Six big questions heading into the Golden Knights’ offseason

By Jack Williams (contact)

Friday, May 24, 2024 | 2 a.m.

“Disappointed” was the word Vegas Golden Knight players used most frequently to describe how they felt about their season ending, and the sentiment surely was spread throughout the whole organization.

There was a sense that the Golden Knights had a realistic shot to repeat as Stanley Cup champions, especially after opening this year’s postseason with back-to-back wins on the road at the Dallas Stars. But the hope faded as quickly as it initially shot up.

While this year’s first-round, seven-game series exit was less painful than the franchise’s first time meeting that fate in 2019, it still hurt. The elimination had an even stronger feeling of finality than usual given the major changes sure to be made before next season.

Vegas largely ran it back with the same 2023 Stanley Cup championship team in 2024, but that won’t be possible going into next season. The roster is going to be, at a minimum, quite different.

There’s little time to dwell, especially for decision-makers like President of Hockey Operations George McPhee and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon, the duo long tasked with maintaining the Golden Knights as a contender.

Their offseason may have begun earlier than expected, but they could use the extra time because it’s going to be a busy one.

Here are seven of the biggest questions posed for the Golden Knights heading into the summer before their eighth season arrives next fall.

Can they keep Jonathan Marchessault?

There’s nowhere else to start.

Marchessault might be the most beloved forward to ever dress for the Golden Knights, especially coming off a season where he scored 42 goals for the second-most in franchise history. That’s the rare category where he’s only second in the team record book as the 33-year-old holds all the biggest career marks including games played (514), goals (192) and assists (225).

Marchessault outplayed the six-year, $30 million contract extension he signed after the expansion season with the Golden Knights practically from the beginning.

He’ll be looking for a substantial pay bump and something more befitting of his offensive production level this time around.

Another team could woo him with an offer that the cap-strapped Golden Knights would be hard-pressed to match, though that wasn’t the chatter after the season ended.

McCrimmon, coach Bruce Cassidy and multiple teammates all stated the importance of Marchessault and how much they hoped he’d be able to stay.

Marchessault himself reiterated the same desire, and declared he wanted to be a Golden Knight for life.

There’s no bigger priority for the Golden Knights than keeping the original “Golden Misfit” and former Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

But what’s it going to take?

At a minimum, Vegas will need to offload a handful of their other free agents to re-sign Marchessault.

The Golden Knights currently have only $897,516 in salary-cap space, according to Cap Friendly. That’s the second least amount of cash available to spend in the league for any team, behind only the Philadelphia Flyers.

The situation isn’t quite that dire, as that figure includes former goalie Robin Lehner’s $5 million salary that will almost certainly remain on long-term injured reserve and not count against the cap. There are other ways Vegas could free up resources, but all the effort may be needed to retain Marchessault alone before even considering the team’s other five unrestricted free agents (defenseman Alec Martinez, forward Anthony Mantha, forward Chandler Stephenson, forward Michael Amadio and forward William Carrier).

Martinez, Mantha and Stephenson all outwardly look as good as gone already. Carrier, another beloved “Original Misfit,” and Amadio might be more likely to return with cheaper projected deals, but it won’t be easy.

McPhee and McCrimmon have masterfully maneuvered around the cap in the past, often to the chagrin of other fan bases around the league, and doing so again will be key in keeping Marchessault.

Can the new-look team stay healthy?

Injuries have hamstrung the Golden Knights as much as any other team in the NHL over the last three years.

Aside from the 2021-2022 season when they missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the only time in franchise history, they’ve largely been able to manage them through an enviable amount of depth.

But that’s unlikely to be as much of a strength next year given the team’s financial restraints.

The Golden Knights really bemoaned their injury luck this season. The feeling was that everything could have ended differently if they managed to stay just a little bit healthier and develop more consistency.

Nine players required surgery over the course of the season, according to Cassidy, and numerous others spent time out of the lineup. Stars like Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and Adin Hill were among those who missed significant time.

Unlike two years ago, the chemistry didn’t click immediately when everyone came back for the playoffs. Cassidy said he might have forced things too much when it came to building his postseason lines.

He thought the team could have played better despite its 2-0 lead over Dallas and began tinkering ahead of Games 3 and 4. Wholesale personnel changes then came after the Stars tied the series at 2-2.

In hindsight, he might not have made all the right decisions, but it was hard to know with how many players were dealing with or coming back from injuries.

Are any goalie surprises in store?

The Golden Knights’ goalie situation has been a soap opera going back seemingly forever now, since the team brought on Lehner to eventually unseat the ever-popular Marc-Andre Fleury in 2020.

The drama didn’t reach those heights this year, but Cassidy’s flip-flop from Logan Thompson to Hill late in the playoff run was controversial and much debated.

Everything should seemingly be fine headed into next season. Thompson and Hill are close friends, and Vegas likes the fact that it essentially has two starters.

The weird part comes with Lehner, who’s technically still on the roster with Hill and Thompson despite having not played in either of the last two seasons.

He’s been stashed on long-term injured reserve ever since undergoing hip surgery in 2022 and still has a year left on the five-year, $25 million contract he previously signed with the Golden Knights.

It’s highly unlikely Lehner will ever rejoin the team, so the question is whether he stays on LTIR for another season or the Golden Knights buy him out of his contract.

Vegas’ goalie situation looks relatively stable for once, but given the history, it would be wise to never get too comfortable.

Can Tomas Hertl mesh more completely?

The former divisional rival is now one of the most important players on the roster long-term.

McCrimmon’s latest stoke of unforeseen brilliance was acquiring Hertl at last year’s trade deadline from the San Jose Sharks, but he came with a hefty price tag beyond just the high picks (a first-rounder and two third-rounders) shipped away. Hertl came to the Golden Knights in the first season of an eight-year, $65.1 million contract.

His contract is now the fourth-most expensive of the roster, taking up 8% of the salary cap.

He's been a consistent producer in the league, averaging around 40 points over 11 seasons with two 60+ point finishes in his last three seasons.

That must continue, if not improve, with how much Vegas is taking on with Hertl. They’re banking on Hertl having the type of major impact that eluded him in the postseason.

After the loss to Dallas, Hertl said he struggled to develop chemistry on offense and needed more time to find his stride on his new team.

He'll now have time to figure out where he fits in with Vegas and gel with a new line, but there will be pressure to perform.

What’s the future hold and which young players can emerge to add hope for it?

The Golden Knights’ window for top-flight success is still wide open, but some of their core players are starting to age.

Couple that with the veterans the Golden Knights are expected to lose in free agency, and developing younger talent is going to arguably be bigger next year than ever before in franchise history.

Pavel Dorofeyev is a player that the Golden Knights must invest in. In 47 games this season, Dorofeyev had 13 goals and 11 assists.

But the 23-year-old hadn’t earned Cassidy’s trust enough for the postseason, where he was a healthy scratch in all but one game where he logged only seven minutes.

Dorofeyev was a third-round pick in the same 2019 draft where the Golden Knights selected defenseman Kaedan Korczak in the second round. Korczak played in 29 games this season, and may need to be more of a lineup regular starting next fall.

Down in Henderson, forward Grigori Denisenko might be worth a look as another 23-year-old showing promise.

Denisenko had 56 points in 65 games with the Silver Knights. Veteran Sheldon Rempal led Henderson with 27 goals and could be a depth option next year after appearing in seven games with the NHL club.

On defense, the Golden Knights could check in on 2023 third-round draft pick Arttu Karki.

The 19-year-old had a monster year, accumulating 45 points in 59 games, netting 21 goals and 24 assists with the Soo Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League.

The Golden Knights’ prospect pool is slimmer than many of their peers after years of aggressive trading strategy, but they do hold their first-round pick in this season’s draft scheduled for June 28 and 29. They also have a sixth-round pick, and two seventh-round picks.

There were a lot of factors in the Golden Knights’ drop to the eighth and final Western Conference playoff seed this season, but the focus in this offseason is to address as many of them as possible. Do it effectively, and the Golden Knights have as good of a chance as any team to claim Lord Stanley again.