Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon addressed the media Wednesday night after the first day of free agency, detailing the Golden Knights’ recent offseason activity and discussing the state of the roster ahead of the 2026-27 season.
In the last week, the Golden Knights have made eight trades, drafted seven players and signed 10 players as part of the 2026 offseason retool of a roster that made it to the Stanley Cup Final but fell two wins shy of lifting Lord Stanley’s prize.
Earlier this month, McCrimmon spoke to the media following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season and stated that changes were coming, and he has been true to his word. The roster has undergone multiple tweaks, though McCrimmon has managed to maintain most of the core pieces.
But McCrimmon sees the adjustments as opportunities for other players to rise to the occasion.
“Sometimes for people to blossom and take a step, there has to be opportunity in front of them,” he said. “I think we’ve done that, and I feel good about what we’ve done.”
The Golden Knights entered the offseason facing serious cap constraints, which led to Vegas trading sniper Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers on the first night of the 2026 NHL Draft.
Since then, McCrimmon has been busy.
In addition to Dorofeyev — who signed a seven-year, $77 million extension with New York — other notable departures include forwards Keegan Kolesar (traded to Detroit), Colton Sissons (signed in Toronto) and Cole Smith (signed in Chicago) as well as defenseman Kaedan Korczak (traded to Pittsburgh) and goaltender Akira Schmid (traded to Florida). Unrestricted free agents Reilly Smith, Brandon Saad and Ben Hutton are not expected to return to Vegas, though they have yet to sign with new teams.
McCrimmon thanked Korczak and Schmid for their contributions to the Golden Knights, though he focused primarily on Kolesar, who has been with the Golden Knights since 2017 (and whom McCrimmon has known since Kolesar’s days in the WHL.
“He’s a guy that really made himself a player … just kept getting better,” McCrimmon said. “Really proud that he’s a champion.”
McCrimmon said he spoke with Kolesar today and that it was a difficult conversation but that there was no bitterness.
“These are decisions that have to get made that aren’t easy, and I just wanted to recognize what Koley has done for us,” he said.
As a result of the trades, Vegas has managed to accumulate a plethora of draft picks. McCrimmon said it was important for the Golden Knights to restock some draft capital, which has been used to acquire players over the last few seasons.
On the blue line
As part of the Korczak deal, the Golden Knights landed defenseman Parker Wotherspoon from the Penguins.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound defenseman recorded three goals and 30 points while averaging 20:10 of ice time with Pittsburgh last season and is a solid stay-at-home defenseman.
Wotherspoon, 28, has one year remaining on his contract, which will carry a cap hit of just $500,000 after Pittsburgh’s 50 percent retention. The move allowed Vegas to clear $2.75 million of cap space.
“[Wotherspoon has] turned into a really good NHL defenseman,” McCrimmon said. “He was a really good player in Pittsburgh last year [playing] over 20 minutes a night. … From the salary cap standpoint, to be able to put a top-4 defenseman on your team for $500K because of the retention, that matters in a salary cap world.”
On the eve of free agency, the Golden Knights re-signed Jeremy Lauzon to a six-year contract carrying an AAV of $4 million.
Lauzon was originally acquired from the Nashville Predators last summer in the Nicolas Hague deal. He played 68 games with the Golden Knights this year, recording one goal and 13 points along with 89 penalty minutes and 251 hits (10th in the NHL) while averaging 17:11 of ice time.
He was pointless while averaging 16:37 of ice time in 12 postseason contests, missing the second and third rounds against Anaheim and Colorado, respectively, due to injury.
“The size, the physical play, the power, what he does for the rest of your team, you have to have that ingredient on your hockey team,” McCrimmon said about Lauzon’s sandpaper game. “Jeremy is really respected in our room and throughout the league. … I thought his play really came on over the course of the year.”
On Wednesday, the club announced a seven-year deal for Rasmus Andersson with an AAV of $8.5 million as well as a two-year deal for Dylan Coghlan (AAV: $875,000).
The Golden Knights traded for Andersson back in January, sending defenseman Zach Whitecloud, 2027 first- and second-round picks and defensive prospect Abram Weibe to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the right-shot defenseman. The second-round pick would have become a first if Vegas had won the Stanley Cup.
Andersson scored seven goals and 17 points while averaging 21:42 of ice time in 33 games with Vegas during the regular season, bringing his season total to a career-high 17 goals as well as 47 points in 81 combined games with the Flames and Golden Knights.
His play declined in concerning fashion in the postseason, though McCrimmon isn’t worried.
“I think Rasmus will settle in and probably play a little more comfortably [this year]” McCrimmon said. “We’d like to find the balance where he is pushing the pace a little bit on offense while being responsible defensively.”
In general, McCrimmon is pleased with the defense, which he believes has improved, particularly since Vegas was able to keep Andersson, Lauzon and Coghlan while adding Wotherspoon.
“They’re all different players but they’re all valuable in their own way,” he said.
One difference with this year’s group is the fact that there are only two right-shot defensemen, not including Shea Theodore, who has played on the right side throughout his time in Vegas. Andersson and Coghlan also play on the right, but thanks to the Korczak-for-Wotherspoon swap, the Golden Knights now have four left-handed defensemen: Brayden McNabb, Noah Hanifin, Lauzon and Wotherspoon.
But McCrimmon said the matter will not be an issue.
“I like the mix, I like the balance that we have there,” he said, adding that the coaching staff is comfortable with the group. “We think that there’s some options for guys to play on the right side.”
McCrimmon also said that Vegas’ battles throughout the postseason influenced the team’s overall offseason strategy for the defense.
“We got into the playoffs and we played really good rush teams,” he said. “When I look at all of our defense, I think we were respecting our opponents, playing a very defensive game. … That’s part of the mindset that went into [our strategy] with our defense.”
In general, McCrimmon considers the club’s defense to be “a really strong part of our team.”
Additionally, the Golden Knights made a trio of AHL signings that will give Joel Ward and the Henderson Silver Knights more options, including defensemen Adam Ginning, Ville Heinola and Antti Tuomisto.
In recent weeks, there has been some speculation regarding the potential return of defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. However, McCrimmon provided some clarity on the situation, explaining that there has been no development in the veteran’s condition. According to McCrimmon, the initial report that came out last week suggesting a possible return was “rescinded” two hours after publication.
McCrimmon said Pietrangelo returned to long-term injured reserve on Wednesday and explained that “his situation from a playing standpoint has not changed.”
Forward thinking
The primary offseason change up front is the loss of Dorofeyev, which can’t be underestimated. Dorofeyev has led the team in scoring in each of the last two seasons and seems primed to top 40 or even 50 goals down the line.
However, the Golden Knights couldn’t afford to re-sign him, so they moved him for some high-end draft picks, one of which they used to select Juho Piiparinen with the No. 29 overall selection. They also added six additional players, including two in Round 3 and four in Rounds 4-7.
As part of a response to losing Dorofeyev, the Golden Knights are bringing back winger Victor Olofsson, who signed a one-year deal for $1.638 million on Wednesday.
Olofsson scored 15 goals and 29 points in 56 games for Vegas in 2024-25 and is coming off a season in which he recorded 13 goals and 31 points in 78 games with Colorado and Calgary.
Ideally, Olofsson will help fill part of the void left by Dorofeyev, though he’s no replacement. However, his addition should help on the power play since Vegas relied on his one-timer from the same spot on the ice a few seasons ago.
“We want to add someone that has a history of being able to score goals, which Victor does,” McCrimmon said. “We had him, so we know the player. We liked more about his game then and now than just the fact that he’s a shooter, but he brings that skill set to our team. He’s responsible, he’s a smart player, so I think he’ll find a good spot in our lineup.”
The Golden Knights also signed forward Marc Gatcomb, who has 11 goals and 16 points in 88 career NHL games with the Islanders.
Gatcomb will add some much-needed physicality to the lineup, particularly with the absence of Kolesar. Gatcomb finished 10th in the NHL in hits per 60 minutes (23.30), registering 192 in 49 games last season.
McCrimmon indicated that Gatcomb likely will have a role on the fourth line.
“I think with the acquisition of Mark Gatcomb, with what we know Nic Dowd is, I think that’s probably two-thirds of what you want the identity of that line to look like,” he said.
McCrimmon said Braeden Bowman will be an “everyday player” for the Golden Knights next season after demonstrating that he can play and succeed as a two-way forward at the NHL level.
Bowman played a key role filling in for the injured Mark Stone on the power play and spent more than half the season in the Vegas lineup, suiting up for 54 games and scoring eight goals and 26 points.
Vegas also will retain forwards Jonas Rondbjerg, Tanner Laczynski, Joe Fleming, Raphael Lavoie and Jakub Demek.
Rondbjerg played four games with Vegas this past season, tallying one assist. However, he managed 13 goals and 26 points in 43 games with Henderson. He is the last remaining player from Vegas’ inaugural draft (third round) and has three goals and 11 points in 80 career NHL games, all with Vegas.
Laczysnki tallied five assists in 10 games with Vegas last year but had a prolific season in Henderson, recording 22 goals and 64 points in 62 games.
Lavoie is pointless in 10 games with the Golden Knights over the last two seasons but has been an effective call-up. He, too, lit it up with the Silver Knights last year, potting 30 goals and 56 points in 45 games.
Demek was a fourth-round selection (No. 128) by Vegas in 2021 but played just four games with Henderson last season.
Between the pipes
The Golden Knights elected to trade Schmid and re-sign Carl Lindbom, who inked a three-year deal with an AAV of $900,000. Lindbom played eight games with Vegas last year, giving his team a chance to win in almost all of his starts despite posting a 2-4-2 record with a 3.00 goals-against average and .873 save percentage.
In general, McCrimmon is satisfied with the goaltending group, including the waiver-exempt Lindbom, who will serve as the club’s third goalie.
“When I say I’m happy about our goaltending, you can add [Lindbom] to that,” McCrimmon said. “I think he’s on his way to becoming an NHL goaltender. … We’re really comfortable that he’s ready to be a good No. 3 goaltender in our organization.”
There was some speculation that Vegas might try to move Adin Hill and the remaining five years on his contract, which carries a $6.25 million cap hit. However, it appears (for now) as though Hill and Carter Hart will be the duo in net for the Golden Knights.
Both struggled with injuries last season, and Hill had a very disappointing statistical campaign, going 10-9-6 in 27 starts and recording a 3.04 GAA and .871 SV%.
Hart emerged as the clear No. 1 under John Tortorella, starting all 22 postseason games and leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final before seeing his play fall off. McCrimmon said that Craig and goalie coach Sean Burke will be in charge of figuring out the rotation for next season.
“My opinion is you need two good goalies,” McCrimmon said. “If you set out on September 1 and you’re hoping to play in the Stanley Cup Final, you’re going to play 104 hockey games. You need two goaltenders to be able to get through that. … I think we have a great tandem.
“I think Adin is going to bounce back. I think he’s a good goalie that had a tough season. We need him to revert to form, and I expect that he will. Carter, for me, made a great impression, getting us right to the Stanley Cup Final. So I think we’re in good shape at that position.”
McCrimmon never expected the Golden Knights to be overly involved in free agency, especially since it was not a deep pool. The Golden Knights kept tabs on what was going on around the league but couldn’t be “big players based on our cap space available,” he said.
McCrimmon wasn’t surprised about the continuation of league-wide trades given the increased cap ceiling and the lack of talent available in free agency, but also added that hindsight is often important when it comes to July 1.
“Everybody thinks those players are free. Well, they’re not quite free because a lot of times, it’s bigger dollars, it’s longer term than maybe anticipated.”
Not surprisingly, though, the Vegas general manager said the Golden Knights will continue to stay on top of and explore options to improve the team further.
In that regard, it will be business as usual for the Golden Knights.
Photo courtesy of the Golden Knights