Awkward: Vegas' Logan Thompson Gets Traded Right Before Autograph Session
The NHL Draft is underway in Las Vegas, and free agency opens up on Monday, so trades are flying as teams try to acquire picks and clear space to put pen to paper with some free agents.
One of those players traded was Vegas Golden Knights goalie Logan Thompson who learned fairly early on Saturday morning that he had been dealt to the Washington Capitals.
Unfortunately, for Thompson, this trade was finalized just before he was scheduled to do an autograph signing for fans in Las Vegas.
Hey, it happens. That's how professional sports work sometimes.
I was supposed to get a photo with Jeremy Roenick at the Flyers Wives Carnival in 2004. JR took a puck to the mouth and wasn't in picture-taking form (understandable), so, my ticket was switched to a picture with future Mr. Hillary Dufand, Mike Comrie.
However, Comrie then got dealt to the Phoenix Coyotes, so it was switched again to a photo with Alexei Zhamnov (which was cool).
It happens, but you've got to hand it to Thompson, who was a class act and showed up to the signing anyway.
Good for him. The guy just earned himself fans for life by coming out and putting his John Hancock on stuff people will probably resell on eBay because it was either his final autograph session as a Golden Knight or first as a Washington Capital, depending on how you want to look at it.
There's another interesting part of this story, and that is that when asked point-blank about whether he requested a trade, the NHL All-Star gave a somewhat evasive response.
"There was stuff going on and that was between (GM) Kelly (McCrimmon) and the team," he said. "New management, so…"
Whatever the reason, Washington will be happy to have a proven NHL netminder in Thompson after trading Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Meanwhile, the Golden Knights appear to be hitching their wagon to Adin Hill — a big part of their run to the Stanley Cup in 2023 — but his contract expires at the end of the upcoming season.