The 30 year-old Stephenson is set to become a UFA in 8 days; Can the Knights retain him?
The 30 year-old Stephenson is set to become a UFA in 8 days; Can the Knights retain him?
Way back when on December 2nd in 2019, the Vegas Golden Knights sent a 5th Round Pick in the 2021 draft to the Washington Capitals in exchange for center Chandler Stephenson. At the time of the trade Stephenson had appeared in 168 regular season games across parts of 5 seasons for the Capitals, posting just 33 points. At the time of the trade not many made much of the deal as it looked like the Golden Knights were just looking to add depth to their lineup. In the 41 games playing for the Knights after the trade Stephenson went on to score 22 points. The following season in the Covid shortened 56 games season, Stephenson was once again solid for the Knights scoring 14 goals and 35 points in 51 games played. Since then Stephenson has scored 180 points in 235 regular season games the last 3 seasons; establishing himself as a legitimate top 6 center in the NHL and playing a crucial role in the Knights winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. During their cup run Stephenson posted nearly a point per game in the playoffs, scoring 20 points in the 22 games it took the Knights to capture Lord Stanley. Fast forward to the current date, and now the 30 year-old Stephenson is just eight days away from being able to become a UFA come noon on July 1st.
The Golden Knights will have roughly $6.1M of cap space to work with this summer when you take into account for Robin Lehner being on LTIR. While that seems like a decent chunk of space to work with, the Golden Knights also have pending UFA's in Jonathan Marchessault, William Carrier, Michael Amadio, Alec Martinez and Anthony Mantha, although it appears as though Mantha will not be returning.
At first glance the 42 goal scorer from last season in Marchessault seems like the most important order of business but Stephenson has been crucial for the Knights at the center ice position. Not only has Stephenson been a strong point producer for the Knights, he also is deployed with hard minutes against other top lines. However, with Jack Eichel as the teams undisputed #1 center signed for 2 more seasons with a AAV of $10M coupled with the addition of center Tomas Hertl at last seasons trade deadline it may not be in the best interest for the Knights to commit upwards of $6M on a long term deal for Stephenson. Also figuring into the decision on whether or not to retain Stephenson is original Knight William Karlsson, also a natural center, signed for the next 3 seasons as well.
While there is no doubt the value Stephenson brings to the Golden Knights, having Eichel, Hertl and Karlsson signed for the foreseeable future, it may make more sense to let Stephenson go. Doing so would allow the Knights to allocate their dollars into re-signing Jonathan Marchessault or signing another free agent scoring winger.
It is also important to note that the last 4 seasons Stephenson has been severely underpaid, earning just $2.750M. At 30 years old, this is will likely be Stephenson's best chance to secure a long-term deal at a significant raise after being underpaid for so long. While it's possible he could give the Knights a home team discount and stay with the team that gave him a shot to show he is a legitimate NHL player, at this point that seems unlikely.