Golden Knights Add Rasmus Andersson To Active Roster
After being acquired from the Flames in last weekend’s blockbuster, defenseman Rasmus Andersson will make his Golden Knights debut tonight against the Maple Leafs, the team announced. He had been unavailable due to work visa complications, so he’d been on the non-roster list since his pickup. To open a space for him on the active roster, Jaycob Megna was reassigned to AHL Henderson.
Andersson’s $2.275MM cap impact – minimized thanks to Calgary retaining half his salary in the trade – still counted against Vegas’ books while he had a non-roster designation, so there’s no move required there. With Alex Pietrangelo on season-ending LTIR and William Karlsson and Brayden McNabb on regular LTIR, the Knights now have $3.09MM in cap space after reassigning Megna. That’s also with $6.5MM tied up in the IR-bound Carter Hart, Brett Howden, and Brandon Saad.
The Golden Knights didn’t hold a morning skate prior to tonight’s game. It’s the second half of a back-to-back for them after losing 4-3 to the Bruins yesterday, so we’ll need to wait until warmups to figure out who will serve as Andersson’s left-shot complement in Vegas’ top four to start.
Vegas was on a 7-0-1 run before dropping its last two in regulation. Still with a comfortable Pacific Division lead, they’ll hope Andersson can continue the offensive momentum he had in his final days with Calgary with a goal and two assists in his last four games.
Megna’s latest recall ends after just four days. He was brought up after the trade to ensure Vegas had an extra defenseman while Andersson was getting his paperwork sorted out. They needed to recall a D at the time because they surrendered Zach Whitecloud in the deal to acquire Andersson.
The 6’6″, 214-lb lefty did draw into the lineup on Monday against the Flyers, recording a shot on goal in 11:01 of ice time before heading to the press box in Boston to make way for Dylan Coghlan to get a bottom-pairing rep. Coghlan will remain as the Knights’ seventh defender for the time being, although he’s also destined for a demotion once McNabb returns following the Olympic break.
In Megna’s eighth NHL season and first in Vegas, the 33-year-old has a -5 rating with a 45.0 CF% in four outings across multiple recalls. A strong shutdown presence at the minor-league level, he’s got seven points and a +4 mark in 27 showings for Henderson.
Golden Knights Recall Jaycob Megna
The Golden Knights have added some extra defensive depth in advance of their game tonight against Philadelphia. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Jaycob Megna from AHL Henderson. To make room on the roster, newly acquired defenseman Rasmus Andersson has been moved to non-roster status.
It’s the fourth recall of the season for the 33-year-old but the first few stints with the big club haven’t yielded much in the way of playing time. Megna has played in just three games so far with Vegas, averaging 10:29 per game while posting a minus-five plus-minus rating. For his career, he has suited up in 196 contests over parts of eight seasons at the top level, notching four goals and 23 assists.
Megna has spent the bulk of the campaign with Henderson, playing in 27 games where he has three goals and seven assists. That production is at a similar rate to last season when he was with Charlotte and had 16 points in 64 appearances with the Checkers.
As for Andersson, the non-roster designation shouldn’t be any cause for concern. He’s still working through the process of getting a work visa and there’s no word yet on when he’ll be cleared to make his Golden Knights debut, though this process is usually finalized well within a week. Moving him to non-roster status allows them to get Megna up to fill a spot on the third pairing in the short term.
Golden Knights Acquire Rasmus Andersson
The Golden Knights have acquired defenseman Rasmus Andersson from the Flames in a move now announced by both teams. In exchange, Calgary receives defenseman Zach Whitecloud, Vegas’ 2027 first-round pick, a conditional 2027 second-round pick, and the signing rights to University of North Dakota defender Abram Wiebe.
If the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup this year, that 2027 second-rounder will upgrade to a 2028 first-round pick. Calgary is retaining 50% of Andersson’s $4.55MM cap hit in the deal, Friedman adds, bringing his impact down to just $2.275MM on Vegas’ books this season. Vegas’ 2027 first-rounder is also top-10 protected, Dreger notes.
It’s far from a stunning move. Andersson was first implicated in trade talks nearly two full calendar years ago. Ever since, Vegas has been one of the teams most consistently linked to the right-shot blue liner. That’s only ramped up since this past offseason, when reports indicated Nevada was the Swede’s preferred long-term destination and, naturally, would yield a larger return for Calgary because he’d be willing to sign an extension with the Knights. However, any extension won’t be registered today – David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports there’s no new contract in place at this time.
That means Andersson, 29, is still set to reach unrestricted free agency this summer as the top defenseman available – for now. He is in the final season of the six-year, $27.3MM extension he signed with Calgary in January 2020, coming off his entry-level contract. A second-round pick by the Flames in 2015, his tenure in Calgary ends with him seventh on the franchise defenseman leaderboard in games played (584), sixth in assists (204), and sixth in points (261).
Back in training camp, it looked like the Flames’ ongoing retool had removed any possibility of their top-four anchor remaining in Calgary. Captain Mikael Backlund said in August that Andersson didn’t want his future to be a “distraction” but that a trade was inevitable. Talk of separation softened after he reported to camp, with reports indicating he’d reopened extension talks. Over the past few days, though, it became clear the Flames had received the type of trade offers they wanted and would pull the trigger on a deal.
The other team that was in it to the wire – as late as this morning – was the Bruins. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, the Flames gave Andersson permission to discuss an extension with Boston, presumably upon which the deal was contingent. They weren’t able to come to an agreement on a contract, though, putting Vegas back in the driver’s seat despite the Golden Knights not being able to talk contract with Andersson’s camp prior to the deal. If Andersson’s long-reported interest in Vegas is true, though, they shouldn’t have much trouble coming to a resolution before July 1.
The Flames’ retool is only further accelerated by the move. They already owned Vegas’ first-round pick this year as a result of 2024’s Noah Hanifin trade, giving them four guaranteed first-rounders over the next two drafts. If the Knights take home the Cup, they’ll have six first-rounders in the next three years.
Those hopefully high-value draft choices are the principal point of the return for the Flames. Whitecloud’s inclusion in the deal primarily serves as cap management for Vegas, but also gives the Flames a stable veteran option to, in part, replace Andersson’s minutes as they try to avoid overloading their young blue line talent too early in their development.
Whitecloud, 29, signed with the Knights as an undrafted free agent out of Bemidji State in 2018 and has thus remained in the organization since its inaugural season. The 6’2″ 210-lb righty has posted some tough numbers this season but has 78 points and a +42 rating in 368 games for his career, serving as their staple third-pairing option on the right side behind Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore for the past several seasons. With Pietrangelo injured, he’d been averaging 18:46 of ice time per game this season, nearly a career-high.
Wiebe, 22, isn’t without ceiling, either. The nephew of longtime Blackhawks defenseman Keith Brown was a seventh-round pick by Vegas in 2022 but has since gone on to put up some solid numbers with the Fighting Hawks. He’s now in his junior season, is an alternate captain, and has scored 48 points with a +13 rating in 102 games on North Dakota’s blue line. He owns a pro-ready 6’3″, 209-lb frame, giving him a legitimate shot at being a mobile piece near the bottom of Calgary’s lineup in the next few years.
For the Knights, acquiring Andersson means they’re back to their ethos of big in-season swings after taking last year off. Their acquisition of a high-end right-shot defender was a foregone conclusion ever since it was announced that Pietrangelo wouldn’t play this season, with his career likely over due to various lingering injuries.
They get a resurgent name in Andersson, who’ll be heading to the Olympics with Sweden. With 10 goals and 30 points in 48 games this season, he’s 20th in the league in scoring among defenders and immediately becomes the Knights’ leader in overall production from the blue line.
The question becomes how his defensive game will slot in on a Vegas club that’s been above-average in the possession department this year. He’s coming off a -38 rating last season and has posted negative relative Corsi shares at 5-on-5 in nine of his 10 NHL seasons, including this one. Might he be eating into the already sheltered offensive zone minutes that his now-reunited teammate Hanifin has been receiving?
Nonetheless, it’s nearly impossible to criticize the deal from Vegas’ perspective. They’ve already got a clear path to a deep playoff run through a weak Pacific Division but, with Pietrangelo gone and Theodore and Brayden McNabb missing significant time this year, have lacked the identity that their historically overloaded top-four group has provided. Now, that blue line power is back with Andersson, Hanifin, McNabb, and Theodore comprising one of the most experienced and dynamic groups in the league.
They also do so while actually increasing their cap space for this season. Whitecloud was signed through next season at a $2.75MM cap hit, so Vegas frees up nearly $500K in space with this deal.
Image courtesy of Brett Holmes-Imagn Images.
Darren Dreger of TSN was the first to report that Andersson was going to Vegas. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was the first with the trade details.
Golden Knights Recall Dylan Coghlan
Dylan Coghlan is no stranger to finding himself in transactions this season as he has been frequently shuffled between Vegas and AHL Henderson. That move is once again being made as the Golden Knights announced (Twitter link) that the defenseman has been brought up from the Silver Knights.
This is now the fourth time in the last six weeks that Vegas has recalled the 27-year-old. However, it hasn’t yielded much playing time for Coghlan as he has only suited up once for the Golden Knights this season, bringing his career NHL appearances to 113. It’s his second stint with the franchise after signing with them as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and returned to Vegas as an unrestricted free agent last July.
Coghlan has played in 29 games this season with Henderson. While his offensive numbers are down a bit from 2024-25 when he had 28 points in 36 games with Manitoba, he has still contributed five goals and 11 helpers for the Silver Knights.
Coghlan cleared waivers back in early October during training camp, making him exempt until he reaches 10 NHL games or 30 NHL days. Despite the frequent recalls, he has only been up for 13 days to this point so he won’t have to go through the waiver process for a little while yet. He’ll likely once again serve as the seventh defender for however long this particular stint lasts.
Golden Knights Among Finalists For Rasmus Andersson
Jan. 17th: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Andersson’s market has been narrowed down to four teams: two in the Eastern Conference and two in the Western Conference. Dreger listed the Boston Bruins and Vegas Golden Knights as two of them, but didn’t specify the other two. Unless significant traction is made within the next few hours, Dreger expects Andersson to play for the Flames tonight.
Since Andersson’s name first hit the trade block in earnest last season, the Golden Knights and Stars have been the most frequently linked destinations. Little has changed to suggest those two wouldn’t be the favorites to both acquire and, particularly in Vegas’ case, extend him.
Golden Knights Reassign Carl Lindbom
According to the team over at SinBin.vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights have reassigned netminder Carl Lindbom to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. The transaction reduces the Golden Knights’ active roster to 22 players.
Lindbom, 22, was originally recalled on January 9th after Carter Hart went down with an injury. He only appeared in one game during the recall, stopping 18 of 20 shots against the San Jose Sharks in a win on January 11th. Throughout the 2025-26 campaign, he has managed a 2-4-2 record in eight games with Vegas, with a .873 SV% and 3.00 GAA.
Yesterday, after placing Hart on the injured reserve, the Golden Knights activated Adin Hill, giving Vegas three healthy netminders on the roster. Hill barely backstopped the Golden Knights to a win against the Toronto Maple Leafs last night.
After being assured that Hill was healthy and having a need to accrue more cap space, Vegas had little need to keep Lindbom on the roster moving forward. If they want to fill out the open roster spot, it’ll likely come in the form of recalling a depth defenseman. The Golden Knights currently only have six healthy defensemen available.
Meanwhile, Lindbom will return to AHL Henderson, where he’s spent much of the last two years. He has proven to be a formidable backstop since joining the North American professional circuit last season, owning an AHL record of 24-18-7 in 48 games with a .916 SV% and 2.51 GAA, including five shutouts.
Golden Knights Activate Adin Hill, Place Two On IR
The Golden Knights activated goaltender Adin Hill from long-term injured reserve on Thursday, per Jason R. Pothier and Ken Boehlke of Sin Bin Vegas. Netminder Carter Hart and winger Brandon Saad were placed on IR in corresponding moves, leaving the Knights with an open roster spot. They announced they’ve used that spot to recall forward Tanner Laczynski from AHL Henderson. With William Karlsson still on LTIR alongside Alex Pietrangelo on season-ending LTIR, Vegas remains cap-compliant.
Hill is expected to start tonight against the Maple Leafs, his first appearance in nearly three months. The 29-year-old has made just five starts this season and none since Oct. 20, when he sustained a lower-body injury in the first period against the Hurricanes.
It was an inauspicious start to the first season of Hill’s six-year, $37.5MM extension that he signed last March. Before exiting the lineup, he started the season on a cold run with a 1-0-2 record, .888 SV%, and 2.73 GAA. He allowed one goal above expected in 220 total minutes of action, per MoneyPuck.
Hart was signed in part due to concern over how much time Hill would miss. That experiment has been an early failure. Hart’s .871 SV% in 12 starts is the worst figure among the four netminders to suit up for Vegas this season. Among goaltenders with at least 10 appearances, only Leevi Merilainen and Petr Mrazek have allowed more goals above expected on a per-60-minute basis than Hart at 0.837.
Now, Vegas gets its true No. 1 back in the lineup. Akira Schmid has operated as the club’s de facto starter with a team-high 24 appearances and has provided great value for his $875K cap hit, logging a .896 SV% and 2.47 GAA with two shutouts and a 14-4-5 record. His 2.0 GSAx is first in Vegas and 34th in the league overall.
His rocky start aside, though, Hill is clearly the better long-term option. He’s never finished a season below .900 aside from a four-game run with the Coyotes in 2017-18 to open his NHL career. For a streaking Vegas team that’s struggled to get consistently above-average goaltending this season, his return could be an X-factor in them widening their lead in the Pacific Division.
Hart has already missed three games with a lower-body injury he sustained one week ago against the Blue Jackets. Since seven days have passed since his injury, he’s eligible to come off IR at any time. However, since he was administered a week-to-week designation last weekend, that won’t be coming anytime soon.
Saad is in the same boat in terms of his activation eligibility, sustaining an undisclosed injury in the Columbus game. He remains day-to-day and will presumably be an option sooner than Hart will. It’s been a trying season for the 33-year-old, who’s shooting at just 3.1% and has been limited to a 2-5–7 scoring line in 39 games with a -1 rating.
Laczynski’s recall comes as Vegas opens the roster flexibility to give itself injury insurance at forward. In addition to the injured Saad taking up a spot on the active roster for the last few games, Brett Howden has missed two contests with a lower-body injury and isn’t expected to be available against Toronto tonight, either.
It would be Laczynski’s season debut if he enters the lineup against the Leafs. The 28-year-old depth option was recalled once from Henderson in November but didn’t play. Now in his second year in the Knights organization, he suited up eight times last season and scored once while averaging 8:36 of ice time per game.
The 6’1″, 205-lb pivot has been the Knights’ most consistent minor-league producer since signing a two-year, league-minimum deal in 2024. After racking up 37 points in 41 appearances for Henderson last year to lead the team in scoring despite only playing in 57% of their games, he’s upped his production to 13 goals and 35 points in 32 games this season, along with a team-high +22 rating. He’s the biggest reason why the Silver Knights are tracking for their first season above .500 since 2021-22.
Image courtesy of Nick Wosika-Imagn Images.
Brandon Saad Out With Undisclosed Injury
- According to the team at SinBin, Vegas Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad won’t be available for tonight’s contest due to an undisclosed injury. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has two goals and seven points in 39 games this season, averaging 13:53 of ice time in a bottom-six role.
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- According to the team at SinBin, Vegas Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad won’t be available for tonight’s contest due to an undisclosed injury. The two-time Stanley Cup champion has two goals and seven points in 39 games this season, averaging 13:53 of ice time in a bottom-six role.
Golden Knights Activate Shea Theodore, Reassign Dylan Coghlan
Although the team has yet to announce it, Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have activated defenseman Shea Theodore from the injured reserve. The move was expected, considering the Golden Knights announced they had reassigned Dylan Coghlan to the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights earlier today.
Theodore’s return to the lineup should serve as a major boost to the Golden Knights at even strength and on the power play. Despite missing the past few weeks with an upper-body injury, Theodore remains the highest-scoring defenseman on the team with four goals and 20 points in 31 games, averaging 24:01 of ice time per game.
It couldn’t come at a better time for them either. Even though they’ve won their last two contests, Vegas went 0-3-2 without Theodore in their lineup. The team saw a slight decrease in power-play effectiveness in his absence, averaging 25.89% with him and 23.53% without him.
Still, as much as the Golden Knights may want to unleash Theodore for the sake of winning games, it may be a shrewder move to slow-play his return as much as possible. Injuries for the last several years have seriously hampered Theodore. He has only appeared in 75 or more games twice in his 11-year career, with the most recent being the 2021-22 season.
Meanwhile, Coghlan has been assigned to AHL Henderson for the third time this season. Regardless, he’s only appeared in one game for the Golden Knights this season. He’s understandably been much better with AHL Henderson, scoring five goals and 16 points in 28 games. It’s his first year back with the Golden Knights organization since the 2021-22 season.
Golden Knights Recall Carl Lindbom; Carter Hart Injured
According to a team announcement, the Vegas Golden Knights have recalled netminder Carl Lindbom from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights. The transaction is undeniably in connection to Carter Hart‘s injury (video link) from yesterday’s contest against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Golden Knights don’t immediately need to place Hart on injured reserve given they had an open roster spot. Still, they may be headed in that direction regardless.
During the play in question, after being scored on by Columbus captain Boone Jenner early in the first period, Hart exited for the remainder of the contest. He was unable to make it down the tunnel on his own power, instead being helped by teammates and staff. There have been no additional updates to Hart’s status, though they may come tomorrow morning after practice.
Before the injury, Hart had a relatively shaky start with his new team. Throughout his first six starts with the Golden Knights, Hart managed a 3-1-2 record with a .903 SV%. Unfortunately, he’s fallen off the rails since then, earning an .825 SV% over his last six starts on 114 shots.
Meanwhile, Lindbom returns to Vegas for his second stint of the year. Over his first recall in late-October, Lindbom picked up one win in seven starts with a .870 SV% and 3.14 GAA. He’s understandably been much better with AHL Henderson this year, managing a 6-3-4 record in 12 games with a .926 SV% and 2.08 GAA.