Golden Knights’ success could alter George McPhee’s ‘master plan’

David Perron has been traded three times during his 10-plus seasons in the NHL, so a few rumors don’t bother the Golden Knights forward.

“A few of the older guys have been around,” Perron said. “For us, we’re used to it.”

With the Knights leading the Western Conference based on points percentage at the holiday break, the attention has started to turn toward general manager George McPhee and what the team’s architect will do in the next two months.

Will McPhee deal pending unrestricted free agents Jonathan Marchessault, James Neal, Perron and Luca Sbisa before the Feb. 26 trade deadline?

Will he make a splashy move to bolster the Knights roster?

Or will the GM keep the team intact for a playoff push and try to re-sign the Knights’ core players?

“We’re hoping to stay, and we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Perron said. “We know what the business is like. I enjoy every day here. I hope it’s going to continue because I feel like we can really build something with this town.”

McPhee has plenty of assets to move if he so chooses that route after opting for several players with expiring contracts in the expansion draft.

Conventional thinking before the season was McPhee could trade one or more of those players to a contender for draft picks or prospects if the Knights struggled, as previous expansion teams did.

But the Knights are 23-9-2 and even in points at 48 with Los Angeles and St. Louis heading into Wednesday’s game at Anaheim.

“Don’t know that it’s really changed anything,” McPhee said during the first intermission Dec. 9 at Dallas. “We have a master plan, but as we all know, you go day to day in this business as well. We’ll just keep our fingers on the pulse to continue to try and do what’s best for this club every day and in the long term.”

Neal leads the Knights with 17 goals, and the 30-year-old is in the final year of a six-year, $30 million deal.

Perron, 29, has seven goals and 20 assists in 28 games played and is on pace to surpass his career high of 57 points set during the 2013-14 season with Edmonton. He makes $3.75 million this season.

The 27-year-old Sbisa, who is at the end of a three-year, $10.8 million contract, has emerged as one of the Knights’ top defensemen.

McPhee declined to discuss the contract situations of specific players.

“We make decisions every day,” McPhee said, “and we’ll continue to make decisions and keep our fingers crossed and hopefully continue to make the right ones.”

Marchessault could be the toughest decision for McPhee moving forward. He leads the Knights with 32 points and is in line for a hefty raise from his current $750,000 salary.

“Obviously I like it here,” Marchessault said. “But that’s the business part, and I’m not looking at that right now. I’m just trying to play hockey consistently and win games every night. That’s the only thing I’m focusing on right now.”

The Knights previously stockpiled 10 draft picks in the first two rounds between 2018 and 2020, but it’s also likely McPhee doesn’t want to lose players as free agents without getting something in return.

“We’re here to win. That’s been our goal from day one and continues to be,” McPhee said. “We want to be a successful franchise, and we show up every day trying to find ways to win.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.