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The Vegas Golden Knights returned to the playoffs for a sixth time in seven years. Still, the Golden Knights would be eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the playoffs. As the team has experienced significant consistency and won the Stanley Cup, they now find themselves in a more challenging situation this offseason. Vegas is tight on cap space and has little draft capital. In order to remedy the situation, these are the players that needed to be traded by the Golden Knights in the 2025 NHL offseason.
The draft capital situation is not great in the desert. They do not have a first-round pick for the next two years. Further, the cap situation is even worse. They will have just $9.6 million in cap space this summer. Meanwhile, the team has seven pending free agents. One of those free agents is Ilya Samsonov, and the Golden Knights already have two goaltenders under contract. Still, there are five forwards and one defenseman who could be walking this offseason.
To exacerbate issues, Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev are both in the final year of their respective contracts, so any signings of players must be done with their future in mind. Moves need to be made for the consistent playoff berths to continue as the 2023 Stanley Cup champions look to make another run at hoisting the Cup.
Could Ivan Barbashev be traded?
Barbashev was seen as a potential breakout candidate heading into this season. The Russian-born center was drafted in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues. He would make his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season, playing in 30 games and having 12 points. Still, his breakout would come in the 2021-22 season, when he played in 81 games, scoring 26 goals and 34 assists. That would give him 60 total points, setting career highs in all three categories. With free agency pending for Barbashev, the Blues traded him during the 2022-23 season. He would pot six goals with 10 assists in his first 23 games in the desert.
In his first full season with the Golden Knights, Barbashev scored 19 goals with 26 assists. This past year, he played in just 70 games, though, scoring 23 goals and adding 28 assists while spending time on the top two lines. In the playoffs, he would find himself playing on the third line, and it was a struggle. In 11 playoff games, he managed just one goal and one assist with a minus-nine rating.
Barbashev spent most of this season playing on the left wing, but his playoff demotion to the third line may speak to his future with the franchise. He currently has a modified no-trade clause, which allows him to have an eight-team no-trade list. At a cost of $5 million per year for the next three years, trading away the winger may be necessary. Vegas could save money and bring in draft assets to help stabilize its future. An extra $5 million can be helpful towards an extension for a player like Eichel or Dorofeyev. It can also help lure a big-name free agent, such as Mitch Marner, to pair with Eichel on the top line in 2025-26 and beyond.
Vegas will trade away blue line depth
Of the top five players in terms of icetime for the Golden Knights, four of them come from the blue line. Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore, Noah Hanifin, and Alex Pietrangelo all were in the top five in ice time this past year, and all are under contract for the next two seasons. These four players make up the top two defensive rotations for Vegas. They also combine for $27.225 million in salary. With Zach Whitecloud, Ben Hutton, and Kaedan Korczak still under contract, the Golden Knights have options to trade away a D-man.
The best option is to move on from Nic Hague. Hague is currently a restricted free agent. Vegas can allow him to sign an offer sheet, which brings in draft compensation. His next contract is expected to be around $2.6 million in AAV. An offer sheet would bring the Golden Knights a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Currently, 21 other teams have the available draft capital to sign the blue liner to an offer sheet.
Still, trading away the former second-round pick via a sign-and-trade could net a bigger return. It will also open more teams as an option to send him to, since offer sheets are more restrictive. This move does not save cap space for the Knights, but does help replenish draft capital while not impacting the roster.
Golden Knights could open up cap space by shedding depth
Shedding depth may be the key for Vegas this offseason. Dorofeyev broke onto the scene this year, playing in all 82 games and leading the team with 35 goals. Further, he added 17 assists, while also being a threat on the powerplay, having 17 points on the man-advantage. With the potential addition of other top-line free agents, plus Tomas Hertl paired with Dorofeyev on the second line, Nicholas Roy may be expendable.
Roy spent most of his season playing center, mainly on the third line. He also spent part of the year on the right wing of the second line. The forward played in just 71 games this past season, scoring 15 goals and having 16 assists. This was the third straight season that the center missed at least 10 games. Further, his production dropped this past season. Advanced statistics show his chances created, percentage of points he was involved in when on the ice, and high danger chances converted all fell this past season. At a cost of $3 million per year, now could be the time to sell off Roy.
Vegas needs to find a way to create more cap space this offseason. The biggest area of depth for them is on the blue line, so moving Hague would be an ideal scenario. Still, they also need to trade away a forward. Both Roy and Barbashev are solid depth pieces for a third line, but trading them would make a lot of sense this offseason.
