2. William Carrier
Another Vegas Golden Knight who won't be returning to the team next season is William Carrier. The winger only played 39 games this season, scoring six goals and two assists. For the Golden Knights, not having their fourth-line player for the majority of the season hurt them.
That was because Carrier has dealt with numerous upper-body injuries this season. First, he started missing time on January 6, getting his injuries taken care of. Then, he missed the last 11 regular season games of the regular season with more upper-body injuries.
While Carrier is a nice scoring-depth piece for the Golden Knights, he doesn't see the ice much. The most games he played in as a Golden Knight was 71 (2019-20). The Quebec native has also had a shooting percentage over 10% once during his Vegas tenure (13.6% in 2022-23).
Add in the $1.4 million he got paid this season and this should be a no-brainer for Kelly McCrimmon. Getting good checking and workman-like talent shouldn't be a problem for Vegas. They have Paul Cotter, who should step into the fourth-line role nicely.