Well, what a difference only a few days makes. Six days later, and the Golden Knights' free-agency plans look to have changed massively, with the departure of Pavel Dorofeyev to the New York Rangers. My prediction of an 6x8 deal to stay here aged like milk in only three days. What it does mean, though, is that his extension wasn't signed here, and Vegas now has more cap flexibility in these next few weeks.
Anyhow, we've still got two parts to go, and two shots for me to either nail things or guess wildly wrong. In this edition, we'll be covering the handful of defensemen and goalies the Golden Knights have to decide on soon enough. Let's dive right into it!
The sunk-cost fallacy: Rasmus Andersson (UFA)
I will openly admit it: I'm not a fan of Andersson, and never have been. I'll try to let that bias not color this too much.
Andersson was the "shiny new toy" of the season for Vegas, being acquired in a blockbuster January trade in exchange for Zach Whitecloud, prospect Abram Wiebe, a first, and a second. Despite coming in with much fanfare, he was... not so good. Outside of an 11-game end-of-season stretch where he got hot, Andersson could broadly be classified as a disappointment.
Outside of that hot streak, Andersson recorded just seven points in 22 games, and added only six assists in 22 playoff games, failing to score a goal during Vegas's run to the Stanley Cup Final. Fans were broadly unhappy with the trade longer-term, and the rumblings of a big-money extension and/or a handshake deal with management don't help things.
Unfortunately, I think it's easy to predict this one. George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon usually haven't been ones for sunk cost, having dealt away the likes of Tomas Tatar and Nate Schmidt after big trades and extensions, but I heavily doubt they would've paid that much for Andersson only to let him walk away. With his partner Noah Hanifin also not entirely living up to expectations, we're in for a long eight years.
Prediction: Andersson signs an eight-year extension around $8.5 million a year, and we're worse off for it. I can only hope I'm as wrong as I was on Doro.
The heavy-hitter: Jeremy Lauzon (UFA)
Acquired alongside Colton Sissons last summer, Jeremy Lauzon's already entered the Vegas record-books, with his 89 PIM this past year blowing away Vegas' previous single-season record. Lauzon was fine in his role as a third-pairing bruiser, though he didn't contribute a lot offensively; his only goal of the year came with less than two weeks left in the regular season!
The heavy hitting often helped to set the tone physically, but many of his penalties came at wildly inopportune times, and could broadly be described as stupid. He was also somewhat injury-prone, missing 14 regular season games and much of the playoffs with various injuries. While he could be an interesting piece of the future, I just don't really think Vegas needs him at the money he'll likely want.
Prediction: Lauzon's played his last game in gold.
The unexpected hero: Dylan Coghlan (UFA)
After three seasons out of our system, Dylan Coghlan's return was a fun footnote for 2025-26, becoming only the second player to have a second tenure with Vegas. With only three regular-season games, most of us expected he'd stay a footnote, and that I'd probably cover him in the AHL part of this series.
Then, the playoffs happened.
After being called up following Lauzon's aforementioned injury, Coghlan entered Vegas' lineup in the second round against Anaheim, replacing the healthy-scratched Kaeden Korczak. Cogs proceeded to play 13 total playoff games, blowing past his regular season total, and featuring in all but the last game of the Stanley Cup Final.
His series-opening goal against Colorado set the momentum for our sweep, and he continued to impress throughout the rest of that series. That's not to mention that he also finished eighth in the AHL in points by a defenseman, and tied for first in goals. While the playoff run makes me worry a little that he might seek a slightly larger payday, I think he might provide the exact bang for the buck we need further down the defenseman group.
Prediction: Coghlan gets a nifty little raise and re-signs for two-years at roughly $1.5 million to $2 million a year, serving as the seventh defenseman next season.
The unlikely veteran: Ben Hutton (UFA)
Would you believe that Ben Hutton's been a Golden Knight for five seasons? The depth defenseman signed with us early in the 2021-22 season and never looked back, inking two successive extensions to be here now. He doesn't score a ton and doesn't play much when the team's healthy, but he's been a rock-steady seventh defenseman for that entire stretch. He's also one of an increasingly smaller pool of 2023 Stanley Cup champs left on the team.
In more specific terms, he did have a decent season, with his six goals setting a career-high and his 15 points being his most in six years. Injuries to other defensemen also resulted in him playing 55 games, the most since his 58 games in his very first year here.
Unfortunately, though, tough decisions need to be made, and Hutton is now 33 years old. Between the money spent on Andersson and a Lauzon replacement, the aforementioned Coghlan being five years his junior, and Lukas Cormier still knocking on the NHL door, I think Hutton ultimately moves on, closing what's been an extremely successful stretch for someone who was originally an in-season emergency signing.
Prediction: After five seasons in gold, Vegas loses another Cup champ, as Hutton signs somewhere else.
The workhorse: Akira Schmid (RFA)
Off that depressing note, some good news! Like I mentioned with Doro, Schmid is a restricted free agent, meaning at worst he's traded (or god forbid, offer-sheeted) for picks, and at best he sticks around next year.
Schmiddy's a weird one. After entering the season with a promotion from the AHL as Adin Hill's backup, Schmid took over as the impromptu starter in October following an injury to Hill. For the most part, he was pretty solid! He picked up two shutouts and generally kept a save percentage around .900, by far the best of any Golden Knights netminder for much of the year.
His 34 games played and 29 starts led the four goaltenders to see action for Vegas this past season, as did his 2.59 goals-against average. However, it never quite felt like the coaching staff truly believed in him; Carter Hart took over as starter in December after his suspension, and Adin Hill supplanted him in January following Hart's injury and Hill's return. He did get an Olympic appearance, at least, yet he was stuck behind legendary Swiss goalie Leonardo Genoni. Following a 4-1 loss to Nashville in late March, he wasn't seen for the remainder of the season.
That said, with Hill seemingly on the trade block, things feel primed for Schmid to hold on to the backup role next year. New coach Ryan Craig worked with him extensively during the 2024-25 AHL season, and considering his numbers mainly look good only in comparison to our other goalies this year, I don't imagine he's due for that huge of a raise.
Prediction: Schmid re-signs for one year around $2 million, setting the stage for the recently-extended Carl Lindbom to take over in 2027.
Add us as a preferred source on Google