Cap Crunch Makes Laurent Brossoit’s Future A Bit Uncertain

Welcome back to Vegas Hockey Now’s season in review series where we look at every player on the Vegas Golden Knights and their 2021-22 season from Michael Amadio to Zach Whitecloud.

You can catch up on the series here: Michael Amadio, Reilly Smith, Jonas Rondbjerg, Keegan Kolesar, Robin Lehner, Alex Pietrangelo, Nolan Patrick, Shea Theodore, Jake Leschyshyn, Mark Stone, and Max Pacioretty

Today’s player is Laurent Brossoit.

LAURENT BROSSOIT

Stats: 24 GP, 10-9-3 record, 2.90 GAA, .895 sv%
Contract: One year left at $2.325 million.
Games Missed: 58
Status: Injured (Undisclosed)
VHN’s Grade: C-

Overall Thoughts

Laurent Brossoit was brought in to be the Vegas Golden Knight’s backup goaltender after general manager Kelly McCrimmon traded away Marc-Andre Fleury in the summer of 2021. But in 2021-22 injuries caused the Golden Knights tandem of Brossoit and Robin Lehner to get shuffled up frequently.

It seemed as soon as one goaltender was healthy, the other would get injured. The Golden Knights finished the season without both Lehner and Brossoit and instead had to rely on Logan Thompson and Jiri Patera from the Henderson Silver Knights.

Overall, Brossoit was decent in the games that he was in for the Golden Knights. In the second half of the season, he struggled and injuries damaged his season greatly. Brossoit is currently recovering what former head coach Peter DeBoer called a “medical procedure” this offseason.

Brossoit finished off his first season with the Golden Knights in rough fashion as he got yanked in his reunion game with the Winnipeg Jets. After that game, he missed the remainder of the season with an injury. With the emergence of Logan Thompson and the Golden Knights up against the cap, Brossoit could be moved by McCrimmon this offseason.

Highlights

Brossoit did a great job of keeping the Golden Knights in tight games, giving his team an opportunity to win. But his overall numbers really don’t show that as his record sits near .500 and his save percentage below .900%.

Laurent Brossoit appreciation tweet 💪 pic.twitter.com/8jejJrjIjL

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 21, 2021

Against the Edmonton Oilers on February 8th, Brossoit had a shutout up against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisiatl in one of the more complete defensive games the Golden Knights had all season.

LAURENT BROSSOIT ARE YOU KIDDING ME pic.twitter.com/iUSDrYeeDF

— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) October 28, 2021

What’s Next?

Cap space and Logan Thompson are really the two major factors surrounding Laurent Brossoit’s future with the Vegas Golden Knights. If Kelly McCrimmon comes to the decision that Thompson is ready to be a stable NHL goaltender, he can trade Brossoit and his over $2 million cap hit for some extra room.

However, if there is one thing that this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs have taught us it is that you need to have a good 2-3 maybe even 4 NHL ready goalies in your organization to succeed. Just look at the Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, or Carolina Hurricanes who all walked into the playoffs without their no. 1 goaltender healthy.

Not every team can be the Tampa Bay Lightning and solely rely on Andrei Vasileviskiy.

One thing I want to mention when discussing Lehner- This years’ playoffs have proven that you need a good three goalies to go deep in the playoffs.

Does this mean #VegasBorn will enter next season with 🐼/LB/LT? pic.twitter.com/UnFM4d8yvF

— Owen Krepps (@OKrepps85) June 6, 2022

Brossoit’s status with the Golden Knights can really only go two ways. Either he stays with the team or he is moved out. This will be dependent on his injury status, cap space, and McCrimmon’s confidence in Thompson’s play. Personally, I don’t see Brossoit coming back next season for the Golden Knights.