Free agent season. Love it or hate it, it's always a momentous time for the Golden Knights, whether it was acquiring Mitch Marner via a sign-and-trade last year, signing Alex Pietrangelo in a blockbuster back in 2020, or dealing with the exodus of Cup winners in 2024. The Golden Knights enter this time with an official cap space of $4.625m, not counting Pietrangelo's likely-LTIRetired salary, and with it, have more than a few guys they need to decide whether to bring back. In this series, we'll be reviewing every single free agent, restricted and unrestricted, that Vegas has to deal with in the coming weeks, and predicting what ends up happening to each; this first part will cover our full-time NHL forwards. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3, covering the defense, goalies, and AHL depth!
The big fish: Pavel Dorofeyev (RFA)
Here stands the biggest priority of Vegas' offseason, at least in my view. Dorofeyev is coming off consecutive 35-goal efforts, the first time anyone's done that in Golden Knights history, and upped his goals, assists, and points totals from last year. He also stepped up in a big way during the playoffs, dropping 12 goals and 16 points on Vegas' Finals run. He's got great chemistry with basically every center in the top-nine, is arguably our best home-grown draft pick ever (only Nic Hague is even close), and Kelly McCrimmon needs to do whatever he can to make sure he stays in gold long-term. We can only hope he doesn't become trade bait. Thankfully, though, he's a restricted free agent, meaning we get compensation if he leaves via offer sheet.
Prediction: Dorofeyev signs something close to a six-year contract at roughly $8 million a year, and is part of this team's core for years to come.
The ex-Preds: Colton Sissons and Cole Smith (both UFAs)
Vegas made not one but two trades with Nashville over the course of the 2025-26 offseason and season, acquiring fourth-line center Colton Sissons (and Jeremy Lauzon) last June, and bruising winger Cole Smith just before the trade deadline in March. Sissons was a reliable stalwart on the fourth line when healthy, and the late-season swap to wing after the acquisition of Nic Dowd seemed to benefit him, if anything. In fact, Sissons was one of the underrated MVPs of Vegas' playoff run, with his eplayoff points just three fewer than his regular-season total of 11, despite playing in roughly 40 fewer games. He came as advertised defensively, and his near-57% faceoff win percentage was a nice addition as well. Despite being supplanted at center, he's someone I'd like to see Vegas bring back.
Smith, on the other hand, didn't create a whole lot to write home about. Like Sissons, he was good defensively and weak offensively; however, also like Sissons, his playoff effort was impressive, with three goals and six points in 22 playoff games compared to just two goals in 21 regular-season games. That said, his 24 playoff penalty minutes led the team, and said penalties caused some back-breaking momentum shifts at times. While he had good chemistry with Sissons and Dowd, I don't care too much about whether he stays or goes.
Prediction: Sissons re-signs at approximately 2 years and $2-3m, while Smith likely walks. Sissons-Dowd-Kolesar is a solid 4th line.
The old men: Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad (both UFAs)
And finally, we get to two guys whose best hockey is more than likely behind them. Smitty was the feel-good story of the year last season, with the beloved original misfit's return to Vegas via trade the first time any former Knight had come for a second tenure. However, the honeymoon period didn't last. With favored center William Karlsson out most of this season, and mirroring a similar decline in Pittsburgh and New York, Smitty posted just 26 points in 69 games, and was a healthy scratch at times both early in the season and during the playoffs. Unfortunately, he also missed hitting the 1,000-game mark this past year. Though my nostalgia is pushing me to say otherwise, with the emergence of guys like Braeden Bowman and Trevor Connelly to fill out the lineup, I think it's very possible we've seen the last of Reilly in a VGK uniform, for real this time.
Saad is... less tinted by nostalgia. Vegas pounced on the veteran winger following his mutual termination with St. Louis last season, signing him through the remainder of 2024-25. And at first, it looked like it was working! After scoring just 16 points in 43 games for St. Louis, he posted 14 in just 29 games for Vegas, and earned himself a one-year extension following the season. However, that extension aged extremely poorly, with Saad reverting right back to his St. Louis form. A healthy scratch for much of the year and playoffs, Saad recorded only three goals and nine points in 49 games, looking well and truly cooked in everything but his speed. Needless to say, there's little reason to give him another go in gold. He also missed out on 1,000, which I hope he's able to do somewhere else.
Prediction: Saad is as good as gone. Smith likely is as well, with a slight chance of signing for veteran minimum.
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