The Vegas Golden Knights burst onto the NHL scene in 2017-2018, going all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. They’re very close to clinching their sixth playoff berth in seven seasons and won their first Stanley Cup last June. The Golden Knights have operated differently too, building their contending roster through less conventional means.
Roster Ruminations
NHL Roster
The Golden Knights profile for next season puts them in a similar position to the 2023-2024 season, with projected performance that would put them just inside the playoffs. Bruce Cassidy’s ‘goalie whisperer’ profile shows through in the shot and corsi rates, with high danger chances against expected to be a strong point in their possession game. This is the profile of the team with 2024 UFAs Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephensen, Anthony Mantha, and Alec Martinez stripped from it though. If Vegas can find a way to retain or replace their contributions, they could look like a Pacific Division favorite by the time training camp opens next fall.
Salary Cap Management
The Golden Knights signed deadline acquisition Noah Hanifin to an 8 year extension yesterday, but otherwise have contracts limited to about 3-4 years for their longer commitments. They’re over 85% committed for next season, which puts some limitations on what they can do to replace their departing UFAs. The good news from a cap perspective is that they don’t have many RFAs to extend this summer and none of them should be big cap commitments.
Future Assets
The Golden Knights have been the poster team for using high draft picks and prospects to add current wins to their roster. Hockey Prospecting ranks them 23rd in the NHL for their prospect pool, which is fairly devoid of blue chip prospects. Their future draft pick potential might be in even worse shape. They have one 1st Round pick in the next three drafts (the one for this year’s draft in Vegas) and only three additional picks in the 2024 draft (a 6th and two 7ths).
What’s Next?
The Golden Knights have been aggressive on the trade market throughout their existence, generally adding players in season and shedding salary during the summer months. Mark Stone was an early trade acquisition and he helped fuel their success through much of their formative years. In a similar vein, they added Jack Eichel a couple of years ago and he should be a key piece for the Knights through his prime. Noah Hanifin was one of this season’s deadline acquisitions and his fresh 8 year extension suggests the Golden Knights see him as a core piece through the remainder of his prime.
While Vegas has added players during the season, they’ve created the cap space to keep them by turning over the older portion of their roster during the offseason. Trading Marc-Andre Fleury to the Blackhawks is a prime example, but there have been many more. Last summer, it was Reilly Smith to the Penguins to free up $5MM in cap space (which they used to extend younger in-season acquisition Ivan Barbashev). It’s quite possible that Hanifin’s extension foreshadows another of these moves. The obvious outgoing option is 2024 UFA Alec Martinez, but Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore seems like potential trade chips to free cap space as well. Even Alex Pietrangelo wouldn’t be a huge shock given the Golden Knights history. They’d have to navigate his NMC, but he’s 34 and has 3 years remaining at $8.8MM cap hit.
While the Golden Knights prospect pipeline isn’t exactly bursting with talent, there are a few players who broke into the NHL this season. Pavel Dorofeyev and Kaedan Korzcak haven’t been regulars, but they have been effective when called upon this season and are projected to be capable depth pieces next season. Both are RFAs this summer but neither should eat up a large piece of the Golden Knights available cap space.
The Golden Knights have taken an unconventional approach to team building since day 1. All signs point to a continuation of that trend as they continue to turn over their roster to keep their core in their prime years.
