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Golden Knights Sign Adin Hill To Six-Year Extension

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11:35 a.m.: Hill’s extension in Vegas is official, the team announced.

8:50 a.m.: The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goaltender Adin Hill to a six-year extension worth $37.5MM (as per TSN’s Darren Dreger). The new deal will carry an AAV of $6.25MM which is just a shade above the $5.85MM that Washington Capitals netminder and former Golden Knights teammate Logan Thompson signed for just a few weeks ago.

Hill could have tested unrestricted free agency this summer, but opted for the comfort of a familiar setting and the security of a long-term extension. Hill is in the final season of a two-year deal he signed in the summer of 2023 and is currently carrying a $4.9MM AAV, but is making $4.2MM in actual salary.

Hill became somewhat of a folk hero in 2023 as he led the Golden Knights to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history after several goaltenders went down to injury. The 28-year-old had been acquired by Vegas late in the summer of 2022 for a fourth-round pick and was expected to serve as depth. He took the reins and guided the Golden Knights to a title by posting an 11-4 record with a .932 save percentage and a 2.17 goals-against average. He bet on himself in the following summer, taking a two-year deal instead of a long-term contract, and the gamble has paid off as he will now be paid like a top-10 NHL goaltender.

On the surface, Hill’s numbers for the last two seasons look rather pedestrian. He has posted save percentages of .909 and .906, respectively, but a deeper dive into the data shows that Hill has been incredibly valuable to Vegas. He posted goals saved above expected of 6.4 in 2023-24 and 13.8 this season (as per Money Puck), and more importantly, he’s been a steady presence for a Golden Knights team that still has Stanley Cup aspirations. This season Hill has dressed in a career high 39 games, and has gone 24-11-4 with a 2.53 goals-against average and four shutouts.

With Hill signed long-term, Vegas is now projected to have just over $10.49MM in available cap space this summer (as per PuckPedia). While they are unlikely to make a big splash with limited funds, the Golden Knights don’t have any major extensions to worry about other than veteran depth players.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Golden Knights Assign Jonas Rondbjerg To The AHL

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Pittsburgh Penguins defensive prospect Chase Pietila has signed an ATO with their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (as per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). Pietila is fresh off signing a three-year ELC with Pittsburgh earlier this week and will finish out the year getting his first taste of professional hockey in the AHL.

The Penguins drafted Pietila in the fourth round (111th overall) of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old spent this past year in the NCAA with Michigan Tech where he registered seven goals and 15 assists in 36 games. Pietila spent two years in the NCAA after spending the previous three seasons in the USHL.

In other morning notes:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights have assigned forward Jonas Rondbjerg to the Henderson Silver Knights of the AHL (as per SinBin.vegas). Rondbjerg was recalled earlier in the week and dressed in the Golden Knights’ loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night but played just 6:02 and was held scoreless. The demotion is no surprise given that Vegas just welcomed back Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev to their lineup. The 25-year-old Rondbjerg has no points in 12 NHL games this season and has averaged just 9:21 of ice time per game.
  • Edmonton Oilers defenseman John Klingberg didn’t play in last night’s game against the New Jersey Devils as he continues to deal with an undisclosed injury. The 32-year-old hasn’t played since March 4th after signing a one-year deal with the Oilers in mid-January. Klingberg has produced offense when healthy, posting a goal and three assists in 10 games. The Oilers are back in action tonight against the New York Islanders and given the tight timeline it seems unlikely that he will play. However, he did re-join the Oilers yesterday at practice and has been travelling with the team (as per Sportsnet).

Ivan Barbashev, Brett Howden Returning To Lineup

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  • The Golden Knights are getting reinforcements up front. Forwards Ivan Barbashev and Brett Howden will re-enter the lineup tonight against the Blue Jackets, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters (including Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers). Barbashev missed Tuesday’s game against the Penguins due to personal reasons, while Howden sat out with an undisclosed injury. Neither’s absence will stretch into a multi-game one. Both players are among the team’s top 10 scorers, with Barbashev posting 19-22–41 in 53 games and Howden logging 17-13–30 in 62 appearances. Jonas Røndbjerg and Cole Schwindt will exit the lineup as a result of their returns.

Lavoie Placed On IR

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  • The Golden Knights have placed winger Raphael Lavoie on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, relays Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). After an adventurous stint on the waiver wire to start the year, the 24-year-old has played primarily with AHL Henderson, tallying 21 points in 32 games.  Lavoie has made nine appearances with Vegas on a pair of recalls but has been held off the scoresheet while logging just over 10 minutes a game.  Lavoie’s placement will keep him out of the lineup until at least Thursday.

Golden Knights Acquire Reilly Smith From Rangers

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2:23 p.m.: The Knights and Rangers have made the trade official as reported.

12:58 p.m.: The Golden Knights are acquiring winger Reilly Smith from the Rangers in exchange for the Sharks’ 2025 third-round pick and forward prospect Brendan Brisson, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports. Vegas doesn’t have the space to accommodate Smith’s already-reduced $3.75MM cap hit, so New York is retaining 50% of his salary, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. The Golden Knights have an open roster spot and won’t need to make a corresponding transaction.

It’s a reunion for Smith and Vegas, where he was a top-six fixture from the Knights’ inception through their run to the 2023 Stanley Cup championship. Cap constraints following the championship run influenced Vegas to deal Smith, who turns 34 next month, to the Penguins for a third-round pick. His tenure in Pittsburgh was underwhelming, limited to 13-27–40 in 76 games – halving his goal production from his final season with the Knights despite seeing consistent second-line deployment with the Pens alongside Evgeni Malkin.

Multiple reports indicated Smith wasn’t pleased with the move, which he couldn’t block with only a 12-team no-trade list. In addition to coming off a championship and playing a formative role in Vegas’ development as a franchise, he’d signed a three-year, $15MM extension with Vegas the prior offseason. The Penguins, content to find someone else to replace Smith’s minutes, flipped him to the Rangers last summer for a second- and fifth-round pick while retaining 25% of his salary.

Smith’s production didn’t rebound at all in the Big Apple. He’s scoring goals at the exact rate per game, and his point-per-game pace has dropped from 0.53 with the Pens to 0.50 with the Blueshirts. The veteran has 10-19–29 through 58 games and is on pace to register his fewest shots on goal in a season since his rookie year with the Stars in 2012-13.

During his first six-year tenure in Vegas, Smith averaged 26 goals and 59 points per 82 games. It’s unlikely he captures quite that much production on a per-game basis down the stretch given his recent decline, but he adds a familiar name to a bit of a hodgepodge group of wingers in Nevada. The team turned to the bargain bin on the free agent market last summer after losing Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault, center Chandler Stephenson, and serviceable depth scorer Michael Amadio to free agency, picking up names like Victor Olofsson and Tanner Pearson on the cheap. They also inked veteran Brandon Saad mid-season after he mutually terminated his contract with the Blues.

They’ve gotten solid showings out of Olofsson and Pearson. They are enjoying a 24-goal breakout campaign from Pavel Dorofeyev, but depth on the wings remained the Golden Knights’ most enormous hole on paper heading into the trade deadline. They’ll address it here instead of a more significant, complex acquisition like star Mikko Rantanen, who they were linked to this morning. That aligns with what general manager Kelly McCrimmon predicted for his club earlier this week.

Dealing Smith continues the Rangers’ unloading of pending UFAs for futures ahead of the deadline, but that will mark the extent of their selling as they remain in the Eastern Conference wild card race. They also shipped out defenseman Ryan Lindgren and winger Jimmy Vesey to the Avalanche over the weekend.

The most intriguing part of their return lies in Brisson, whom Vegas selected 29th overall in the 2020 draft. The 23-year-old winger was expected to compete for a roster spot out of camp this season amid the Knights’ aforementioned turnover. While he landed the gig, he had no points in nine games before being sent to AHL Henderson. His minor-league performance this season has been nothing short of disastrous, limited to 5-14–19 in 45 games with a team-worst -24 rating. His trade value was slashed as a result.

New York hopes Brisson can rebound to his 2023-24 form with their affiliate in Hartford. He looked promising with 38 points in 52 AHL games last year and even tallied a respectable 2-6–8 scoring line in 15 games of NHL action, the first of his career. With the move, the Golden Knights have now traded all of their first-round selections in franchise history outside of last year’s pickup, Trevor Connelly.

Smith’s absence will also continue an expanded youth movement in New York, which really started when the Rangers began scratching Smith for trade protection a few days ago. There’s more guaranteed ice time for names like Brett Berard and Brennan Othmann, and potentially even Brisson depending on his first impression in the AHL, down the stretch.

As for Vegas, they now have just roughly $500K in cap space, per PuckPedia. Unless they determine William Karlsson’s or Shea Theodore’s injuries will hold them out for the rest of the regular season, there’s no LTIR flexibility for them to dip into.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Maple Leafs, Stars, Kings, Golden Knights, Panthers Calling On Mikko Rantanen

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9:44 a.m.: Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic adds the Golden Knights and Panthers as teams who have made legitimate pitches for Rantanen in the last 24 hours, also moving the player to the top of his pre-deadline board. Vegas would need retention on Carolina’s part to get a deal done with $2.4MM in deadline cap space, with the Hurricanes likely targeting someone like 24-goal man Pavel Dorofeyev as part of the return. Florida wouldn’t need retention after placing Matthew Tkachuk on LTIR for what’s expected to be the remainder of the regular season, and might need to surrender top forward prospect Mackie Samoskevich to get it done. He’s recently been elevated to a top-six role in Tkachuk’s absence.

8:10 a.m.: The Maple Leafs, Stars, and Kings are three teams expressing high levels of interest in star right-winger Mikko Rantanen, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes. After reports first surfaced last month that the Hurricanes could flip Rantanen after acquiring him from the Avalanche in a January blockbuster if extension talks weren’t productive, Carolina has “opened the door” on trade talks late this week, Friedman said. There’s a long list of teams to display interest so far – including the Devils, James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now said Tuesday.

It remains to be seen how willing the Hurricanes are to move Rantanen, who will likely need to agree in principle to an extension with his new club for them to land the return they desire. Carolina isn’t a seller in any capacity – they’re nine points ahead of the playoff line and have a 99.6% chance at a playoff berth, per MoneyPuck – so they’re presumably not interested in futures as the primary value in a return.

The 6’4″ Finn hasn’t been what the Hurricanes expected when they surrendered Martin Nečas, Jack Drury, and three draft picks to acquire him and Taylor Hall in a three-team deal with the Blackhawks six weeks ago. Despite spending most of his time in the lineup stapled to star countryman Sebastian Aho’s wing as expected, he’s scored just 2-4–6 through 12 games in Carolina with a minus-two rating.

Rantanen’s brief but underwhelming showing outside of Colorado, where he’d torched the league for 1.28 points per game since 2020, will weigh on teams’ minds as they debate how many resources they’ll commit to acquiring and extending him. With an eight-year deal, he’s virtually guaranteed to become one of the four highest-paid players in the league, surpassing Oilers star Connor McDavid’s $12.5MM AAV and likely even former teammate Nathan MacKinnon’s $12.6MM cap hit. AFP Analytics even projects an eight-year extension for Rantanen to cost $13.65MM per season, approaching $110MM in total value and making him the second-highest paid player in the league next season behind Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl, who’ll be kicking off a mega-extension with a $14MM cap hit.

While there will surely be NHL players coming off the acquiring teams’ roster in a Rantanen return, the Maple Leafs are the only one of the above group who would need to make a money-in, money-out deal. Carolina, who has Rantanen on their books for $4.625MM against the cap after Chicago retained half his salary in January’s trade, can make him a $2.3MM player by retaining an additional 50%. That wouldn’t require additional shuffling on the Stars’ or Kings’ end.

Carolina will need an immediate replacement at wing in the deal. While it’s likely to be a downgrade in terms of overall reputation, they’ll still be asking for a bona fide top-six piece with other assets in the deal to make up the difference in trade value. For Toronto, that could mean parting ways with pending RFA Matthew Knies, shifting William Nylander to the left wing to replace him and casting Rantanen and Mitch Marner as their top two right wingers. Another bottom-six depth piece, potentially Calle Järnkrok, could also be out the door to help the Hurricanes replace the void left by William Carrier when he underwent lower-body surgery in late January.

The Kings have made their desire for a right-handed scorer public over the last few weeks and will pivot to second-line type names like the Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri if their efforts to land Rantanen are futile. Carolina likely demands someone like Trevor Moore in return, who erupted for 31 goals last year but has just 12 in 51 games this year. Breakout 23-year-old Alex Laferriere, who’s posted 15-16–31 in 56 games, is also an option as a centerpiece, but would require more additional assets from L.A. than Toronto would need to provide on top of the more highly-touted Knies.

Dallas, who’s already added Mikael Granlund to their forward group, has more appealing NHL-ready young talent to offer than their Western Conference rival. Either 2024 AHL MVP turned NHL full-timer Mavrik Bourque or 22-year-old Logan Stankoven could immediately slot into the Canes’ top-nine (or top-six, in Stankoven’s case), and are more in Knies’ territory in terms of long-term offensive ceiling than Laferriere and Moore.

Vegas Golden Knights Expecting A Quiet Deadline

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Despite being tepidly mentioned in some trade rumors leading up to the deadline, don’t expect much activity from the Vegas Golden Knights this week. Vegas dominated the headlines during last year’s deadline but are taking an increasingly mild-mannered approach to the market this season.

In an interview with Daren Millard and Ryan Wallis of the VGK Insider Show, Golden Knights’ general manager Kelly McCrimmon was quoted saying, “We’ve sort of said from the outset that we don’t anticipate being real busy this week, I still maintain that. That was the position we felt we were in right from the beginning of the season.”

If they maintain that approach through this year’s deadline, it would be a notable deviation from years past. Much to the dismay of many fans around the league, the Golden Knights have infamously acquired Tomáš Hertl, Noah Hanifin, Anthony Mantha, Jonathan Quick, Teddy Blueger, and Ivan Barbashev over the last two deadlines. It would remove a consistent buyer from the market if they’ve preemptively decided to sit this deadline out.

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Golden Knights Sign Kai Uchacz To Entry-Level Contract

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In the other half of last night’s announcement, the Vegas Golden Knights signed forward Kai Uchacz to a two-year entry-level contract. Similarly to Braeden Bowman, Uchacz had been playing the 2024-25 campaign on an AHL contract with the Henderson Silver Knights.

Uchacz recently finished a five-year career in the Western Hockey League, split between the Seattle Thunderbirds and Red Deer Rebels. Unfortunately, his departure from the Thunderbirds wasn’t under good circumstances. The Calgary, Alberta native was removed from the Thunderbirds roster for the 2020-21 season due to making racially-charged comments toward one of his teammates.

After additional training and education, the WHL reinstated Uchacz for the 2021-22 season. The WHL’s announcement came shortly after the Thunderbirds traded Uchacz to the Rebels for a second-round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.

He finished his career on a three-year hot streak, scoring 106 goals and 199 points in 188 games for the Rebels. Much like Bowman, Uchacz went undrafted at the NHL level and had to settle for an AHL contract this season with the Silver Knights.

At the time of writing, Uchacz sits seventh on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 23 points in 51 contests. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been enough to help Henderson climb out of the Pacific Division basement.

Golden Knights Sign Braeden Bowman To Entry-Level Contract

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The Vegas Golden Knights announced two two-year entry-level contracts shortly after last night’s game against the New Jersey Devils.  The first player signed was forward Braeden Bowman, who had been playing on an AHL contract with the Henderson Silver Knights.

Bowman joined the Silver Knights out of training camp after four years with the OHL’s Guelph Storm. He had always shown a knack for putting the puck in the net, scoring 27 goals and 10 assists through his first two years with the Storm.

Like many quality goal-scorers at the OHL level, Bowman reached beyond a point-per-game average during his junior and senior seasons. The Kitchener, Ontario native scored 70 goals and 73 assists in 122 games, finishing second on the team in scoring in back-to-back campaigns. Unfortunately, Bowman’s production in Guelph never earned him a draft selection at the NHL level.

Still, his professional career has gotten off to a positive start. He’s scored 12 goals and 30 points in 52 games with AHL Henderson- good for third on the team in scoring.

Unless the Silver Knights go on an unprecedented win streak to end the 2024-25 season, Bowman will have to wait another year to compete for the Calder Cup. Henderson occupies last place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with a 22-30-3-0 record and 17 games remaining.

Golden Knights Sign Trent Swick To Entry-Level Contract

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The Vegas Golden Knights have signed 2024 sixth-round pick Trent Swick to a three-year entry-level contract. The deal is set to begin in the 2025-26 season. Swick is currently with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, where he’s scored 57 points in 55 games this season – second-most on the team.

Swick is a towering six-foot-six, 210-pound winger who skates smoothly, doesn’t take penalties, and gets back on defense. Those points are evidenced by his measly 38 penalty minutes and a strong plus-seven this year. His size limits what roles Swick can play in the offensive end, but he fills what’s asked of him well – holding space in the slot and using a long reach to disrupt opponents.

Swick had a breakout year last season. With the eyes of NHL scouts watching close, he jumped from 18 points in 33 games in 2022-23 to 62 points in 63 games last year. He found his niche as a passing catalyst for Kitchener’s smaller and more dynamic scorers. But Swick was distinctly helped along by an improved ability to hang onto the puck and work his way into space. He improved his play through traffic on and off of the puck, and continues to improve his scoring pace this year as a result.

With sixth-round acclaim and juniors scoring that, while strong, doesn’t jump off the page – it’s not likely that Swick will make an impact on the NHL roster in the short term. He’ll instead likely be forced to decided between the AHL and college hockey next season, with recent agreements between the CHL and NCAA opening the door for the soon-to-be 21-year-old to take either path. Should he turn pro, Swick’s body control in his lofty frame could earn Vegas’ attention very quickly. The New York Rangers have notably found their own successes leaning into their oversized forwards, with Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe each carving niche roles in the Rangers bottom-six.

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