The Vegas Golden Knights have taken another step on the road to the NHL, signing their second player. Vadim Shipachyov agreed to a two-year deal with the Golden Knights on Thursday. The deal is worth, in total, $9 million.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Vadim Shipachyov
Shipachyov has never seen NHL playing time. In fact, he’s spent nine years in the KHL. Despite that, he’s received heavy interest from many NHL teams this year. This is mainly because he recorded 76 points in 50 games this past season, placing him third in the league in scoring. In the 2017 KHL playoffs, he had 19 points in 14 games. The season before that, he registered 60 points in 54 games, and 16 points in 15 playoff games.
Shipachyov is a talented Russian forward, and will likely be a skilled player in the NHL as well. Still, $4.5 million a year is a lot for someone who has never seen NHL time. On top of his strictly-Russian career, Shipachyov is 30 years old; which would be unattractive for some. Still, he gathered a lot of other interests from the 30 current NHL teams.
The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that they wouldn’t sign Shipachyov; mainly because he was receiving offers from a lot of other teams. His asking price might have been too high as well, considering the Canadiens have six pending UFAs. Amongst them is Alexander Radulov and Andrei Markov, both being $5.75 million cap hits currently.
The Golden Knights also signed 21-year-old Reid Duke in early March. They now have a roster of two forwards and are awaiting the formation of the rest of their roster which will be announced on June 21, as a part of the NHL awards ceremony.
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