LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The dominos have fallen for the Vegas Golden Knights in this early off-season.
After trading away Reilly Smith the team re-signed Ivan Barbashev, and if you haven't heard already, goaltender Adin Hill has officially signed a two-year contract with the Knights worth an average annual value (AAV) of 4.9 million dollars.
On to the other free agents:
It looks like VGK goalie Jonathan Quick will be moving on.
According to ESPN's Kevin Weekes, quick will be signing with the New York Rangers once free agency starts.
That now leaves unrestricted free agents Laurent Brossoit, Teddy Blueger and Phil Kessel.
Blueger was acquired in the trade deadline this past year and started on the fourth line in several games for the VGK during their playoff run.
Ken Boehlke with Sinbin.vegas says as good as Blueger was, the Knights might be looking elsewhere.
"They were able to bring him him and then I thought you saw when they team was fully healthy, he didn't actually figure into the lineup very often," Boehlke said. "I think he can figure into many other lineups across the NHL. I do think he commands a little bit more than whaat the Golden Knights will be willing to offer."
Then there is the beloved Ironman Phil Kessel.
Kessel played all 82 games this season, and played in the first few games in the first round of the playoffs.
Kessel has said he wants to play this upcoming season, and continue his Ironman streak
Boehlke says it's going to come down to what Kessel wants to do.
"He did play all 82....he certainly is going to want to continue his Ironman streak," Boehlke said. "Missing playoff games does not break the Ironman streak. So once we get to the regular season, he's going to want to pay every single game moving forward. I think there's potentially a place for a very cheap contract for him. He's made a lot of money over the course of his career."
Free Agency officially begins at 9 a.m. Pacific time.
A lot more moves will be made, so we will see who and who won't be wearing gold next year.