With off-season underway, focus shifts to Knights’ GM McCrimmon

LAS VEGAS — With the season officially over, the focus of the Vegas Golden Knights shifts from on the ice to off of it.

That means general manager Kelly McCrimmon will be in the spotlight as he reassesses his roster and contemplates how to upgrade it for 2025-26.

“I believe we built a team good enough to win the Stanley Cup,” McCrimmon said Saturday at City National Arena, the team’s practice facility and headquarters. “We’ll do everything we can to make our team better over the next six to seven weeks.”

And that will not be easy. This is a team which is getting older, not younger, and a number of players are tied into long-term contracts, some with full no-move clauses. So even if GMKM wants to wheel and deal in the off-season, he’s going to need cooperation from those currently under contract.

McCrimmon also has a number of UFAs to decide whether to extend offers to or let them walk come July 1. That list includes forward Reilly Smith, who the Knights reacquired at the trade deadline in March from the Rangers, who along with Smith’s prior team, the Penguins, were paying a majority of his $5 million salary.

“It was a lot off fun coming back here,” Smith said Friday as the players were going through their exit interviews and gathering their belongings. “It’s been a great experience. If there’s an opportunity to stay here, I’d love that. Some of the best hockey I’ve played has been wearing this jersey.

“I understand it’s a business. But I’m an optimistic person. I hope something can get worked out.”

William Karlsson, Smith’s linemate and close friend who is heading to Sweden to play for his country in the IIHF World Championships, said, “I hope he stays.”

If McCrimmon wants to keep Smith he’s going to have to come up with the full salary, whatever that number ultimately turns out to be. The other UFAs are Tanner Pearson, Brandon Saad, Victor Olofsson and Ilya Samsonov. He’ll also have to figure out how to handle defenseman Nicolas Hague, who is an RFA and could spark a bidding war with an offer sheet from another club.

Finally, Jack Eichel will be in his walk year this upcoming season and at 28 years old and as Vegas’ best player, McCrimmon would like to get him locked up long term. And even with the salary cap rising and expected to surpass $100 million in a couple of years, you can’t just spend indiscriminately.

“He’s one of the top guys in the NHL,” McCrimmon said of Eichel who statistically had his best season in his 10-year NHL career with 94 points, but was held goal-less by Edmonton in the second round. “He’s got great character, great leadership. You see night in, night out what he does for our team, so that will be a really important piece of business for us.

“We certainly hope to keep Jack in our organization. Jack loves it here, so I would hope we could find common ground.”

Eichel said Friday he hopes a new deal gets worked out.

“I’m super proud to be part of this organization and the city and represent the Vegas Golden Knights,” he said. “Contractually, I think things kind of take care of itself. I’ll just worry about trying to prepare for next season this offseason and go from there.”

Yes, McCrimmon can let all the UFAs, Smith included, walk this summer and free up some money to put toward a new deal for Eichel. But he still has to sign some players to fill out the roster. Mitch Marner of Toronto will be the prime target in free agency but he was making $10.9 million this year with the Maple Leafs. And that might be out of McCrimmon’s price range as Marner most certainly will be seeking more than what the Leafs paid him. But the Knights need to find offense and Marner certainly fits the bill.

Internally, the team might give forward Trevor Connelly, their first-round draft pick of a year ago, a long look in training camp and the preseason.

Connelly, 19, played 23 games at Providence College, was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. team at the World Junior Championships in January and played six games with the AHL Henderson Silver Knights late in the season where he had a goal and three assists.

“Trevor played really well at Henderson,” McCrimmon said. “My expectation is he’ll be in Henderson. He has a special skillset. As far as his talent is concerned, it’s there.”

Coach Bruce Cassidy said changes are always expected when you fall short of the main objective. But he pointed out Saturday that he had liked the roster he had to work with this year.

“I had no problems with anyone in our group,” he said.

Cassidy reiterated his comment following the Knights’ exit Wednesday following Game 5 that he may have to rethink his philosophy regarding how to attack.

“We have to do a better job of scoring in the playoffs,” he said, acknowledging that the Oilers shut out the Knights in Games 4 and 5. “It’s more of a game plan where we have pucks going to the net. But it’s not something that happens overnight.”

A lot will depend on who can execute the game plan on a highly basis if there are tweaks in how Vegas plays. That will fall to McCrimmon as he puts the roster together for the upcoming season.