Knights GM George McPhee mum as NHL trade deadline nears
Golden Knights general manager George McPhee refuses to tip his hand with the NHL trade deadline eight days away.
“It’s a good team so far, and we’ll keep watching and focus in on the next game in front of us and see where it takes us,” McPhee said Saturday before the Knights’ 6-3 victory over the Montreal Canadiens at T-Mobile Arena. “We’re not going to give ammunition away and talk about what we might or might not do next week.
“We’ll see where it goes. Some years you go into the trading deadline not expecting to do anything and you end up doing a number of things. Sometimes when you expect to do a lot of things, you don’t do anything.”
McPhee and members of his staff are expected to meet early this week and discuss their options for the Feb. 26 deadline. The Knights can use more scoring, especially from their third line. But as McPhee often has said, he’s not going to make a trade just for the sake of making one.
And trades aren’t that easy to complete these days.
“It’s harder than it was when didn’t have a salary cap, that’s for sure,” McPhee said. “It’s a lot more complicated now. But that’s today’s NHL.
“We have our own internal checks and balances and a process that we go through, so it takes a little more time and it can be a little more difficult to do.”
McPhee said the chemistry in the Knights’ locker room has been good, which factors into any potential deal.
“It’s a good group of guys, and it came together quickly,” McPhee said. “They’ve done a good job of making it a team, the players and the coaches and the clubhouse staff.”
Sbisa activated
Defenseman Luca Sbisa was activated and in the lineup Saturday after missing 17 games with a ruptured ligament in his left hand.
Shea Theodore was still sick and Sbisa took his spot on the roster, partnered with Deryk Engelland and had 20:59 in ice time in 26 shifts. Sbisa also assisted on Brad Hunt’s first-period goal, Sbisa’s first point since Dec. 8.
“I thought he played a real solid game,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “He moved the puck well. He made good decisions.”
Bellemare banged up
Center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare crashed awkwardly into the sideboards near center ice in the first period after he and Montreal’s Victor Mete collided at the 6:02 mark. Bellemare was holding his left wrist as he left the ice.
He returned for two abbreviated shifts, one in the first period and another early in the second, before returning to the dressing room for good.
Gallant said he had no update on Bellemare, who was not made available to the media. The team has Sunday off, then will host Anaheim on Monday.
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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.
