The Golden Knights have conditioned their fans to expect the unexpected when it comes to the trade deadline.

Business will pick up when the NHL season resumes Saturday following the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Teams still have plenty of time to talk before the deadline comes March 7.

Much can change until then. But for now, don’t expect much from Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon.

His moves last year — acquiring defenseman Noah Hanifin and center Tomas Hertl — were done with the future in mind. Hertl still has four seasons remaining on his contract after this one. Hanifin signed an eight-year extension soon after arriving in town.

“I don’t think we were ever looking at this as a year that we were going to be real busy,” McCrimmon said in a phone interview with the Review-Journal on Thursday afternoon. “I don’t see us being big players at the trade deadline this year, but the amount of work you do oftentimes is pretty similar whether you (don’t) get much accomplished in terms of making trades versus when you might have a year where you make quite a few trades.

“We’ll be diligent and very engaged, but it’s impossible to say what exactly might happen between now and March 7.”

McCrimmon said dialogue could start to pick up around the NHL depending on how the first few games after the break go for some teams. The standings could also play a role. Only one team in the Eastern Conference — the Buffalo Sabres — is more than six points out of a playoff spot.

“It’s reasonable to think there will be lots of activity between now and the deadline,” McCrimmon said.

McCrimmon, in a wide-ranging conversation, also discussed the Knights’ season so far, the 4 Nations-Face-Off, the team’s injury situation and more:

No panic

McCrimmon said the break in the schedule gave the Knights a good chance to sit back and reflect. The team was just 6-6-3 in January after going 8-4-2 in November and 10-2 in December.

“If you’re going to be a team that’s a really good team, you can get away with a month where you’re .500,” McCrimmon said. “I think that you can’t do it two or three times, or you’re not going to be one of the top teams in the standings.”

McCrimmon said the Knights’ play in January didn’t set off alarm bells. They outscored their opponents 44-42 during the month, but dropped three one-goal games in regulation, fell in overtime twice and lost a shootout.

McCrimmon was pleased the Knights entered the break on a strong note. He said their 3-1 road win over the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 6 was “as complete a game as we’ve played all year.” The team then rallied for a 4-3 win against the Boston Bruins two days later.

“I hope what I saw on the last road trip is where we pick up coming out of the break,” McCrimmon said.

4 Nations Face-Off

McCrimmon said it was a “feather in the cap of the organization” that the Knights had seven players get named to initial rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off, hockey’s first international best-on-best tournament in a decade. Coach Bruce Cassidy also participated as an assistant on Team Canada’s staff.

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (Canada) and center William Karlsson (Sweden) ultimately pulled out before the event began due to injuries. But center Jack Eichel (U.S.), defenseman Noah Hanifin (U.S.), goaltender Adin Hill (Canada), captain Mark Stone (Canada) and defenseman Shea Theodore (Canada) all got the opportunity to wear their country’s sweater.

“The quality of hockey has been tremendous. It’s been great for the sport,” McCrimmon said. “From a general manager’s perspective, it’s really rewarding to see our players getting that opportunity to be involved in a tournament like this.”

Injury updates

The one downside to the 4 Nations Face-Off for the Knights is Theodore suffered an upper-body injury during Canada’s first round-robin game against Sweden on Feb. 12.

He is considered week to week. He was having his best season to date with 48 points in 55 games, fourth-most among NHL defensemen.

“I was anxious for the rest of Canada and the United States to realize how good Shea Theodore is because of the fact we’re in the Pacific time zone,” McCrimmon said. “I think there’s a lot of people that don’t realize how good Shea is, how good a season he is having. I felt bad for him.”

Theodore is staying with Team Canada through the remainder of the tournament and could meet with the Knights’ medical team as early as this weekend to determine how long he’ll be out.

“From a Golden Knights standpoint, it takes a really good player off our roster and it’ll definitely have an impact,” McCrimmon said. “He’s going to be out for quite a while.”

McCrimmon said Karlsson and Cole Schwindt, both dealing with lower-body injuries, are progressing but are not ready to skate.

Adding Saad

The Knights have made a significant addition to their roster this season, just not via trade. They signed veteran left wing Brandon Saad to a one-year, $1.5 million contract Jan. 31 after he and the St. Louis Blues mutually agreed to terminate his previous deal.

McCrimmon has been happy with how fast Saad has adjusted to his new team. The 32-year-old has a goal and an assist in four games with the Knights.

“One of the things we’ve talked about all year was potentially, at some point, looking for a veteran winger and I think he’s going to make a real impact on our team,” McCrimmon said. “I think he’s a guy that (Cassidy) has developed a lot of trust for already.”

The Knights saw plenty of Saad the past few years. They faced him 14 times during the COVID-shortened 2021 season when he was with the Colorado Avalanche.

“When it came time to meet with Brandon, it was never said, but I got the feeling he appreciated that our interest wasn’t because he happened to be available for free. We had interest throughout the season,” McCrimmon said. “There were conversations we had with St. Louis at different times. The way it played out, clearly it’s a real benefit to the team that we can add him at no cost in terms of prospects, draft picks, whatever assets might go into a deal at the trade deadline.”

Rising salary cap

The upper limit of the NHL’s salary cap will get significant bumps the next three seasons, from $88 million this campaign to $95.5 million in 2025-26, $104 million in 2026-27 and $113.5 million in 2027-28.

“I think it surpassed what teams may have expected,” McCrimmon said. “It’s a significant change because we’ve had so many years of a flat cap that that’s how we effectively all became wired over that period of time.”

The Knights already have $78.76 million in cap commitments to nine forwards and seven defensemen in 2025-26 after giving out extensions to Theodore, defenseman Brayden McNabb, center Brett Howden and right wing Keegan Kolesar earlier this season. All four were set to be unrestricted free agents this summer.

McCrimmon said it was a priority for the Knights to not have a large number of pending free agents this offseason. They had six free agents — center Chandler Stephenson, left wing William Carrier, defenseman Alec Martinez and right wings Jonathan Marchessault, Michael Amadio and Anthony Mantha — leave the team last summer. Goaltenders Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov are still set to be unrestricted free agents this offseason, while defenseman Nic Hague is a pending restricted free agent.

Eichel, who has put himself in the conversation for the Hart Trophy with a team-high 69 points, is also eligible for an eight-year extension this summer that could make him one of the highest-paid players in the league.

“There’s some real advantages to (having cap certainty) in terms of building your roster out and trying to project what type of monies you’ll have available when contracts are coming due,” McCrimmon said. “It’s a positive statement for the league, it’s good for the players and it’s good for the teams.”

Contact Danny Webster at [email protected]. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.