The Vegas Golden Knights have agreed to terms on a five-year, $25 million contract extension with forward Ivan Barbashev, the club announced Wednesday.
The deal carries an AAV of $5 million.
Come on Barbie let’s go party… for five more years! 🥳
We have signed Ivan Barbashev to a five-year contract extension! #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/clv8sLjHOa
— 🏆 – Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 28, 2023
The move comes just over an hour after the club traded forward Reilly Smith to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick. Smith’s contract also carried a $5 million cap hit for the next two seasons.
Jillian Wagner
Barbashev was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Acquired by Vegas in a trade-deadline deal with the St. Louis Blues in exchange for former first-round pick Zach Dean (No. 30 overall in 2021), Barbashev was a perfect fit in Sin City almost immediately.
He recorded six goals and 16 points in 23 regular-season games with Vegas before playing a pivotal role in the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup run, where he scored seven goals and 18 points in 22 games.
He was physical, clutch and consistent as a member of Vegas’ top line with Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion finished fifth on the team in scoring with 18 points, with one of his biggest goals coming in Game 3 against the Dallas Stars on the five-minute major following Jamie Benn’s egregious hit on Mark Stone.
49 is doin fine 🔥 pic.twitter.com/VO4ayfoOJ5
— 🏆 – Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 24, 2023
The Golden Knights scored more playoff goals at 5-on-5 with Barbashev on the ice (25) than any other player. He also delivered some massive hits and was exceedingly valuable in Vegas’ deep run.
Another look at Barbashev's huge reverse hit on Gudas#VegasBorn | #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/FFm7QnC3sU
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) June 6, 2023
Barbashev finished the 2022-23 regular season with 16 goals and 45 points in 82 games with St. Louis and Vegas. Drafted in the second round (No. 33 overall) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Barbashev has 84 goals and 194 points in 433 career regular-season games.
He recorded three goals and six points in 25 postseason games when he won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis – and Alex Pietrangelo – in 2019.
The Golden Knights now have roughly $3.46 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly. Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev are the remaining pending restricted free agents after Vegas signed defenseman Brayden Pachal, and there are three goaltenders – Adin Hill, Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick – set to become unrestricted free agents.
Vegas has yet to announce an extension with Hill, which was rumored to be in the works a few days ago.
Jillian Wagner
The Golden Knights own the No. 32 overall pick in tonight’s NHL Entry Draft.