According to a team announcement, the Vegas Golden Knights are expected to be without forward William Karlsson for the next few weeks due to a lower-body injury. Karlsson missed his first game of the year on Monday against the Florida Panthers due to the injury.
It’s an unfortunate circumstance for Karlsson and the Golden Knights, as he was quietly placed on the team’s injured reserve Wednesday morning. Although he’s not a direct replacement, Vegas has recalled Braeden Bowman from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights after scoring seven goals and 12 points through his first 12 games to start the season.
Once again, the Golden Knights’ regular-season success is being heavily impacted by injury concerns. Alongside Karlsson, the team was already without captain Mark Stone and starting netminder Adin Hill for the foreseeable future. They’re currently 7-4-4 and two points back of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference standings.
Unfortunately, this is all too familiar for Karlsson. One of the four remaining “Misfits”, Karlsson lost 29 games to a lower-body injury last year, finishing with nine goals and 29 points. He had gotten off to a relatively solid start to the current season, scoring four goals and seven points in 14 games while averaging 15:09 of ice time per game.
It’s a tricky situation for the cap-strapped Golden Knights. According to the new LTIR rules, Vegas is only able to shed Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8M salary this season since he won’t feature during the year or the postseason. Unfortunately, even with Stone on LTIR and Karlsson now on the IR, the Golden Knights only have a little over $450K in cap space, leaving them with very few options to fill in their injury holes.
Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
In the spider web of infinite potential offseason outcomes for the Boston Red Sox, one thing is clear: They need a power bat.
Trevor Story led the Red Sox with 25 home runs this year, and while it was great to see a resurgence from the veteran shortstop, contending teams don’t lack 30-homer bats. The Red Sox also traded away Rafael Devers, who went on to finish the year with 35 blasts, in the middle of the season.
Regardless of what happens with Alex Bregman’s free agency, this offseason should be judged in large part by whether the Red Sox can lock up either Kyle Schwarber or Pete Alonso, two clear 40-homer threats. Will they get the job done?
On Monday, Bleacher Report’s Tim Kelly predicted that the Red Sox would acquire Alonso, and projected a five-year, $145 million contract for the New York Mets’ five-time All-Star first baseman.
“At times last winter, it felt like Pete Alonso was more interested in the Mets than they were in him. Ultimately, he did return to Flushing on a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out clause after 2025,” wrote. “Alonso used that opt-out to return to the free-agent market, where he might not be inclined to be as patient with the Mets.
“Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is looking for a middle-of-the-order bat for manager Alex Cora’s lineup, and Alonso may be the missing piece for a Boston group already budding with young talent, particularly if they can’t pry Kyle Schwarber away from the Phillies.”
There would be so many questions left to answer if we knew right now that the Red Sox and Alonso were destined to wind up together. What would it mean for Bregman? Could it signify that the Sox were more inclined to trade for a No. 2 pitcher rather than signing one? And what about Triston Casas?
However, adding a guy who never gets hurt and has averaged 42 homers per 162 games in his career would be a huge difference-maker for the Red Sox, so under almost any circumstances, one would have to view it as a win for Breslow and the front office.