A 2022 offseason checklist for the Vegas Golden Knights

The obvious candidate is Evgenii Dadonov. The winger was traded to Anaheim back at the trade deadline without Vegas realizing that Dadonov’s no-trade clause was still in effect and the Ducks were on it. Eventually, the deal was rescinded. To his credit, the 33-year-old didn’t let it be a distraction as he had 16 points in 16 games after the deadline. However, he had a fairly quiet season overall with 20 goals and 23 assists in 78 games, production that is relatively low compared to his $5M AAV. While the Golden Knights don’t have a deep prospect pool to trade away from or many high draft picks, they’ll need to attach something to get a team that’s on Dadonov’s allowable trade list to take on the final year of his contract.

With Eichel in the fold, Vegas now has a top-line center while Chandler Stephenson has established himself as a quality second option. That could put William Karlsson in some jeopardy. At $5.9M for the next five years, that’s a high price to pay to have premium depth down the middle. He’s coming off a quiet season (35 points in 67 games) but with strong centers always in high demand, there should be some interest on the trade front. It’s worth noting that Karlsson can only block a trade to 10 teams.

As for a blueliner that could fit the bill, Alec Martinez is coming off an injury-plagued year that saw him suit up just 26 times. With Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb being proven options on the left side of the back end, Martinez and his $5.25M for two more years might be a potential cap casualty. He also has trade protection and can block a trade to 12 teams.

Reilly Smith is set to hit the open market this summer and there is mutual interest in an extension. At a minimum, one significant salary will need to be moved (likely Dadonov) but if they want to keep Smith in the fold, a second one will need to be moved out unless McCrimmon plans to get very creative with his LTIR usage once again.

Re-Sign Roy

Nicolas Roy had a breakout season in 2021-22, further bolstering their depth down the middle. After putting up just 15 points in 2020-21, he had 15 goals this season along with 24 assists. He also upped his faceoff percentage to 48.8%, an increase of 4% from the year before. He took a regular turn on both the power play and penalty kill, helping his ATOI improve to a career-best 16:16 per game. That’s quite a nice platform season as Roy enters restricted free agency this summer with arbitration eligibility for the first time.

Between that and Vegas’ cap situation, Roy could be an offer sheet candidate this summer if a deal isn’t done early. With the new thresholds, a team could offer Roy $4.2M ($4M more than the Golden Knights have in cap space) and only owe a second-round pick in compensation. For a 25-year-old with two years of team control remaining, that’s more than a reasonable price to pay. With that in mind, McCrimmon will want to try to get this contract done sooner than later if possible to avoid any risk of an offer sheet and also ensure one of his core players will stick around.

Look Into Adding Goalie Depth

Injuries were an issue for Vegas last season, particularly between the pipes. Robin Lehner missed time with four separate injuries spanning 23 games and underwent successful shoulder surgery. Brossoit, meanwhile, had hip surgery last month as well.

Vegas does have Logan Thompson, who did a nice job down the stretch for them. He’s now waiver-eligible, so it’s safe to say he’ll be in the NHL picture.

The Golden Knights have a pair of goalie prospects signed for next season in Jiri Patera and Isaiah Saville but neither have seen NHL action. If they have an injury with the big club, having a veteran option with AHL Henderson that has some NHL experience would be a worthwhile investment. Experienced third-string goalies often bounce around and Vegas should be adding one to give themselves an insurance policy heading into training camp.