The Vegas Golden Knights’ season ended Sunday. Now, it’s time to look ahead to next season.
Chances are, the roster will be vastly different come next fall.
Six Golden Knights will be unrestricted free agents this offseason, with the biggest being Jonathan Marchessault.
Marchessault came to the franchise in the 2017 expansion draft and has been one of the driving forces behind the Golden Knights making the playoffs in six of their seven seasons of existence.
Marchessault, who had 42 goals this season and played in all 82 games, will likely command a salary more than the $5 million he made this season in the expiring year of a six-year deal he signed in 2018.
“I’ve done everything I can to stay here,” Marchessault said Tuesday when the players gathered at the practice facility in Summerlin to clean out their lockers. “I know I’m a big part of this organization and team. I’ve proved that over the years.
“I’m pretty confident. I’d love to stay. This is my home. I’m part of the guys that started this. It’s the most proud thing I’ve done in my life.”
Alec Martinez, Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier, Michael Amadio and Anthony Mantha are also all unrestricted free agents this off-season. None spoke to local media.
For the Golden Knights to have enough room under the league-mandated salary cap to re-sign Marchessault, it’s looking like Vegas might have to offload a handful, if not all, of their other unrestricted free agents.
“You’re going to miss the guys that are gone because no team stays the same,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “No matter what happens, and I don’t even know how it’s going to look, you’re going to miss whoever leaves.
“That’s just the reality of it.”
Until the free agency signing period begins July 1, even Marchessault, while confident, is still not sure about his future with the organization.
“I’m just happy to be a Golden Knight,” Marchessault said. “I’d like to be one for the rest of my life, but that’s not necessarily in my control.”
Quest to repeat came up short
Over the last 20 years, there have been only two teams to repeat as Stanley Cup champions: Pittsburgh (2016 and 2017) and Tampa Bay (2020 and 2021).
Vegas, which looked to become the third this year, had a storybook start to the season, opening the year at 11-0-1. However, injuries caught up to the Golden Knights, depleting the roster and seeing them limp into the playoffs.
They got their roster back as a handful of players returned off injured reserve for the first-round series against Dallas, but Vegas couldn’t find its groove quickly enough and lost a seven-game series to the Stars, 4-3.
“I wish we had our lineup together and played a little bit more together to build some chemistry,” coach Bruce Cassidy said Tuesday. “The reality is we didn’t have a lot of time to build that chemistry.”
Vegas took top-seeded Dallas to the limit but fell a goal short in Game 7.
“I felt we had a team that could win another championship,” Vegas captain Mark Stone said. “I believe that we’ll have a team that can win a championship moving forward.”
“We were in a good spot to go on another run, but we came up short.”
Injuries were the main factor that held Vegas back.
Nearly every player that spoke to media at the locker clean out on Tuesday was injured at some point in the season.
Jack Eichel said he felt like his progress was somewhat derailed after suffering a knee injury and having to undergo lower-body surgery.
“You never want to deal with an injury and in the middle of the season it’s tough,” Eichel said. “It was frustrating at the time, but like anything you need to handle it and move on.
“We had a lot of adversity throughout the room. It wasn’t only me. At the time I thought my game was in a good place.”
And it wasn’t necessarily all common injuries. Eichel injured his knee after his skate blade broke, and Stone lacerated his spleen.
Stone said it was the most nervous he had ever been with an injury.
“I spent a night in the hospital, and that’s never the easiest thing,” Stone said. “You do all the scans and everything, but you’re still nervous about it.
“I think it’s behind me now.”
Coming out of the playoffs, the Golden Knights are still dealing with multiple injuries. It was revealed after Game 7 that William Karlsson was dealing with a lower-body injury.
Tuesday, Karlsson elaborated and said it was a hamstring injury.
“I felt like it (the injury) affected my skating a little bit,” Karlsson said. “It’s just unfortunate.”
Injuries notwithstanding next year, Cassidy said when it comes to creating chemistry, it may not have to be a perfect fit.
After back-to-back losses to Dallas in Games 3 and 4, Cassidy mixed up the lines hoping that chemistry would form quickly.
“I want to accept that the perfect fit may not be perfect, but you’re going to go with it anyway,” Cassidy said. “There was a little more work that needed to be put in compared to last year to make things automatic.”
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