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The Golden Knights have once again found themselves caught up in the tangled web of the salary cap. Rasmus Andersson is still awaiting his new mega extension following the trade, and Carter Hart’s impending return from injury is raising all sorts of roster questions.

Given the intricacies of the ever‑changing CBA and the league’s cap gymnastics, these situations inevitably live in gray areas. However, here’s our best understanding of what is happening with each player and how it impacts the roster both this season and moving forward.

Rasmus Andersson

When Andersson was traded to Las Vegas on January 18th, it was widely reported, and then confirmed by Kelly McCrimmon, that the deal did not include an extension.

We did not speak to his representatives about an extension. That’s a process we will get to in time. We’re hopeful to retain him. That was part of the motivation to trade for the player, but we haven’t had those discussions as of yet. -Kelly McCrimmon on January 19th

Nearly two months later, Andersson has still not signed an extension and, it’s prompted some speculation about what impact his, and the team’s, play has had on the delay. But, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the holdup seems to be much more semantic.

My understanding of the situation is that they currently only have $3.2 million in projected cap space for next season, which includes Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million cap hit. But it’s not a big deal. Eventually, Vegas will obviously be able to put Pietrangelo back on LTIR for next season and, on July 1, the salary cap officially jumps in a big way. Even before then, the Golden Knights could move money out after the season, in May or June, depending on how long they play this spring. The point is, they will eventually be able to extend Andersson, but they can’t do it right now. That is my understanding of the CBA rules. –Pierre LeBrun on TheAthletic.com

Historically, Vegas has never had any problems retaining players they have had interest in keeping, including Trade Deadline “rentals.” Andersson, indirectly through the media, has long expressed a desire to sign long-term with the Golden Knights dating all the way back to last Summer. It seems more than likely this deal will get done sometime after VGK’s 25-26 season comes to a close.

Andersson’s projected extension is expected to land somewhere between $7.5 million and $9 million per year.

Carter Hart

Hart suffered a pretty nasty-looking injury on January 8th in a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was quickly called week-to-week and then ruled out through the Olympic Break. However, he has recently begun skating on his own, and a return during the regular season appears to be a possibility.

Hart’s return would obviously cause goalie rotation decisions to be made, but there’s a bit of a bigger piece that would have to be solved first.

The Golden Knights currently do not have enough cap space to activate Hart from long-term IR. Thus, they’d have to move at least one player off the roster to clear space for Hart to play. The problem is, there’s only one player on the current roster eligible to be sent to the AHL and he doesn’t make enough money to clear the cap space needed for Hart’s return.

Bowman is the only player that can be loaned to the AHL.

To activate Hart, a player need to be placed on LTI

— Jean-Francois C. (@JeanFrancoisCBA) March 13, 2026

Thus, recent healthy scratches Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith, as well as additional goalie Akira Schmid, cannot be sent to the AHL, removing their salaries from the VGK books. The rule on this is written in crazy legalese; you can find it here.

So, the answer for the Golden Knights will almost certainly have to come by way of another injury. If another player is eligible to be placed on LTIR, then VGK can simply replace Hart with that player and remain under the salary cap. However, if no such injury occurs, the only other option would be a post-deadline trade. These trades are allowed, but they render the traded player ineligible to play in the postseason for his new team.

Vegas could easily find a non-contending team to take one of their excess contracts, but it’ll likely cost the Golden Knights at least one draft pick.

Hart has yet to rejoin team practices, so this situation is not imminent, but by rule, once a player is physically able to be activated from LTIR, they must do it.