks for reading!