By trading Reilly Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins just hours before the 2023 NHL Draft, the Vegas Golden Knights freed up $5 million in cap space, which they used to sign Ivan Barbashev to a five-year extension. While retaining Barbashev along with Adin Hill were massive moves for the future of this team, Smith’s departure still left a massive hole in the lineup that has yet to be filled.
With a few months left until the regular season, the Golden Knights will have to make some crucial decisions in order to feel as confident in their depth as they were in the 2022-23 season. Let’s take some time to explore what the best options are in order to keep their lineup just as dangerous.
Internal Options
While it’s hard to maintain a strong prospect pool when you’ve mortgaged your assets the way that the Golden Knights have, there are still a few candidates within the organization that could push for a prominent roster spot in training camp.
The two biggest options that stand out are Paul Cotter and Pavel Dorofeyev. I talked extensively about how Dorofeyev’s game has developed over the past few seasons in my recent Golden Knights prospect rankings, and his short but impressive NHL resumé makes it even more likely that he’ll get a shot early in the season.
Related: Top 5 Golden Knights Prospects Heading into 2023-24
He led the Henderson Silver Knights in goals with 27 and points with 52 throughout the 65 games he played in the 2021-22 American Hockey League (AHL) season. While there was a drop in offensive production last season at the AHL level, Dorofeyev managed to put up seven goals and nine points in his 16 appearances with the Golden Knights.
Dorofeyev is incredibly skilled with the puck on his stick and has added layers to his offensive game with each season he’s played in North America. His vision and spatial awareness allow him to pull off a variety of high-end dekes, making him a threat off the rush, in one-on-one battles, and when his teammates are cycling the puck. With an impressive preseason, he could fit in nicely as a middle-six winger and be a threat on the second power play unit.
As for Cotter, who had 13 goals in 55 games as a rookie with the Golden Knights last season, he provides a much more well-rounded game. Aside from his scoring touch, he’s a physical forechecker who isn’t afraid to drive the net and provides a level of energy that made his presence felt with every shift he had in 2022-23.
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Cotter feels like a much more versatile option over Dorofeyev with his high motor and attention to detail in the defensive zone. Although, losing Smith will hurt the Golden Knights on both the power play and the penalty kill, so it could end up taking two of these young players to fill that gap left in the lineup.
Free Agency Options
With the decision around Robin Lehner’s future with the team still up in the air it’s unclear what the cap situation will look like heading into the 2023-24 season, but we can assume with the emergence of Logan Thompson and Hill that he will either be bought out or placed on long term injury reserve (LTIR). This will bring the Golden Knights to be just about $850,000 under the $83.5 million salary cap, leaving them little room to make any further offseason moves.
However, considering how busy the Golden Knights have been on the trade and free agent market over the past few seasons it’s hard to believe that general manager Kelly McCrimmon isn’t considering taking a shot on the numerous free agents who could still make an impact on this roster. With the Ottawa Senators recently signing Vladimir Tarasenko to a one-year, $5 million deal, the next biggest name on the free agent market is Patrick Kane.
Kane was the main storyline of the NHL trade deadline this past season with multiple teams having interest before he was ultimately traded to the New York Rangers. After a disappointing first round exit with the Rangers, the 34-year-old became a free agent for the first time in his career and has yet to sign with a team.
Based on his offensive capabilities it is pretty surprising that Kane is still available. A player of his stature is in complete control of where he wants to go, but it’s possible that he could be demanding too much money to join a competitive team due to the cap constraints that most teams have. He’s undoubtedly worth clearing cap space for, but his game may have become too one-dimensional for some teams to justify pursuing him.
The Golden Knights have a lineup filled with players capable of dominating at both ends of the ice, and there’s an argument to be made that Kane’s lack of defense wouldn’t make him an organizational fit. However, they’re going to need to find another level of scoring if they are going to push for back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, and there aren’t any other surefire offensive threats available on the market like Kane.
Other notable free agents that may be worth targeting include Alexis Lafrienière, Tomas Tatar, Colin White, and Josh Bailey. While these players may not have the ability to dictate the outcome of a season like Kane has proven he can in years past, they could all be worth taking a shot on as depth pieces for the right price.
Final Thoughts
It’s not going to be easy to find a player as well-rounded as Reilly Smith was through his tenure with the Golden Knights. An original “Misfit”, he was selected in the 2017 Expansion Draft and had 264 points in 399 regular season games and is the Golden Knights’ fifth all-time playoff scorer with 66 points in 88 games.
However, the best teams have found ways to retool their roster in order to find consistent success. It will become clearer in the coming weeks what the Golden Knights have planned with any further roster decisions, but there’s no reason to believe that they won’t be competitive regardless of what is done.
