Let's be honest for a second. It's a long shot for Cole Smith to stick around with the Vegas Golden Knights. Acquired on Tuesday from the Nashville Predators, the newest Golden Knights winger is merely a rental. He's set to hit the free agent market this summer, where he could find a team on a cheap deal.
That's especially true with a chunk of the current Golden Knights lineup set to become free agents. That includes reputable names like Reilly Smith, Rasmus Andersson, and Pavel Dorofeyev. While some are of the restricted variety, the rest will hit the market with low chances of returning.
That's likely to include Smith, who has 23 goals and 39 assists in his six-year career. Today's NHL calls for everyone to be superhuman points machines, doing whatever it takes to put pucks in the net. That's no different for the Golden Knights, who made a big move themselves with Andersson.
But! Let's play devil's advocate for a second. Let's promote Smith and see how he can stick around with the team longer. After all, there have been cases where Vegas has kept players on team-friendly deals.
How Cole Smith can stick around for the Vegas Golden Knights a bit longer
Surprisingly, the Golden Knights are no strangers to keeping depth players on cheap contracts. One perfect example is Ben Hutton, who's acted as the de facto seventh defenseman for some time. Since coming over to Vegas in 2021-22, he's provided steady offense when called upon, scoring 14 goals and 34 assists during his Vegas residency.
In turn, he got a two-year deal with a $975,000 cap hit in December 2023. The Golden Knights could have something similar if Smith provides his patented hitting and suffocating defensive style. Remember that Vegas has some pending free agents to consider after this season, including restricted free agent Pavel Dorofeyev and unrestricted free agent Rasmus Andersson.
The good news? Smith doesn't cost that much, especially since his current AAV is $1 million. Looking at the Florida Panthers, they've used lower-line players like A.J. Greer ($850,000 cap hit) and Tomas Nosek ($775,000) to wild success. It's resulted in two Stanley Cups, keeping their salary cap situation manageable.
The Golden Knights will still have a problem of too many mouths to feed
While the price tag sounds nice for Smith, that's probably the biggest thing going for him. As mentioned, the Golden Knights will be focused on who they're keeping for next season. It'll be a battle between Dorofeyev and Andersson to see who gets the next big extension, with both players' contracts expiring after this season.
That's not even mentioning the other free agents looming for the summer. That includes Reilly Smith, Brandon Saad, and Hutton, all of whom could be casualties of a salary cap crunch. Of course, that's just naming a few Golden Knights players, with names like Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon also on the potential chopping block.
Alas, the least that Smith can do is stick to his game. It's why Kelly McCrimmon brought him in to begin with, adding more defensive depth to the lineup. If he can do that, it changes the dynamic of how the lineup looks heading into 2026-27.