The Vegas Golden Knights came within two wins of winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. However, the Golden Knights have painted themselves into a corner this summer, and making improvements won't be easy. Will Vegas be taking a step backward next season?
After making it to the Stanley Cup final this season, the Vegas Golden Knights ultimately fell short against the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon is going to have a very difficult time improving this off-season. In fact, it’s going to be extremely difficult for Vegas to get anywhere close to the Cup final next season.
The Golden Knights currently have only $4.625-million in salary cap space. And with that space, they’re going to face a massive challenge in hanging on to a couple of key veterans.
The first is 29-year-old defenseman Rasmus Andersson. The Swedish blueliner is set to be a UFA this summer, and he’s going to command a major raise if he gets to the open market.
Andersson made $4.55 million this past season, and even if he does agree to a team-friendly contract extension, Andersson is still going to eat up all of Vegas’ current cap space, and then some.
Meanwhile, McCrimmon also has to sign pending RFA left winger Pavel Dorofeyev to a new deal.
Dorofeyev has emerged as one of the Golden Knights' most important players, and at 25 years old, Dorofeyev’s best years are still ahead. Even if he agrees to a team-friendly bridge contract, Dorofeyev is still going to get a significant raise on the $1.835 million he earned this year.
In addition, aside from the players who are UFAs or RFAs this summer, only four Golden Knights skaters don't have some form of trade protection. That doesn’t stop McCrimmon from going to players and asking them to accept a trade, but it’s obvious that the players have all the financial leverage here.
Finally, the Golden Knights must figure out what to do with goaltender Adin Hill. With Carter Hart emerging as their No. 1 goaltender, especially in the past post-season, Hill is almost assuredly on the chopping block. But although Hill has a Cup on his resume, his salary of $6.25 million could make it very difficult for McCrimmon to trade Hill.
Thus, it’s clear Vegas has painted itself into a corner. Making improvements is easy to talk about, but the proof will be in the pudding. And it’s fair to doubt that the Knights are headed back to taste a Cup final, as McCrimmon has little control over his roster.
The Golden Knights’ players can dictate where they want to play, and McCrimmon has little say in the matter. And while their front office is infamous for doing what they want, whether the players are on board with it or not, you have to feel uneasy as to how competitive they’re going to be.
We’re not saying Vegas will miss the playoffs next year. They still have the foundation to easily be a playoff team, and we don’t doubt McCrimmon will do his level best to improve his team’s chances at a Stanley Cup.
But when you’ve been burning the candle at both ends the way the Golden Knights have been for most of their existence, eventually you have to pay the piper. And that’s where Vegas is right now. They’re at a place in their competitive cycle where they can’t spend or trade their way out of structural problems with the roster.
Their trade capital is also sub-par. In the next three NHL drafts, McCrimmon has only one first-round pick, which comes in 2028. McCrimmon has zero second-rounders in the next three drafts, and he has just two third-rounders.
The cupboards are virtually bare for the Golden Knights, and unless Vegas pulls a rabbit from a hat, the Knights will be hard-pressed to improve on this past season.
The Golden Knights came within two wins of their second Cup win this season, but just about everything had to go right for them to get that far, and there’s no assurance they’ll be able to get farther.
This coming off-season is probably not going to deliver them positive results. And Vegas will have to either make magic happen by somehow rejuvenating their roster, or deal with a step-back season and a sobering, much earlier playoff exit.
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