New Additions: F Mitch Marner (8yr x $12M AAV), F Colton Sissons (from NSH), D Jeremy Lauzon (from NSH), D Dylan Coghlan (1yr x $775k)

Subtractions: D Nic Hague (to NSH), F Nicolas Roy (to TOR), F Victor Olofsson (to COL), F Tanner Pearson (to WPG), G Ilya Samsonov (UFA), F Brendan Brisson (to NYR)

Retentions/Extensions: F Reilly Smith (1yr x $2M), F Brandon Saad (1yr x $2M), D Jaycob Megna (2yr x $800k AAV), D Kaedan Korczak (4yr x $3.25M AAV), F Cole Schwindt (1yr x $825k)

The biggest fish of the offseason Mitch Marner lands in Vegas. The Golden Knights now have three of the top five picks in the 2015 NHL Draft on their roster (Jack Eichel, pick 2; Mitch Marner, pick 4; Noah Hanifin, pick 5). Getting Marner comes as no surprise to the rest of the league, as Vegas has been aggressive since their conception at trying to build a contender. The majority of their team has been acquired via trade or free agency, and only a few players from the 2018 Western Conference Champion team remain. They reached the peak of the mountain in 2023, winning the Stanley Cup in their sixth season as a franchise, a truly impressive feat. Since, they have only won one playoff series, but they are hoping to get back to the Final, and win another Cup soon.

After nine seasons playing for his childhood team, Mitch Marner is no longer in Toronto. Coming off a career high 102 points and 75 assists, he is hoping to bring that elite offensive production to Vegas. Marner has been a point per game player nearly as long as the Golden Knights have been a team. Both sides are very excited, as Mitch was looking for a change of scenery, and Vegas has been searching for another superstar forward, Jack Eichel being the other.

Eichel is also coming off a career high with 94 points last season, which was 27 points better than the second leading scorer on the team. He has carried a lot of the offensive load, and will be happy to have another guy like Marner out there with him. Both players are more traditionally playmakers, known for setting up goals, but it would not surprise me if Eichel became a more aggressive scorer this season, and set a new career best in tallies (currently 36). Pretty much all the chatter surrounding the 2026 UFA class has been about Connor McDavid and until he recently signed an extension Kirill Kaprizov, but Eichel is also due for a new contract. After Kaprizov set the record for the largest contract in league history, you have to wonder what Eichel is looking for on his next deal. I imagine the Vegas front office will give their leading scorer a blank cheque and offer him whatever number he wants.

Behind the two stars, the rest of the forward group is deep, and provides pretty much every role a contending team needs. Captain Mark Stone is still one of the best two way forwards in the league, although now he might be the third best on his own team, as Marner and Eichel both finished within the top seven in Selke voting last season. Tomas Hertl and Ivan Barbashev are a good source of secondary scoring, being able to move throughout the lineup, both finished last year with 20+ goals and 50+ points. William Karlsson and Reilly Smith, two members of the inaugural season team, are not only familiar fan favourites, but still effective despite no longer being relied upon as first line forwards. The team leader in goals last season was breakout Russian winger Pavel Dorofeyev, who had 35 goals in his first full season in the NHL. The Golden Knights have lots of options at their disposal, and coach Bruce Cassidy likes to move pieces around to see which players work well with each other.

On D, the team will possibly be without Alex Pietrangelo for the entire season. He is currently rehabbing a hip injury that has been bothering him for a while now. He has stepped away from the team and is trying to get right on his own. A major loss for the team if he is unable to suit up. They will have to rely more heavily on Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin. Theodore (another original Golden Knight) has produced just under a point per game throughout his tenure in Vegas, and has been the top powerplay defenceman when healthy. Unfortunately, he cannot seem to stay healthy as his 67 games last season were the most he has played since 2021-22, already down Pietrangelo, they need a healthy year from him. Hanifin has never grown into the elite point producing defenceman that he was hoping to become as a top five pick back in 2015. But he is a reliable top four defenceman and Vegas has no issue counting on him should injuries thrust him into the number one role. The rest of the blueline consists of solid, physical, defensive minded guys such as Brayden McNabb, Zach Whitecloud, Jeremy Lauzon, and Kaedan Korczak.

In 2023 the Golden Knights goalies kept getting injured, which led to Adin Hill taking over the starting role in the playoffs. Hill was superb, leading the team to a championship and was rewarded with an extension that summer. He has never looked back and remains the team’s starter for the foreseeable future. He was fifth in the league in wins last season with 32 in only 50 games. The team tried to run a tandem with him and Ilya Samsonov but it just did not work. Now it looks like Hill will appear in more than 50 games this season, and Akira Schmid will serve as the backup.
I feel like this is a hot take, but when this team lost to Edmonton in five games last season, I did not look at the roster and think, you know what this team is missing, a guy like Mitch Marner. Frankly, I am not sure if he is a good fit. I definitely think this team is more talented with him, and will be an exciting regular season team. But he has not shown that he has what it takes to get the job done in the playoffs. As I mentioned before, he and Eichel have a similar play style, and while I think one of them could adjust to become a little more goal scoring heavy, I do not think Marner is going to compliment Eichel nearly as nicely as he did Auston Matthews. If the team’s goal is to sell tickets, play a flashy brand of hockey that appeals to the entertainment vibe of Las Vegas, then I think they will succeed at that. But if their goal is to win another Stanley Cup, I do not know if I would bet on it (trying to stay on brand). A playoff team? No doubt, but I feel like they are on a collision course to eventually be sent packing by one of the better teams in the league.