Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Golden Knights Rumors

Capitals Acquire Logan Thompson

at CDT | by 13 Comments

The Washington Capitals have acquired goaltender Logan Thompson from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for Pick 83 this year and Washington’s 2025 third-round pick, per Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review Journal (Twitter link).

This trade gives Washington a quick answer to the question of who was going to fill Darcy Kuemper’s role after he was swapped for Pierre-Luc Dubois. Kuemper served as Washington’s preferred starter last year, though he was limited to just 33 appearances as a result of injury and personal absences. He also wasn’t near his normal self in the games he did play, recording just 13 wins and an .890 save percentage, the first sub-.900 season of his career.

In Kuemper’s absence, Charlie Lindgren staked a strong claim on Washington’s starting role. He recorded 25 wins and a .911 save percentage through 50 appearances, showing the potential to win games for the Capitals when their offense wasn’t moving. He faltered a bit in the postseason – allowing 14 goals on 93 shots as the Capitals got swept – but Lindgren’s left his mark all the same, commanding the NHL starting role after just one year in a full-time backup position.

Lindgren should be the favorite to hang onto Washington’s starting role again next year. After all, he’s now the highest-paid goalie on the roster. But he’ll face like competition in Thompson, who assumed Vegas’ starting role to good effect in the wake of injuries to Adin Hill. Thompson, 27, recorded 25 wins and a .908 save percentage in 46 games this season, continuing the strong start to his NHL career that began in 2021. He’s since totaled 58 wins and a .912 save percentage through 107 career games. That’s a fantastic track record to acquire via trade, especially for a contract that’s technically cheaper than the veteran’s minimum of $775K.

Thompson will join what should be a fun competition for goalie minutes, fighting with Lindgren and Hunter Shepard. Thompson’s consistency could speak to the highest upside of the three.

For their part in supporting Washington’s goaltending room, Vegas receives a pair of picks and a bit more freedom with their own goalies. Adin Hill has proved dazzling when he stays healthy, bosting a career .910 save percentage through 139 games. He’ll now be the team’s unquestioned starter heading into next season, while Jiri Patera and Isaiah Saville will compete for the backup role, pending another move.

Golden Knights Still Working On Jonathan Marchessault Extension

at CDT | by 6 Comments

  • The Golden Knights remain hard at work trying to retain 2023 Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault, but they’re not on the verge of an extension, his agent Pat Brisson told LeBrun. Vegas has around $6.2MM in projected cap space with Robin Lehner on long-term injured reserve, which they’d likely use all of on a Marchessault extension. More moves are needed for financial flexibility, and LeBrun reports Marchessault is “readying himself for the realistic possibility that he might have to move on.“

Morning Notes: Golden Knights, Red Wings, Drouin

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Vegas Golden Knights have reportedly been in talks with the Boston Bruins about acquiring goaltender Linus Ullmark (as per Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia). The news is a bit surprising given the Golden Knights’ depth at the position, however, Vegas has received interest in their own goaltenders and might see Ullmark as a way to improve their netminding in the short term.

Boston has reportedly been looking at a center in exchange for Ullmark, and Vegas could potentially make that happen although it would create a hole in their forward group. The Golden Knights currently have Adin Hill and Logan Thompson under contract for next season, however, neither goalie was able to grab the net last season and both men posted save percentages below .910. It’s always interesting to see Vegas pop up in trade negotiations as they have a recent history of getting the players that they target, and Ullmark would certainly solidify the position for the team for the next couple of seasons.

In other morning notes:

  • Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that the Detroit Red Wings have had talks with the Boston Bruins regarding goaltender Linus Ullmark. Garrioch didn’t specify when the trade talks took place, but it is possible they happened before Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said that he wasn’t interested in a veteran goalie who wouldn’t be with Detroit in 2-3 years (as per Sean Shapiro). Yzerman also told the media he wasn’t opposed to improving Detroit’s goaltending if something made sense, and Ullmark would be a dramatic improvement over any of the other netminders in Detroit’s depth chart. Detroit gave up 274 goals last season, finishing 24 out of 32 teams.
  • Colorado Avalanche writer Adrian Dater tweeted that he believes the Avalanche will re-sign forward Jonathan Drouin. Dater called his speculation “an educated guess” but added that there are still conversations between the team and the 29-year-old pending unrestricted free agent. Drouin came over to the Avalanche last summer as a free agent, signing a bargain one-year contract for $825K. That deal was an absolute steal for Colorado as Drouin regained his offensive form and tallied 19 goals and 37 assists. Any long-term deal with Drouin will carry a certain degree of risk given his play in previous years, however, he should be able to fetch a short-term commitment this summer with a healthy AAV.

Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Golden Knights Goaltenders

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Golden Knights are in somewhat of an unusual spot heading into next season as both of their goaltenders are a year away from becoming unrestricted free agents.  To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that teams are showing interest in both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson.

Both netminders are still relatively inexperienced at the NHL level, all things considered.  Hill has played parts of seven seasons but has just 123 career regular season starts under his belt between Arizona, San Jose, and Vegas.  Thompson, meanwhile, has even less, with just 95 starts over parts of four years.

Hill played an integral role in the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup title last year, helping earn him a two-year, $9.8MM contract soon after to avoid him reaching the open market last summer.  The 28-year-old saw his numbers drop a bit this season although he still managed a 2.71 GAA with a .909 SV% in 35 games, both above the league average.

He was basically in a time-sharing situation with Thompson, who made 42 starts in 2023-24.  His numbers were nearly identical to Hill’s, checking in at 2.70 and .908 respectively.  The 27-year-old got the nod to start the playoffs but ceded the net to Hill for the final three games as they bowed out to Dallas in the opening round.

It’s worth noting that Thompson is one of the biggest bargains in the league between the pipes.  His AAV checks in at $766.7K, below the minimum salary.  With Vegas being quite tight to the salary cap once again this summer, they’d be hard-pressed to be persuaded to part Thompson knowing that whoever replaces him would cut into their already limited flexibility.

With their salary structure, it’s hard to see Vegas being able to afford to keep both goalies beyond the upcoming season.  They should be able to afford to keep one of them but combined, they’d likely cost more than what GM Kelly McCrimmon can realistically afford to allocate to that position.  With that in mind, it makes sense that teams are sniffing around to see which one might become available, if one is made available at all.

With Jacob Markstrom already having been moved, Linus Ullmark is the next-biggest name in play among NHL netminders and there are several teams who could be on the lookout for help between the pipes.  As a result, it could be an intriguing trade market for netminders in the coming days.

Golden Knights Will Not Re-Sign Mantha

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The San Jose Sharks were reportedly on Barclay Goodrow’s no-trade list (as per Elliotte Friedman on The Jeff Marek Show) with the New York Rangers. Goodrow was claimed off waivers yesterday by the Sharks and will be returning to the place where his NHL career started back in 2014-15.

Friedman hadn’t spoken to Goodrow directly but noted that the 31-year-old wasn’t happy with the situation as the Rangers hadn’t told Goodrow he would be placed on waivers until the last second. Goodrow had a 15-team no-trade clause and could have worked with the Rangers to find a suitable trade, but ultimately the Rangers elected to take the easier path with Goodrow and let him go for no return through waivers.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Catherine Savoie of RDS is reporting that the Vegas Golden Knights have told pending unrestricted free agent Anthony Mantha that they will not be re-signing him before July 1st. The trade deadline acquisition was acquired from the Washington Capitals for a second-round pick in this year’s draft and a 2026 fourth-rounder. The 29-year-old tallied 23 goals and 21 assists in 74 games with Washington and Vegas and is unlikely to match the four-year, $22.8MM contract he signed with the Detroit Red Wings back in 2020. Vegas has just $6.2MM in available cap space going into the summer and still needs to sign a couple of players.
  • The Dallas Stars have signed depth forward Emilio Pettersen to a one-year, two-way contract extension (as per PuckPedia) that will cover the 2024-25 season. The new deal will see the 24-year-old collect $775K at the NHL level, while he will pocket $120K in the AHL. Dallas acquired Pettersen back in March from the Calgary Flames in exchange for forward Riley Damiani. He then joined the Stars AHL affiliate and posted four goals and four assists in 12 games. The former sixth-round pick has yet to make his NHL debut and will likely provide AHL depth for the team this season.

Talks Continue With Marchessault, Mantha Won't Return

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Golden Knights are continuing their discussions with Jonathan Marchessault’s camp in advance of his pending unrestricted free agency, relays The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta (Twitter link).  The 33-year-old had a career-best 42 goals in 2023-24 on the heels of winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in their Stanley Cup title in 2023.  That has him well-positioned to earn a fair-sized raise on the $5MM he made in each of the last six years but that increase will be tough for Vegas to fit on their books with less than $1.2MM in regular cap space, per CapFriendly.  Yes, Robin Lehner and his $5MM should land on LTIR again but they also need to re-sign Pavel Dorofeyev and shore up their depth in the coming weeks.

  • Speaking of Golden Knights pending unrestricted free agents, Anthony Mantha told RDS that the team has told him he will not be offered a deal for next season. The winger was acquired just before the trade deadline from Washington after putting up 20 goals with the Caps but he struggled with his new team, eventually being scratched in their first-round exit to Dallas.

Offseason Checklist: Vegas Golden Knights

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The offseason has arrived for all but the two teams who are still taking part in the playoffs.  For the rest, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Vegas.

To say the Golden Knights took a big swing at the trade deadline would be an understatement.  However, it didn’t result in the immediate success they were hoping for; while they snuck into the playoffs and gave Dallas a real run for their money, they were eliminated in the first round.  Now, GM Kelly McCrimmon will look at making some tweaks while trying to keep as much of the core intact as possible.  Here’s what they will likely be looking to try to do this summer.

Create Cap Space

Before Vegas can do anything when it comes to adding to its roster or even trying to re-sign some pending free agents, they need to get some cap flexibility.  As things stand, they have barely $1MM in regular cap space, per CapFriendly.  Only one team (Philadelphia) has less.  Granted, Robin Lehner and his $5MM price tag is quite certain to remain on LTIR but unless the Golden Knights can make the perfect LTI placement in the fall, they probably won’t be able to utilize all of that amount.  They can get close but few teams are able to use it all.

Even if we suppose they get the perfect placement, that gives them a little over $6MM to work with.  That’s not much to work with when you’re hoping to re-sign some of Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, Michael Amadio, William Carrier, and Anthony Mantha up front.

Assuming they have designs on retaining several of those players, they’re going to have to free up some money.  It’s also reasonable to suggest they don’t want to move their higher-paid core pieces which limits their options.  On the back end, Zach Whitecloud feels like a possible trade candidate.  He was a regular for most of the year but spent time as a healthy scratch after Noah Hanifin was acquired.  For someone who is more of a third-pairing option, a $2.75MM price tag might be too much of a luxury for them to afford.  Replacing him with a cheaper player would open up a little more spending room.

Meanwhile, up front, Nicolas Roy would be a popular trade target for teams if Vegas elected to try to fill his spot with a lower-cost center as three years at $3MM per season is affordable for most…just not necessarily the Golden Knights.  A smaller move would be to move the final year and $1.9MM of Brett Howden’s contract, replacing him with someone making closer to half of that.  The trade return probably wouldn’t be the strongest but if that helped add enough extra space to re-sign a more prominent piece, it’d be worth doing.

McCrimmon won’t be able to open up enough cap space to keep everyone but he knew that before acquiring and extending Hanifin while adding Tomas Hertl and his long-term deal.  But if they can keep one of their top options and perhaps one of their bottom-six free agents, that would still be a good outcome for them.

Try To Re-Sign Marchessault

The most prominent of those pending unrestricted free agents is Marchessault.  One of the few remaining original members of the Golden Knights, the 33-year-old followed up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2023 by posting a career-high 42 goals in 2023-24.  Not a bad platform heading into free agency, that’s for sure.

Both sides have openly discussed a willingness to get a new deal done although talks were late getting started; it’s believed discussions only got underway in recent days.  Part of the hold-up could simply have been Vegas needing to get a better handle on what they have (or won’t have) to spend come July 1st before engaging but it still seems a little odd they waited this long.

Nonetheless, Marchessault is well-positioned for a nice raise on a multi-year agreement.  After making $5MM in each of the last six seasons, he could conceivably push for $7MM while getting three or four years if he makes it to the open market.  It’s possible that he could leave some money on the table to stay with the Golden Knights who likely can’t afford that type of contract given their salary structure but with this likely being his last big contract, that can’t automatically be assumed either.

Regardless of what happens, Marchessault’s later-career breakout has him on the upswing heading into free agency which will have him rated highly on our Top 50 UFA list to be released later this month.

Extension Talks

While McCrimmon will have some pressing matters to attend to when it comes to his group of pending unrestricted free agents, he’ll likely be looking ahead to 2025-26 as well.  A little over a year from now, three important players will be eligible to test the open market, making them eligible for contract extensions as of July 1st.

Shea Theodore is another one of the few remaining original members of the franchise and, when healthy, has been a key cog on their back end for the past seven seasons, logging over 20 minutes per game in each of them.  However, he has missed 62 games over the past two years which won’t help his cause when those talks begin.  Having said that, the 28-year-old will be viewed by numerous teams as a top-pairing player and the market for those players is quite significant.  At a minimum, it’s well above the $5.2MM AAV of his existing contract.  Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8MM) and Hanifin ($7.35MM) are on pricey contracts and Theodore should end up in that range whether it’s this summer or next.

Then there are the goaltenders.  Adin Hill went from being a depth addition between the pipes when he was first acquired to a player who was dominant in their run to the Stanley Cup in 2023.  That helped earn him what amounted to a second bridge deal, albeit with a sizable raise this time around.  That contract, one that carries a $4.9MM AAV, is set to expire next year and it will be interesting to see if he can beat that next time out.  Hill set a career-high in appearances in 2023-24 but still only played in 35 regular season games.  If he doesn’t see a number one workload, it will be difficult to justify giving him any sort of considerable raise.  That makes his situation a tough one to work through in terms of finding a number that works now for both sides.

That isn’t necessarily the case for Logan Thompson, however.  The 27-year-old has led Vegas in goalie games in his two full NHL campaigns and was the starter going into the playoffs.  If that holds true next season, that will be three seasons of at least closer to a starting workload which will help his case if he gets to the open market.  At this point in time, a contract for him likely starts above Hill’s current price tag and one thing is for sure, with the way their team is constructed, they won’t be able to keep both in the fold beyond next season.

Whether it’s Hill or Thompson, if they can determine which one to keep and get that deal worked out in the next couple of months, it’ll be one big item off of next year’s list.

Mine The Margins

Vegas has gotten quite accustomed to not being able to afford to carry a full-sized 23-man roster and next year should be no exception.  However, there are a couple of spots on the big club that could be up for grabs depending on what happens with their pending free agents that they may want to turn to the open market for.

However, they won’t be able to get involved in any sort of bidding war.  Instead, they’ll almost certainly be limited to offering minimum-salary deals ($775K) due to their cap situation.  Those contracts aren’t often signed on the opening day of free agency.  However, there are often bargains to be found with some patience so they may have to wait for the secondary free agent market to open up closer to training camp before filling those spots.

It would also be wise for them to get some NHL-capable pieces to be stashed at AHL Henderson.  The upside isn’t typically too high for two-way free agents but getting some players who have shown they can handle limited roles can’t hurt for when injuries arise.  These are the types of deals they can get aggressive on early as they’re likely to carry a $775K NHL cap charge with the only differences in offers from other teams being the minor league portion.  Landing some of the better players on that side of the market could prove fruitful as the year goes on but they’ll have to work through what’s set to be a very large list of players to find the best fits.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mathieu Cataford Traded In QMJHL

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

  • Golden Knights prospect Mathieu Cataford is on the move in the QMJHL as Rimouski announced that they’ve acquired him from Halifax in exchange for five draft picks. The 19-year-old was a third-round pick back in 2023 and was a high-end producer in junior this season, notching 40 goals and 50 assists in 65 games.  Cataford, who has already signed his entry-level deal, also got into four regular season contests with AHL Henderson where he picked up two assists; he’s not eligible to play full-time at that level until the 2025-26 season, however.

Golden Knights Hoping To Re-Sign Jonathan Marchessault

at CDT | by 27 Comments

The Vegas Golden Knights could find a way to re-sign hallmark winger Jonathan Marchessault, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period a recent NHL Now segment (Twitter link). Pagnotta shared that both sides have mutual interest in signing a new deal, though Vegas’ slim cap space has kept the team from engaging in any contract talks just yet. Marchessault spoke about these negotiations at the World Series of Poker, telling the Las Vegas Review, “They said they were interested to definitely re-sign me and we’ll see. Technically they have time until June 30, so we’ll see how it goes.”

Marchessault recently concluded a six-year, $30MM contract signed with Vegas in January of 2018. He earned the deal in the midst of a breakout season with the inagural Golden Knights, scoring 27 goals and 75 points in 77 games. The new extension marked Marchessault’s first time earning a salary north of $1.0MM and he’s only become more valuable, posting 165 goals and 342 points across the 437 games he played over the course of the deal. That includes Marchessault’s career-high 42 goals this season, making him just the second Golden Knight to hit the 40-goal mark alongside William Karlsson’s breakout 2017-18 campaign.

Marchessault has managed the strong scoring while serving a stout role on Vegas’ second line – averaging roughly 17 minutes of ice time in six of his last seven seasons. His modest spot in the lineup has been supplemented by a commanding role on the team’s powerplay, with no other Golden Knight playing more power-play minutes than Marchessault since 2018. And he’s vindicated the minutes, scoring 36 power-play goals and 87 points in a collective 1121 minutes.

Marchessault’s ability to offer consistent goal-scoring from the second line has been a big factor in Vegas’ recent lineup creativity. He’s fully carved out his role in Vegas and will be hard to replace should he enter free agency. But that could be the ultimate outcome, as the Golden Knights currently boast just $897.5K in cap space. They could look into trimming their cap hit on the trade market or through LTIR relief, per Pagnotta, though they’ll likely need to make a series of to afford Marchessault’s next deal.

The same factors that’s led Vegas to their cap constraints are likely also what’s kept them from engaging Marchessault in talks of an extension up to this point. The veteran winger told the Las Vegas Review that he expressed interest to Vegas about signing an extension last summer – sharing, “I asked last summer. I was like, ‘You know what? I would rather do it in the summer before the season.’ And they said they’re not ready to do that…” 

The Golden Knights instead spent the season getting as close to the salary cap as they could, even using lucrative trading to acquire Noah Hanifin’s contract at just 25 percent of its original cap hit and even getting the San Jose Sharks to retain 17 percent of Tomas Hertl’s cap hit. Timely LTIR relief helped them make the moves without exceeding the salary cap, though Vegas is now paying for the antics with a stressful summer ahead. Pagnotta added that pending free agents William Carrier, Michael Amadio, and Anthony Mantha are each expected to leave the Golden Knights for free agency.

Carrier is notably an original Golden Knight, with the Buffalo Sabres sending Vegas a sixth-round draft pick to ensure they’d select him in the 2017 Expansion Draft. He’s since played in 372 games across seven seasons with Vegas – totaling 53 goals, 99 points, and 183 penalty minutes while averaging just 10:32 in ice time.

Losing the trio of Carrier, Amadio, and Mantha will leave notable holes in the Golden Knights’ bottom-six. With such little money to go around – especially if they re-sign Marchessault – the Golden Knights are likely hoping those holes can be filled by top young players like Pavel Dorofeyev, Brendan Brisson, and Grigori Denisenko.

Latest On The Golden Knights’ Pending UFAs

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The Golden Knights won’t be able to re-sign most of their pending unrestricted free agents with a looming salary cap crunch, and they’ve already gone through the process of elimination on who to prioritize. The team has informed forwards Michael Amadio, William Carrier and Anthony Mantha that they won’t be offered extensions before July 1, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported yesterday. All three will hit the UFA market.

Amadio is a tough loss after being arguably their most cost-effective depth scorer over the past three seasons. After being claimed off waivers from the Maple Leafs early in the 2021-22 campaign, he enjoyed the best run of his career in Sin City. The 28-year-old has played nearly 200 regular-season games in a Vegas uniform, posting 41 goals and 72 points in less than 13 minutes of ice time per game. He’s also been quite the playoff performer, posting 10 points in 16 games en route to their Stanley Cup win in 2023 and logging a goal and an assist in their first-round elimination against the Stars this year. Amadio has made the league minimum salary each season, but he could likely land close to $3MM annually this summer.

Carrier, 29, is an original Golden Knight. Selected from the Sabres in the 2017 expansion draft, the Québec native has been a serviceable fourth-line winger, and his 372 appearances rank sixth in franchise history. He struggled with injuries this season, limited to eight points in 39 games, but had a career-high 16 goals in 56 games the year before. Carrier has shining career possession numbers at even strength – a 53.6 CF% and a 55.9 xGF% – making him one of the better two-way options in the entire league for his role.

He likely won’t land much of an increase, if any, on his expiring $1.4MM cap hit. Still, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon needs every inch of flexibility possible to keep Jonathan Marchessault and Chandler Stephenson from heading to market.

Giving up a pair of draft picks for Mantha at the trade deadline may have been a rare ill-advised move from McCrimmon. The 29-year-old winger seemed to fit nicely into their top nine down the stretch in the regular season, posting three goals and 10 points in 18 games. However, he fell out of the lineup once Tomáš Hertl and Mark Stone were ready to return from their injuries and only played in three of their seven playoff games against Dallas without recording a point. He’d been making an average of $5.7MM annually for the past four years on a deal signed by Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman in the 2020 offseason, and while he won’t earn that much again on his next deal, he might get close after his first 20-goal season since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Golden Knights are also unlikely to re-sign veteran defenseman Alec Martinez, who likely wouldn’t have been in their opening night lineup next season after Noah Hanifin’s acquisition. But they haven’t informed him of anything like the others, Pagnotta said, and it’s unclear if he’ll test the market in July. After winning the Cup with Vegas last year and twice with the Kings in the early 2010s, the 36-year-old is “evaluating his options” as the end of his career draws closer.

And while Marchessault is the higher-priority extension target, McCrimmon hasn’t closed the door on a Stephenson re-signing. Pagnotta reports he’ll speak to Stephenson’s camp in the next two weeks to gauge his price. Still, if he heads to market, he’ll have plenty of suitors as the second-best center potentially available after Elias Lindholm. As such, his market value could very well eclipse a $6MM AAV – a prohibitively expensive figure for Vegas unless significant cap-cutting trades are made.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top