Golden Knights sign Adin Hill to two-year extension, qualify Howden, Dorofeyev and Patera

The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goaltender Adin Hill to a two-year, $9.8 million contract, the club announced Friday.

The deal carries an AAV of $4.9 million; it was reportedly in the works days ago but was made official Friday, one day before the start of free agency.

According to CapFriendly, the first year of the contract features a $1.6 million base salary with a $4 million signing bonus and includes a modified no-trade clause with an eight-team no-trade list; the second year consists of a $4.2 million base salary with a five-team no-trade list.

Hill was on an expiring contract – signed in 2021 with San Jose – that carried an AAV of $2.175 million. The pay raise comes after he led the Golden Knights to the first Stanley Cup in franchise history after taking over for the injured Laurent Brossoit in Game 3 of the second-round series against Edmonton.

He finished the postseason with an 11-4 record as well as a 2.17 goals-against average and NHL-best .932 save percentage with two shutouts. His 12.4 goals saved above average was the best among all playoff goalies, and he finished second behind Sergei Bobrovsky with 13.13 goals saved above expected, according to Evolving-Hockey.

Hill became the first goalie in NHL history to win 10 playoff games without playing in the first round. He made countless timely saves, most notably his desperation save in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Hill went 16-7-1 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .915 save percentage in 25 starts in the regular season after being acquired from San Jose for a 2024 fourth-round pick last summer.

The Golden Knights are not expected to re-sign goaltenders Brossoit or Jonathan Quick; as of now, it appears that the tandem for the 2023-24 season will be Hill and Logan Thompson, who has two years remaining on a deal carrying an AAV of $766,667.

The status of injured goaltender Robin Lehner remains unclear. Lehner missed all of 2022-23 after undergoing double hip surgery, with his $5 million cap hit spending the season on long-term injured reserve.

The Golden Knights also announced Friday that the club has issued qualifying offers to three players, including forwards Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev as well as goaltender Jiri Patera.

Forward Nolan Patrick – who missed the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign – and defenseman Connor Corcoran – who has spent most of the last two seasons in the ECHL – were not qualified.

Howden played a key role in the Stanley Cup run, scoring five goals and 10 points in 22 games, including the game-winning goal in overtime of Game 1 against Dallas. Though Dorofeyev did not crack the lineup in the playoffs, he impressed in the regular season, including when he scored seven goals and nine points in a 10-game stretch after missing several months due to injury.

With widespread injuries to Vegas’ goalie depth, Patera got his first taste of NHL action with two starts in March. He won both games, posting a 2.50 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

Corcoran recorded seven goals and 13 points in 33 games with Henderson over the last two years but spent the majority of that time in the ECHL with the Fort Wayne Komets and Savannah Ghost Pirates. He was originally selected by Vegas in the fifth round (No. 154) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Patrick – the former No. 2 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft – was acquired in a three-team trade with Philadelphia and Nashville, with Vegas sending forward Cody Glass – the former No. 6 pick in that same 2017 draft –  to Nashville in exchange for Patrick. Coincidentally, the Golden Knights landed Howden from the Rangers on the same day (July 17, 2021), sending defenseman Nick DeSimone and a 2022 fourth-round pick (No. 111) to New York in the deal.

With the Hill signing officially on the books, the Golden Knights are roughly $2.2 million over the salary cap, according to CapFriendly. Teams are allowed to go 10 percent over the cap in the offseason.

Free agency opens July 1.