Vegas Golden Knights acquire Dysin Mayo from Arizona Coyotes for 5th round pick, Shea Weber’s contract

The Vegas Golden Knights have made their first move of the trade deadline, bringing in defenseman Dysin Mayo from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick and defenseman Shea Weber’s contract.

While the Golden Knights do make a “rental” move by bringing in Mayo with this trade, it also has some long-term applications, particularly to this summer. With Weber’s contract on the books, the Golden Knights would have been in a difficult spot if they were looking to bring in some salary during the offseason. Teams can go over the salary cap by 10% in the offseason, so with Weber’s contract taking up 9.5% of the salary cap now, they would have been cutting it close and had little room for flexibility without moving out more money.

With the Coyotes in a rebuild and rarely spending to the cap, Weber’s contract is not only manageable for them, but also helps them hit the salary cap floor if need be.

That said, the Golden Knights still brought in some defensive depth with the trade. Mayo has split time between the AHL and NHL this season, with no points in 15 games with the Coyotes, and two goals, five assists, and seven points in 26 games with the Tucson Roadrunners in the AHL.

He’s coming off a rookie season in 2021-22 where he had four goals, eight assists, and 12 points in 67 games for the Coyotes. He’s struggled for the most part at 5v5 play in his short career, with an expected goals share of 37.54%, but perhaps that can improve away from the Coyotes.

Weber hasn’t played since the Montreal Canadiens surprise run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, as the injuries he sustained that season became too painful to continue playing. He reportedly had thumb, ankle, knee, and foot problems as the playoffs came to a close. After this season, he will have three years remaining on his contract with a $7,857,143 cap hit.

The Golden Knights currently sit first in the Pacific Division with a 34-18-5 record. They have just under $9 million in cap space, mostly due to Mark Stone being out for the regular season and placed on LTIR, so the Golden Knights can still make a big addition for a playoff run.

The Coyotes currently have the fifth worst record in the league, going 20-28-9 on the year. They’re looking to deal Jakob Chychrun, Lawson Crouse, Karel Vejmelka, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Nick Bjugstad at this year’s trade deadline, and also have Nick Ritchie and Troy Stetcher as potential trade options with their contracts up this season.