It should be noted that their cap figure includes Alex Pietrangelo<\/a>\u2019s $8.8MM price tag.\u00a0 Yes, he was on LTIR for the entire season and won\u2019t play in 2026-27 either but at this moment, he counts on their books in full.\u00a0 And with the Projected Off-Season Accounting Rule (the old Tagging Rule), it\u2019s limiting what they can do until the new league year begins. They could go into offseason LTIR once July 1st hits but then they\u2019re stuck in LTIR for all of next season with an inability to accrue salary cap space.\u00a0 Accordingly, it wouldn\u2019t be shocking if they were willing to send a small incentive to a low-spending team to take on the final year of the deal, knowing that insurance will ultimately cover the bulk of the actual payout.<\/p>\n Even if they are able to clear Pietrangelo off the books outright, most (if not all) of that money is likely earmarked for someone who will be covered shortly.\u00a0\u00a0 They still won\u2019t have enough funds left after that to fill out their roster.\u00a0 Someone else will need to go.<\/p>\n Veteran centers Tomas Hertl<\/a> and William Karlsson<\/a> have been speculated as potential options.\u00a0 Hertl has four years left at $6.7MM (San Jose is paying another $1.3875MM) while Karlsson is on an expiring deal with a $5.9MM price tag.\u00a0 But both players have trade protection (Hertl\u2019s is particularly restrictive) so there\u2019s no guarantee either would move.\u00a0 In that scenario, they may have to try trimming some other roster players.<\/p>\n If that happens, Keegan Kolesar<\/a>\u2019s $2.5MM might be a luxury they can no longer afford.\u00a0 While he\u2019s a strong fourth liner, they may need their fourth-line options to come in at or near the league minimum moving forward.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Kaedan Korzczak<\/a>\u2019s new four-year, $13MM extension looks a little pricey now for the third-pairing role he plays.\u00a0 Would another team take that on over trying to sign an older unrestricted free agent?\u00a0 Or would Vegas consider a one-third buyout, something he\u2019s quietly still eligible for?\u00a0 These moves wouldn\u2019t free up much money when you consider they have to be replaced on the roster but if they have to \u2018nickel-and-dime\u2019 their way into cap compliance, these are options they may have to consider.<\/p>\n Re-Sign Andersson<\/p>\n When the Golden Knights traded a first-round pick, a second-round selection, defenseman Zach Whitecloud<\/a>, and prospect blueliner Abram Wiebe<\/a>, it was clear they were envisioning him as more than a straight rental player.\u00a0 Andersson had made it known last summer that Vegas was a desired destination and public comments from both sides after indicated there was mutual interest in keeping the pending UFA around for the long haul.\u00a0 It hasn\u2019t happened yet, thanks to their cap situation where they have too much money on the books already for next year (thanks to Pietrangelo\u2019s contract).\u00a0 Again, this is the old tagging rule at play.<\/p>\n The timing here matters.\u00a0 If they can open up enough cap space to sign him before free agency starts, they can do an eight-year deal with Andersson.\u00a0 That\u2019s probably the desired outcome for both sides.\u00a0 However, if they have to wait until Wednesday to do it, he\u2019s no longer their free agent, just a free agent.\u00a0 That means they, like any other potential suitor, would be capped at a seven-year offer.<\/p>\n Semantics of when and how they can do this deal aside, there\u2019s still the matter of getting him signed.\u00a0 The 29-year-old projects as one of the top players available in this year\u2019s free agent class and could conceivably come close to doubling the $4.55MM AAV he played for in each of the last six years.\u00a0 Speculatively, given their favorable tax situation, the Golden Knights might be able to get him signed for a little below double that.\u00a0 Something around Pietrangelo\u2019s price tag is likely where it\u2019s going to fall.\u00a0 Knowing that, it\u2019s just a matter of getting pen to paper, ideally sometime over the next 48 hours or so if they can pull it off.<\/p>\n Move A Goalie<\/p>\n You may have noticed that goaltending wasn\u2019t mentioned in the clearing money section.\u00a0 But it certainly looks as if they\u2019ll have to move a netminder.\u00a0 When Carter Hart<\/a> returned from injury late in the season, the Golden Knights carried three goalies \u2013 him, Adin Hill<\/a>, and Akira Schmid<\/a>.\u00a0 The ability to carry three netminders is a luxury they\u2019re no longer going to be able to afford.<\/p>\n For starters, Schmid is set to become a restricted free agent on Wednesday.\u00a0 He posted a 2.59 GAA with a .893 SV% in 34 outings in 2025-26, numbers that are worthy of a fair-sized raise from the $875K he made the last two years.\u00a0 Doubling it seems very doable, especially with arbitration eligibility.\u00a0 AFP Analytics projects<\/a> a two-year pact worth $2.527MM per season.\u00a0 That\u2019s more than half their remaining cap space without filling any of the many roster spots that need to be filled.\u00a0 Accordingly, he looks like a strong candidate to be moved.<\/p>\n Assuming that Hart \u2013 their playoff starter \u2013 isn\u2019t going anywhere, the other option to move would be veteran Adin Hill.\u00a0 In theory, that would make sense.\u00a0 In reality, that\u2019s not going to be easy.\u00a0 Hill posted a save percentage of just .870 this season and the sixth-worst Goals Saved Above Expected mark, per MoneyPuck<\/a>, at -14.2.\u00a0 He has five years remaining on his contract with a $6.25MM AAV.\u00a0 That is not going to be an easy contract to move and that\u2019s putting it lightly.<\/p>\n Clearing Hill and re-signing Schmid would give them several extra million in spending flexibility which could lessen the need to cut salary elsewhere.\u00a0 But if that\u2019s not an option, then Schmid will need to move on.\u00a0 That won\u2019t actually save them any cap space given their current situation but that move would stop things from getting even tighter.<\/p>\n Rebuild Depth<\/p>\n As things stand, Vegas has nine NHL forwards and four healthy NHL defensemen under contract for next season.\u00a0 Basically, every one of their depth players from this past season is set to hit the open market.\u00a0 Up front, the list includes Brandon Saad<\/a>, Reilly Smith<\/a>, Colton Sissons<\/a>, and trade deadline acquisition Cole Smith<\/a>.\u00a0 On the back end are Jeremy Lauzon<\/a>, Ben Hutton<\/a>, and Dylan Coghlan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Realistically, all of those players need to be re-signed or replaced.\u00a0 Also realistically, it\u2019s hard to see them being able to afford anyone making much more than the $850K minimum salary unless one of their more prominent pieces ultimately gets moved out.\u00a0 Up front, Trevor Connelly<\/a> and Braeden Bowman<\/a> are candidates to move up but combined, they\u2019re nearly $200K above two minimum-salaried players.\u00a0 Depending on everything else that happens roster-wise, they may be in tough to afford even that.<\/p>\n If McCrimmon isn\u2019t able to open up cap room over the next few days, they may have to wait a while to really try to fill out the roster.\u00a0 Basically, wait until the opening flurry of free agency is done and eventually, some asking prices will come down as players look to secure a guaranteed spot for training camps in the fall.\u00a0 That might be their shopping ground to fill out several of their depth spots so some patience is going to be required on their end.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The offseason is now in full effect following Carolina\u2019s Stanley Cup title.\u00a0 Accordingly, it\u2019s now time to examine…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5129],"tags":[149,5317,5,4,63047,697,74,39,5316],"class_list":["post-609755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vegas-golden-knights","tag-golden-knights","tag-goldenknights","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-offseason-checklist-2026","tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals","tag-vegas","tag-vegas-golden-knights","tag-vegasgoldenknights"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116830494205481173","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/rasmus-andersson-vegas-210x300.jpg\")
<\/a>But there will come a time in the next few days when they will be able to lock Andersson up.\u00a0 If they can offload Pietrangelo, that\u2019s the best option and they don\u2019t have to wait until Wednesday.\u00a0 If not, there\u2019s offseason LTIR and then they can sign Andersson into the additional flexibility created there; they\u2019re just stuck waiting until July 1st.<\/p>\n