5 Potential UFA targets for the Golden Knights that won't break the bank.

Last night the 2023-2024 NHL season officially came to a close when the Florida Panthers captured their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, defeating a well worthy opponent in the Edmonton Oilers with the final score of 2-1 in Game 7. The off-season looked like it was going to officially kick off a lot sooner after the Panthers got off to a 3-0 series lead but Connor McDavid, who brought home the Conn Smythe trophy as Playoff MVP becoming just the first player since JS Giguere back in 2003 to win the Conn Smythe in a losing effort, he and his teammates had different ideas battling back to tie the series giving everyone a few more doses of hockey. 

Now that the season is indeed over there isn't much time for these two teams to take a breath, as the NHL buy-out window opens on Thursday followed by the NHL Draft this weekend in Las Vegas, with the start of Unrestricted Free Agency just 2 days after on Monday.

As 7/1 approaches us the Vegas Golden Knights have a few major UFA's on their roster in the form of Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson and Alec Martinez. On top of that trio, this past deadline acquistion Anthony Mantha, and depth forwards William Carrier and Michael Amadio are also slated to become UFA's come noon on July 1st. As the Golden Knights are putting their focus on trying to re-sign Marchessault before he can test the waters of free agency, it is believed that forwards in Mantha, Carrier, Amadio and Stephenson could be moving on, but of course nothing is etched in stone and could always change with one phone call. 

So, while we wait for Monday, here are 5 potential fits for the Vegas Golden Knights that could be good bang for their buck value.

Anthony Duclair- Duclair spent the majority of last season with the last place San Jose Sharks but still managed to score 16 goals in 56 games for the Sharks before being traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the trade Duclair was a great fit, going on to put up 15pts in 17 games, helping Tampa nail down their spot in the playoffs and provide secondary scoring. The 28 year-old Duclair plays the game with a lot of speed, and while on his game can be a dangerous scoring threat, scoring 31 goals for the Panthers back in the 2021-2022 season. Duclair has bounced around in his now 10 year career, making stops in Arizona, New York, Chicago, Columbus, Ottawa, Florida, San Jose and Tampa. Duclair may look for some stability now at this point in his career. It likely won't cost all that much more than the $3M he was previously making to sign him. 

Viktor Arvidsson- Last season was tough for the Skellleftea, Sweden native as he was limited to just 18 games. In those 18 games however, Arvidsson posted 15 points. Prior to last season Arvidsson has shown when healthy he is a legitimate top 6 forward, scoring 30+ goals twice in his career and eclipsing the 60 point mark twice as well. At this point all signs point to Arvidsson testing the waters of free agency and not returning to Los Angeles, where he has played the previous 3 seasons. Arvidsson spent the majority of his career with the Nashville Predators prior to Los Angeles. Given that Arvidsson was injured the majority of last season he could be worth a look on a short prove it type deal. 

Victor Olofsson- Another Victor appears on this list but with a different spelling. Victor Olofsson was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the 7th Round, 181st overall back in 2014 before making the jump to the NHL in the 2018-2019 season when he played 6 games. In his first full year the following season, Olofsson showed his knack for scoring goals when he potted 20 that season. Since then, Olofsson has reached the 20+ goal mark twice more, with a career high of 28 coming in the 2022-2023 season. While Olofsson had a down year last season in Buffalo scoring only 7 goals in 51 games, he owns a great shot and release and is a good asset with the extra man advantage on the power play. After how last season went, he could be a good buy-low option on a 1 year deal. 

Anthony Beauvillier- After being the main part of the package involved in the Bo Horvat trade to Long Island, Beauvillier has bounced around a bit, making stops in Chicago and Nashville. The high-energy Beauvillier just turned 27 earlier this month and will be looking to prove that he can get back to the level of success he had earlier in his young career when he scored 21 goals in his rookie season for the Islanders and being a part of that team that got to back to back Conference Finals appearances a few years ago. Beauvillier would bring speed to the Golden Knights lineup and in the right situation can provide 20 goals to the club for what will likely be under $3M.

Warren Foegele- Foegele may have quite a few suitors after him if he makes it to the open market come Monday given his style of play in the Oilers playoff run and his 20 goals and 41 points during the regular season, but he could still be a viable option for Vegas that likely still won't break the bank. Foegele is a big body at 6'2'' 204lbs that can fit into any teams top or bottom 6. Foegele is a good skater that can also play the PK and PP as well. Foegele had the best season of his NHL career and appeared in all 82 regular season games for the Oilers, so it is conceivable that he would want to stay put with the team that was one win away from winning the Stanley Cup, but if he can't agree to terms prior to Monday teams will come calling. One of them possibly being Vegas.