Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights
Today at 07:59 PM
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don't often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We're currently covering the Pacific Division, last up is the Golden Knights.
Vegas Golden Knights
Current Cap Hit:$87,344,447 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Alexander Holtz (one year, $894K)
Potential Bonuses
Holtz: $850K
Holtz was acquired from New Jersey over the offseason in the hopes that a change of scenery would help him reach some of the potential that made him the seventh overall pick in 2020. That hasn't come to fruition so far as his role and production have been as limited as they were with the Devils. It's still too early to give up on him but he's heading for a short-term bridge deal that shouldn't cost too much more than his entry-level deal does. At this point, his bonuses are unlikely to be reached.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
D Nic Hague ($2.294MM, RFA)
G Adin Hill ($4.9MM, UFA)
F Victor Olofsson ($1.075MM, UFA)
F Tanner Pearson ($775K, UFA)
G Ilya Samsonov ($1.8MM, UFA)
F Cole Schwindt ($800K, RFA)
Olofsson didn't have a great platform year with Buffalo last season, leading to this deal where he hoped that a strong showing with Vegas could give him a stronger market next summer. Injuries have limited him thus far but he still has seven goals in 14 games. If he can stay close to that level, he should be able to get closer to the $3MM or $4MM mark albeit likely on another short-term agreement.
Schwindt was claimed off waivers at the start of the season and has held down a spot on the fourth line for most of the year. He's arbitration-eligible which could work against him as this is a roster spot that Vegas will want to keep close to the minimum. If Schwindt is open to a short-term deal around this price point, that could be enough to keep him around. Pearson converted a preseason PTO into a minimum salary deal. While he has fit in well in a limited role, it's hard to see him landing much more than this next offseason.
Hague has been a fourth or fifth defender for most of his career although his role and playing time have been reduced this season. That's not ideal as he's heading toward having to be qualified at $2.7MM with arbitration rights that could push the cost closer to $4MM per season. If he stays in more of a sixth role, he could become a non-tender candidate.
With Logan Thompson being moved to Washington, Hill became the undisputed starter, a good spot to be in considering it's a contract year. That said, his play has been a bit inconsistent which will make it difficult for him to command much more than he's making now. That said, he should be able to get something around this price point on a longer-term agreement than the two-year pact he's playing on. Samsonov had a rough year with Toronto in 2023-24 resulting in Samsonov looking for a place to try to rebuild his value. He has performed a little better than a year ago but certainly not to the point where teams will be looking at him as a starter. That said, a strong second half could allow him to approach the $3MM to $3.5MM mark as a backup who can play starters minutes when needed.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Pavel Dorofeyev ($1.835MM, RFA)
F Jack Eichel ($10MM, UFA)
D Ben Hutton ($975K, UFA)
D Kaedan Korczak ($825K, RFA)
Eichel has become the number one center that Vegas was hoping he'd be when they acquired him in 2021. That said, he never has really had high-end point production before this season which might limit his market value to a point. A small raise should still be expected on a max-term agreement but unless he can get to that 100-point threshold, he might be hard-pressed to beat someone like Vancouver's Elias Pettersson ($11.6MM) barring a big jump in the salary cap by then. Dorofeyev impressed in limited action last season and is producing at a better rate so far this year, making him a strong value piece on his bridge deal. He'll have arbitration rights in 2026 and if he continues to score at the pace he's on, he could jump past $5MM per season on his next contract.
Hutton has been a capable depth defender for several years now which has helped earn him some stability with Vegas. But these types of pieces generally stay low-cost and it would be surprising to see Hutton land any sort of notable raise on this deal, especially as teams will want to keep the back-of-the-roster spots as close to the minimum as possible. Korczak is in a similar situation, although he's young enough (23) to still change those fortunes. If he stays in a depth role, he's in the same boat as Hutton and his arbitration eligibility could work against him. If he locks down a full-time spot, he could push for something more in the $1.5MM range.
Signed Through 2026-27
F William Karlsson ($5.9MM, UFA)
D Alex Pietrangelo ($8.8MM, UFA)
F Nicolas Roy ($3MM, UFA)
F Mark Stone ($9.5MM, UFA)
When healthy, Stone is a legitimate top-line two-way threat, one that's a key part of this lineup. Of course, staying healthy has been a challenge for him over the years as he has missed significant time due to injuries over the past several years. That will hurt him when it comes time for his next deal, as will the fact he'll be 35 at that time. Even in what should be a more favorable cap environment by then, Stone will likely be heading for a pay cut. It wouldn't be shocking to see a longer-term deal with an eye on getting the cap hit lower, similar to what Pittsburgh did with Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin in the past (though Stone's price tag should come above theirs).
Karlsson has been a solid second option down the middle throughout most of his tenure with Vegas and the price tag for those players has shot up over the years. That said, he'll be 34 which means there's a good chance his next contract is his last one. Assuming it's a longer-term one to keep the AAV down, it's possible Karlsson's price tag stays in this range. Roy has held the third center role for the bulk of his time with the Golden Knights and has been above-average on the production side for the last few seasons. It's already a below-market deal and if he stays in that 40-point range, his next contract should start with a four.
In his prime, Pietrangelo was a high-end two-way threat from the back end. However, he turns 35 next month and his production and ice time have dropped in recent years. When he started in Vegas, Pietrangelo was worth this price tag, if not more. But as the offensive numbers go down and he slips a bit more on the depth chart (or they at least try to manage his minutes a bit more), the perception of this deal will flip to an above-market one, an outcome that shouldn't come as much surprise as that was the expectation at the time it was signed. Having said that, he's still playing a big enough role to give Vegas a decent return and that should continue for at least a little while longer.
