Hill: Sorry, fans, but Knights probably right on Marchessault

Golden Knights fans, it’s completely fine to be all in your feelings this week about the departures of some beloved players.

At the same time, it’s OK to acknowledge the organization probably made the right decision on most of those contracts, even if it feels like you are betraying people you have come to love cheering for over the past few years.

Players who have brought so much joy and happiness to the city and the fan base through the good times and the bad — from raising the Stanley Cup at T-Mobile Arena and throwing one of the best parties the Strip has seen to showing up for community events and charity softball games.

The bond is real, and it’s spectacular.

But there is no room for feelings in winning sports organizations.

Kanye West didn’t have contract negotiations in mind when he asked, “How could you be so heartless?” But it’s a question fans have been posing to Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon and company this week.

But here’s the thing: An organization has to do its best to remove feelings and emotions from the equation when making the difficult decisions that must be made to maintain a winning standard.

At one point, Marc-Andre Fleury might have been the most popular person in the city, much less on the roster. Fan favorite Ryan Reaves was as good a presence in the locker room and community as anyone could have asked for during his time in Las Vegas.

There was outrage when the organization moved on from them, with folks all over social media guaranteeing future failures and denouncing their fandom, vowing to never support the team again.

I can’t begin to tell you how many of them I saw at the victory parade, enjoying the fruits of those emotionless decisions.

Great player, great person

Chandler Stephenson and Will Carrier got incredible deals to move elsewhere. It’s tough to blame the players or the Knights from moving on in those cases.

Jonathan Marchessault’s situation is the one that has drawn the most scrutiny and ire.

And, look, the loss of Marchessault is a tough one to deal with for many reasons. To be honest, it’s difficult even for us curmudgeons in the media.

Everything you as fans thought of him, we got to see on a regular basis in the locker room, and he made our jobs much easier by providing reliably poignant and entertaining quotes whether he and the team were thriving or struggling. He was even more entertaining when the microphones were off.

He was as good a person as he was a player during his time in Las Vegas — and he was a tremendous player. It’s unfortunate the Knights couldn’t find a way to keep him, but he deserved long-term security after a great season.

It sounds as if the Knights weren’t willing to give him a five-year deal, and that’s probably a responsible decision. Marchessault will be 38 by the end of the deal he signed with the Nashville Predators. He might outplay his contract the next year or two, but the Knights weren’t willing to bet there would still be value in the deal in the final two or three years.

Those are the kinds of calculations that must be made by teams. There’s not much room in those discussions for how sad everyone will be to see him leave.

Long-term thinking

As far as the isolated question of whether the Knights could have afforded to deviate from their plan to make an exception in this case? Of course they could. Maybe they should have.

But that’s not what teams that plan to sustain long-term success do. Great teams that remain successful for long periods are skilled at letting players leave before it’s too late and they are burdened with contracts that see them paying for past success rather than current value.

The Knights have been pretty good at that. In a previous column, I pointed out some arrogance in their decision-making and attitude. That’s part of this, too. They believe they know better than fans what is a good deal and what is not.

They’re probably right, as difficult as that is to accept right now.

How could they be so heartless? Because they want to win.