Free agency is now less than two weeks away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Golden Knights.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Nicolas Hague – Hague has been no stranger to the rumor mill in recent weeks with several teams believed to be inquiring about his services. With Vegas looking to maximize its salary cap flexibility, it’s believed that the 26-year-old is available. It wasn’t that long ago that Hague was viewed as a key young cog for the Golden Knights but while he started off his career in an encouraging fashion, his development has largely plateaued in recent years as he has settled in as more of a fifth or sixth defenseman. He’s owed a qualifying offer of $2.7MM with arbitration eligibility and projects to earn a bit more than that, likely on a multi-year deal even coming off just a 12-point effort.
F Alexander Holtz – Things just have not gone as planned for the 2020 seventh-overall pick. Unable to live up to expectations in New Jersey, Vegas picked him up last year in a draft-day swap with the thought that he’d build off the 28-point effort he had in 2023-24. Instead, he struggled considerably, notching just 13 points in 53 games while being a healthy scratch at times and was even sent to AHL Henderson for a 16-game stint. It’s unlikely that Vegas is ready to give up on Holtz just yet but a one-year deal at or around his $874K qualifying offer seems likely, giving him one more chance to lock down a spot.
F Cole Schwindt – A waiver claim from Calgary at the end of training camp, Schwindt stuck with the big club all season long but only got into 42 games, managing just eight points. With less than 50 career NHL games under his belt, arbitration rights shouldn’t be too concerning for the Golden Knights so if they want to keep him around, they should feel comfortable extending the $840K qualifying offer. If he winds up staying, it wouldn’t be surprising if that qualifying offer winds up being his next contract.
Other RFAs: D Lukas Cormier, F Raphael Lavoie, F Ivan Morozov (signed in Russia), F Jonas Rondbjerg, G Isaiah Saville
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Victor Olofsson – Olofsson elected to take a one-year, $1.075MM deal last summer with the Golden Knights in the hopes of rebuilding some of his value. While injuries limited him to just 56 games, he did rebound somewhat, managing a respectable 15 goals and 14 assists despite seeing basically third-line minutes. That’s not going to be enough to get him to what he made on his last deal when he was in Buffalo ($4.75MM) but it’s possible that he can get a multi-year deal somewhere around the $3MM range. Olofsson had six goals with the man advantage this season; he has reached or beat that mark five times in the last six years, making him an intriguing option for teams looking for a little more firepower on the power play.
F Tanner Pearson – Pearson was one of the few players whose training camp tryout was successful as he inked a one-year deal for the minimum and gave them solid fourth-line minutes while staying healthy for the first time in several years. Pearson probably is going to be viewed as someone earmarked for a similar role moving forward so his offers should come in at or around the $1MM mark. But after having to play his way onto Vegas this season, he should have a bit more success on the open market this time around.
F Brandon Saad – After clearing waivers with St. Louis, Saad walked away from more than $5MM in guaranteed salary through next season in the hopes of finding another NHL opportunity. That came with Vegas where he inked a pro-rated $1.5MM contract. He fared reasonably well with them, notching 14 points in 29 games which is decent secondary scoring. Now, he’ll look to recoup more of that money back on the open market but it would be surprising to see any offers come near his old $4.5MM AAV. Something closer to half of that might be more realistic but he might be able to get a multi-year agreement out of it.
G Ilya Samsonov – Like Olofsson, Samsonov took a one-year deal last summer in the hopes of rebuilding some value following a particularly rough year in Toronto. He probably didn’t hurt his value with a 2.82 GAA and a .891 SV% but he likely didn’t help it too much either and it has already been decided that he won’t be back in Vegas. Coming off a $1.8MM contract, he could land something around a similar price tag this year but a multi-year commitment seems unlikely.
F Reilly Smith – Brought back for a second stint with the team in a trade with the Rangers at the trade deadline, Smith wasn’t able to produce at the same level as he did the first time around but, like Saad, provided decent secondary scoring. Still, he has reached 40 points in each of the last two seasons so his camp may try to market the 34-year-old as a two-way middle-six option. Coming off a $5MM AAV, it would be surprising to see him get a raise but his next contract might not be too much below that either.
Other UFAs: F Callahan Burke, F Mason Geertsen, D Robert Hagg (signed in SHL), D Dysin Mayo, F Mason Morelli, F Gage Quinney
Projected Cap Space
Vegas enters the summer with around $9.6MM in salary cap space which is better than it often has been for this franchise at this time of year. However, they have a few players to sign with that money and they have been linked as a speculative landing spot for some of the more prominent pending unrestricted free agents. They’ll need more cap space to do so, meaning a trade might be needed although the availability of Alex Pietrangelo for the start of next season is also in question. If he’s going to be out long-term and the team goes back into LTIR, they could be in line to make a splash over the next few weeks.
Photos courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig (Hague) and Sergei Belski (Olofsson)-Imagn Images. Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.
Most of Vegas core are on the wrong side of 30. They might be looking at a retool sooner than later.
Barbashev, Eichel, Howden, Roy, Dorofeyev, Kolesar, Hague, Hanifan, Theodore, Whitecloud, Hill. All under 30.
Fair enough. Most was inaccurate, but a few you mentioned are close to 30 & not sure there are reinforcements coming through the system. My main point was a drop off is coming, but we will see.