Vegas Golden Knights Re-Sign Jiri Patera
The Vegas Golden Knights re-sign netminder Jiri Patera to a one-year, two-way contract. Per PuckPedia, the contract carries a $775k AAV, a $100k AHL salary, and a $145k total guarantee.
Patera, 24, is a member of the Golden Knights’ original draft class from 2017, when he was selected in the sixth round. The six-foot-two Czech netminder developed in the USHL before spending two seasons in the WHL with current Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon’s club, the Brandon Wheat Kings.
A First-Team All-Star in the WHL, Patera turned pro in 2020-21, splitting time with HC Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Extraliga and the AHL with the Henderson Silver Knights.
Patera had a difficult start to life in Henderson but in 2021-22 he regrouped his game in the ECHL and ended the season with a .910 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against-average in the AHL.
This past season, Patera got used to a larger workload playing 31 games for Henderson. His numbers held steady despite getting a larger role in the AHL, and he even earned two starts for Vegas in the NHL, winning both with a .929 save percentage.
With this contract Patera secures his place for another season with Vegas’ AHL affiliate, and he’ll hope to earn more NHL call-ups as he makes a push to become a regular face at the game’s highest level.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Three Players
The Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights are signing big Mason Geertsen to a one-year, two-way contract with a $775k cap hit, $400k AHL salary, and a two-year term according to PuckPedia. Later in the day, the team announced the signings of Gage Quinney and Mason Morelli on two-year, two-way contracts.
With experience playing both along the wings and as a defenseman, the most consistent thing Geertsen brings to the table is his physicality. He’s six-foot-four and weighs nearly 230 pounds, and is more than happy to make opposing players more than familiar with how hard he can hit.
He had nearly 100 more penalty minutes than the next-highest Utica Comet last season with 136, and helped Utica reach the AHL playoffs.
He won’t provide Vegas’ AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights, with more than his physicality, but clearly the Golden Knights have made beefing up their AHL affiliate a priority, and signing Geertsen will accomplish exactly that.
As for Quinney, he’s a 27-year-old center who re-signs in Nevada, where he’s spent the last three seasons. Quinney was Henderson’s leading scorer this past season with 25 goals and 64 points in 66 games.
The former WHL champion worked his way up to this point from the ECHL and is now being rewarded with an extension to remain among Henderson’s most important players. Continuity is a rare thing in the AHL, so securing more seasons in Henderson is a nice reward for Quinney’s recent success.
As for Morelli, he recently won the Calder Cup and now departs the Hershey Bears after two full seasons there. It was in Hershey where the 27-year-old advanced from being an AHL/ECHL tweener to a true AHL contributor. He scored 41 points in 72 regular-season games and 13 in 20 playoff games, and will now look to help Henderson go on their own long playoff run while also making a push for an NHL call-up.
Vegas Golden Knights Extend Adin Hill
June 30: Vegas has confirmed Hill’s extension at $4.9MM per season over two years. PuckPedia confirms the breakdown of his contract:
2023-24: $1.6MM base salary, $4MM signing bonus, eight-team no-trade list
2024-25: $4.2MM base salary, five-team no-trade list
June 25: The Vegas Golden Knights captured their franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup earlier this month, and while he didn’t end up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy the work of netminder Adin Hill played a significant role in getting Vegas over the line.
Now it appears Vegas is nearing a contract extension agreement with Hill, 27, who was set to hit the open market July 1st. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has reported that Hill is “looking at an extension in Vegas around the 2x$4.9M range,” and that nothing is official at this time.
PuckPedia made a point that will be central to the reception of this contract, which is that Hill’s reported $4.9MM cap hit “would put him just outside a top 16 starter in Cap Hit. Based on last season, at that cap hit he would be expected to play 50+ games.” That’s potentially going to be an issue for Hill, as the last time he was a true full-time goalie for a full season was with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks back in 2015-16.
In recent years Hill has consistently battled injuries, and even though he had injury troubles this season as well he actually set a career-high in NHL games played with 27.
The six-foot-four 27-year-old played quite well in those 27 games, posting a 16-7-1 record and a .915 save percentage, but those numbers won’t deliver enough return on Vegas’ $4.9MM AAV investment unless he can handle a higher workload.
Even with those concerns about availability, it’s abundantly clear why Vegas made the choice to extend Hill and reward him for his playoff heroics. Hill’s playoff performance stepping in after an injury to Laurent Brossoit was genuinely stunning, and his .932 save percentage in 16 games is a testament to that. Hill’s out-of-this-world save on Nick Cousins to set the tone for the Stanley Cup Final is going to be a moment long remembered in hockey history, and while NHL clubs probably shouldn’t let sentimentality influence major financial decisions, Vegas’ desire to keep their playoff hero around for longer than just one season is completely understandable.
There are going to be fans that snicker at Hill receiving a per-year cap hit nearly as high as what Darcy Kuemper, a tried-and-tested, durable NHL starter received on the open market after winning his own Stanley Cup. That’s an understandable point of view given just how spotty Hill’s track record has been in past years. He was let go by San Jose last summer for a mid-round draft pick, after all.
But in the end, this is a player who shouldered a significant amount of responsibility in high-leverage moments and led his team to a Stanley Cup. 26-year-old Logan Thompson, who impressed as a rookie this past season, will cost Vegas just $766k against the cap for the duration of this Hill contract extension. So assuming Vegas runs a Hill-Thompson tandem, they’ll be paying their netminders under $6MM combined, a totally affordable number.
The presence of Robin Lehner and his $5MM cap hit on Vegas’ books complicates things, especially if he plans on returning to the ice after missing the season due to hip surgeries. But with the start of free agency looming, locking up Hill and therefore a two-goalie tandem for the next two seasons is a solid bit of business, assuming Hill can stay healthy.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Offseason Checklist: Vegas Golden Knights
The offseason is now fully underway after Vegas took home the Stanley Cup which means that it’s time to examine what each team will need to accomplish over the coming months. We wrap up our series with a look at what the Golden Knights have left to do.
When team owner Bill Foley talked about winning the Stanley Cup in six years after their expansion team started, the idea seemed far-fetched. But in the end, that’s exactly how it played out as they took out Winnipeg, Edmonton, Dallas, and Florida to take home the title. GM Kelly McCrimmon is now tasked with trying to keep as much of his Cup-winning core intact as possible. He has already made some moves that were on the original version of this checklist but here’s what’s left for them to work on.
Goalie Moves
It’s interesting that Adin Hill’s reported two-year extension that was reportedly agreed to over the weekend has yet to be registered with the league compared to someone like Ivan Barbashev, whose deal was agreed to and registered on Wednesday. Speculatively, this could be related to tagging space since LTIR players (like Robin Lehner) count against that limit. Because we’re not in the new league year yet, the tagging rate is 10% above the $82.5MM cap. In the offseason, you can go 10% above the new cap level, or $83.5MM while offseason LTIR is also an option if needed.
Not registering the deal now gives them some extra flexibility in the short term as they have $1.1MM less in spending allowance before Saturday to fit Hill’s contract into. This likely played a role in Barbashev’s deal getting announced only after they moved Reilly Smith. This isn’t anything to be concerned about if you’re a Vegas fan as this is just a bit of CBA minutia but they will have to get Hill’s contract finalized in the coming days.
Speaking of goalies, they need to make a determination about Lehner’s future. With Hill’s pending new contract, it appears that they don’t think Lehner will be able to return next season. If that happens, they can put him on LTIR as they did this past season. But it’s also possible that they want to clear that contract off the books as they did with Shea Weber’s deal at the trade deadline. Deciding if it’s worth parting with an asset to free up the contract slot will be a small item on McCrimmon’s list.
They will also need to decide if they want to carry a veteran third-stringer behind a tandem of Hill and Logan Thompson which is still relatively inexperienced all things considered. They’ve had one in place the last two years with Laurent Brossoit and Michael Hutchinson but among the three other netminders signed for next season, none have any NHL experience while pending RFA Jiri Patera has just two appearances. This is another small item on the list but with free agency almost here, it’s a decision that will need to be made quickly.
Work On Marchessault Extension
It’s safe to say that Jonathan Marchessault has worked out well as their expansion pick from Florida back in 2017. The 32-year-old is their franchise leader in goals, assists, and points and is coming off a playoff performance that saw him lead the league in goals with 13, helping him take home his first Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. That’s certainly a nice ending to his campaign and will give him some extra leverage as he becomes eligible to sign a contract extension as of Saturday.
Marchessault signed a six-year, $30MM deal just months into his tenure with Vegas and it has held up well through the first five seasons. However, it’s safe to say that it’s going to take a higher AAV for him to put pen to paper on an extension, especially this far out from his free agent summer. Yes, the Upper Limit of the cap is expected to jump but he turns 33 in December and wingers don’t typically show offensive improvement at that time.
Marchessault has reached the 30-goal and 60-point mark just once in the last five years and as he gets older, he should move more into a middle-six role. Is that a lineup spot that they should be committing a pricey long-term contract to? On the other hand, he’s one of the original ‘misfits’ and while the Golden Knights have made some moves that could be described as callous along the way, it’s possible that they could allow sentimentality to come into play with Marchessault. At this point, an AAV of around $6MM on a medium-term extension might be needed. Expect discussions on a new deal to happen at some point this summer.
Try To Create More Cap Space
At the moment, Vegas has around $7.6MM in cap room for next season, per CapFriendly. That amount includes them using Lehner’s full LTIR space and does not count Hill’s expected contract, one that is expected to carry an AAV of around $4.9MM. Basically, they’re going to have around $2.7MM at their disposal and that’s with a couple of forward spots to try to fill. It’s a manageable situation but is one that would leave them in a spot where they’d have limited flexibility for any in-season activity. While they’re more than used to being in that situation, it’s still one that they might want to avoid.
To do that, they’re probably going to look at dealing from their defensive depth. Veteran Alec Martinez has a $5.25MM AAV and one year remaining on his deal. The 35-year-old is still a serviceable piece but is better served as being more of a depth defender at this stage of his career. In this market, clearing the full contract would be difficult but even if they’re able to move him with some retention, it’d help to free up some wiggle room.
Failing that, they can look to their depth players. Ben Hutton has an AAV that’s just $25K above the league minimum that could be appealing to a team looking for cheap depth. Meanwhile, prospect Brayden Pachal is now waiver-eligible and if the Golden Knights envision him not breaking camp with them, trying to move him now for a waiver-exempt asset would open up a bit more flexibility. Doing something like this isn’t necessarily a must but a bit more wiggle room on the cap wouldn’t hurt.
Decide Howden’s Future
Vegas has a couple of RFA forwards to re-sign, center Brett Howden and winger Pavel Dorofeyev. Dorofeyev’s contract should be somewhat straightforward as the youngster only has 20 NHL games under his belt so he’ll be signing for close to the league minimum of $775K. But Howden’s will be a little trickier to navigate.
The 25-year-old is owed a $1.5MM qualifying offer by tomorrow’s 4 PM CT deadline. However, the offer also carries salary arbitration eligibility which is something they might want to avoid. Howden’s coming off a quiet year offensively with just 13 points in 54 games but with 279 career regular season appearances under his belt, he has enough of a track record to land a raise in a hearing. Obviously, Vegas can’t afford to give him too much of one.
Do they manage to get something done in the next 24 hours that takes away the arbitration risk? If not, are they comfortable tendering the qualifier? Howden is coming off a nice playoff run and is someone they will want to keep around but there comes a point where he’s going to cost too much for the role he fills. He’s not all that far from that spot so getting something done soon would certainly be desirable.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Vegas Golden Knights Extend Ivan Barbashev
After dealing Reilly Smith just hours earlier, the Vegas Golden Knights have put their cap space to use. They’ve signed top pending unrestricted free agent forward Ivan Barbashev to a five-year, $25MM extension, earning him $5MM per season. That’s significantly shorter and cheaper than what Barbashev was expected to earn on the open market. PuckPedia has the breakdown of the deal:
2023-24: $3MM base salary, $4MM signing bonus, eight-team no-trade clause
2024-25: $5.4MM base salary, eight-team no-trade clause
2025-26: $4.2MM base salary, eight-team no-trade clause
2026-27: $4.2MM base salary, five-team no-trade clause
2027-28: $4.2MM base salary, five-team no-trade clause
This has now become a money-in, money-out move for the Knights, who’ve swapped Smith’s $5MM cap hit for Barbashev’s, retaining the younger player (with more term) in the process. The move takes Barbashev, who was ranked eighth on our list of the top 50 UFAs, off the open market sooner than most had expected.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion has seemingly sacrificed a bit on his big payday in hopes of running it back. It’s quite a cheap deal, especially considering the lack of significant trade protection included in the contract.
That being said, it’s a good bit of business here for Vegas to keep Barbashev in the organization after he emerged as a true top-six threat down the stretch. While he’s not incredibly strong defensively, extended time on the wing has done Barbashev well, and he seems likely to be a consistent long-term fixture – just not as a center as the St. Louis Blues tried with him many times.
The Blues’ 2014 second-round pick was one of the hotter commodities at this year’s trade deadline, where Vegas picked him up in a one-for-one swap for prospect Zach Dean, who the Knights selected 30th overall in 2021. Barbashev proceeded to find a home as the left wing on a line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault, finishing fifth on the Knights in playoff scoring with 18 points in 22 games. He also recorded 16 points in 23 regular-season games with Vegas after notching 6o points in a full season for the first time in 2021-22 with St. Louis.
Barbashev will undoubtedly reprise his first-line role next season, and he’ll look to start his new extension off strong by setting a career-high in points alongside one of the best centers in the league and the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
Of significance, the Golden Knights will once again be over the salary cap once Adin Hill‘s reported two-year, $4.9MM average annual value extension becomes official. That could be alleviated, though, if Robin Lehner and his $5MM cap hit are destined for long-term injured reserve next season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Acquire Reilly Smith
Just days after winning the Stanley Cup, the Vegas Golden Knights are moving on from original expansion draft acquisition Reilly Smith. He’s been dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2024 third-round pick, one the Penguins acquired from Vegas just a few months ago in exchange for center Teddy Blueger.
To say this move is a shock to most fans is an understatement. While cap-clearing moves have become commonplace in recent history, especially in Vegas, Smith had a spectacular postseason run for the Knights with four goals and 14 points in 22 games. At the time of the trade, he was second in franchise history in goals (124) and third in points (286), joined in the top three by longtime linemates Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.
Smith, 32, has two seasons remaining on his contract at a $5MM cap hit. Of note, this is the first trade completed by Kyle Dubas as interim general manager of the Penguins.
Parting ways with that $5MM, as tough as it may be, gives Vegas significant flexibility into an offseason clouded by uncertainty over the playing future of goaltender Robin Lehner, who missed the entire 2022-23 season recovering from double hip surgery and is under contract, as Smith is, for $5MM per season until 2025. With netminder Adin Hill expected to sign a two-year extension in the neighborhood of $4.9MM per season, clearing Smith’s cap hit leaves the Knights with about $3.5-$4MM in space should Lehner be healthy next season.
In Smith, Pittsburgh may not be getting any younger, but they are getting a spectacularly consistent winger with good ability on both the power play and penalty kill. A well-rounded talent, his 26 goals this season were one short of his career high, set with Vegas in the 2019-20 season. He could very well slot in on Pittsburgh’s second line with Evgeni Malkin and Rickard Rakell.
With the Smith acquisition, it seems improbable that Pittsburgh will extend Jason Zucker, who held the top-six spot in the lineup Smith is expected to replace. The 31-year-old will be one of the better options on the UFA market among left wingers after recording 27 goals and 48 points in 78 games this year.
What exactly Vegas does with its newfound cap space remains to be seen. If they learn Lehner could be an LTIR candidate next season in the near future, they’d likely have enough flexibility to get a deal done to retain winger Ivan Barbashev. There’s no telling how long it will take to glean clarity into Lehner’s playing future, though, and Vegas will be forced to operate under the expectation they won’t have his LTIR relief until proven otherwise. If that’s the case, they could still sign a middle-six winger on the free agent market who’d command around the $2MM mark.
It’s still a bittersweet day for Knights fans, who have now lost fan favorites Smith, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Max Pacioretty to similar salary-dump moves in each of the last three offseasons.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes was first to report the trade.
Vegas Golden Knights Sign Brayden Pachal
The Vegas Golden Knights have finished their celebration and are ready to work. Today, they’ve secured some of their minor league depth by signing Brayden Pachal to a two-year contract extension. Pachal was set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
Serving as the captain of the Henderson Silver Knights. the undrafted defenseman registered 15 points in 55 AHL games, and suited up ten times for the Golden Knights. Still just 23, the former Prince Albert Raiders star has steadily improved his game, and now finds himself on the fringe of making an NHL roster.
Pachal’s new contract will carry an average annual value of $775K, making him an inexpensive option should the Vegas front office and coaching staff believe he’s ready for more action.
At the very least, he’s set for another season leading Henderson, though he’ll have to clear waivers to be assigned to the minor leagues.
Henderson Silver Knights Hire Ryan Craig
The Henderson Silver Knights are getting some Stanley Cup experience. Vegas Golden Knights assistant Ryan Craig, fresh off a championship, will transfer to a new role in the organization, moving to head coach of the Silver Knights for the 2022-23 season.
Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon released the following:
I have tremendous respect for Ryan Craig as both a person and a professional and believe we have an ideal coach to lead our team in Henderson. He is a proven leader who has learned from some of the game’s best coaches. He understands the importance of the AHL level both in terms of developing our NHL prospects and creating a winning environment.
While serving as an assistant in the NHL is a great start to any coaching resume, for Craig to take the next step, he likely needs some head coaching experience. He’ll get that opportunity after six years on the Vegas bench.
An eighth-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2002 (after a successful junior career under McCrimmon with the Brandon Wheat Kings), Craig carved out a long professional career, bouncing between the AHL and NHL. In 198 games at the highest level, he scored 32 goals and 63 points.
Now, he’ll be in charge of developing the next wave of Golden Knights prospects while getting that much-needed headed coaching experience. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Craig’s name floated around as a potential NHL head coach in a few years, should the AHL experience go well.
Free Agent Notes: Barbashev, Jost, Ekman-Larsson
One of the top pending UFA forwards is, in fact, expected to go to market – a boon for a weak class that’s only getting weaker. There are currently no talks ongoing between the Vegas Golden Knights and forward Ivan Barbashev, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes says, and he is expected to hit the market on July 1.
The 27-year-old fit in seamlessly with Vegas after a trade deadline deal with the St. Louis Blues, scoring 34 points in 45 combined regular-season and playoff games en route to his second Stanley Cup in five years. The uptick in scoring came with a significant uptick in ice time, and he now enters the free agent market as a bonafide top-six winger in his prime. He could very well double his previous cap hit of $2.25MM on the open market on a long-term deal, something Vegas just doesn’t have the financial certainty at this point to accommodate. His performance this year came on the heels of a breakout 60-point campaign with the Blues in 2021-22.
More notes on this year’s pending free agent class:
- When the Buffalo Sabres re-signed veteran forward Zemgus Girgensons, many wondered what it meant for pending RFA Tyson Jost‘s future with the club, given the team’s depth crunch on offense. Today, general manager Kevyn Adams said he’s spoken with Jost’s agent and informed them he’d like to work out an extension, keeping him in the fold as a decent depth scoring option. The team is expected to trade Victor Olofsson this offseason, but Jost could still slip into the role of a healthy scratch if the team does make any notable free agent acquisition. The 25-year-old notched 25 points in 71 games this season.
- It doesn’t appear defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be without a home for long. After getting bought out by the Vancouver Canucks last week, Ekman-Larsson’s agent, Kevin Epp, tell’s CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal that upwards of 10 teams have shown interest in bringing him on, including some contending teams. One team that immediately jumps out as a natural fit for a veteran defenseman on a cheap deal needing some reduced minutes to be successful is the Tampa Bay Lightning. He’d sit on the third pairing behind Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev on their depth chart, and Ekman-Larsson’s situation isn’t all too dissimilar to that of Kevin Shattenkirk a few seasons ago.
Canucks Notes: Soucy, Martinez, Lucic
The Vancouver Canucks will surely weaponize some cap space when free agency opens after buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson late last week, and they’ll likely have upwards of $10MM to play with, given their potential for long-term injured reserve relief. One name the team could pursue if he hits the open market is Seattle Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy, who CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal believes the Canucks have an interest in.
Soucy’s gained a reputation as a reliable defensive option further down the depth chart and brings 250 games of NHL experience split between the Kraken and Minnesota Wild. The 28-year-old registered three goals and 16 points in 78 games this year, marking his worst full-time campaign offensively, but he still managed strong defensive play at even strength and on the penalty kill. He’ll undoubtedly command upwards of $2MM on a multi-year contract, but he’s the type of value player the Canucks need to address a long-standing weakness – especially with their newfound cap space.
Other rumblings around the Canucks today:
- The Athletic’s Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal listed Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez as Vancouver’s top trade target this offseason, should they decide to add to their roster outside of free agency. Martinez is getting up there in age at 35 years old but has just one year left at a relatively affordable $5.25MM cap hit. With Vegas boasting substantial defensive depth and needing additional flexibility to attempt to re-sign Ivan Barbashev, a move to the Canucks could make sense for all parties involved. A left-shot defender, Martinez would essentially replace (and massively upgrade) Ekman-Larsson’s vacated spot on the team at a lesser cap hit.
- Dhaliwal also reported this morning the Canucks are considering making a pitch for veteran power forward Milan Lucic in free agency, as the winger will reportedly be hitting the open market on July 1 and won’t re-sign with the Calgary Flames. Lucic has long been linked to his hometown of Vancouver and could now finally make some sense for the team, given a cap hit that’s likely to be close to the league minimum. The 35-year-old scored a career-low 19 points in 77 games as a Flame in a fourth-line role last year and is coming off a massive seven-year, $42MM contract signed with the Edmonton Oilers back in 2016.