3 Golden Knights That Will Be Traded During The 2026 Offseason

The Vegas Golden Knights have never really been the outfit to tiptoe around “ruthless” asset management. General Manager Kelly McCrimmon’s made a name for himself by treating the NHL salary cap like it’s optional, and moving franchise mainstays the second a shinier more efficient upgrade shows up. Right now, as Vegas pushes deep into the 2026 postseason under John Tortorella, the front office is also staring at this brutal money maze that feels almost impossible to untangle.

Vegas is heading into the coming summer with a tiny cap starting point, something like $4.6 million in projected space. Sure, putting Alex Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million contract onto long-term injury retirement, LTIR, gives them some air, but it’s really not enough to fix the roster bottleneck they’re staring at.

The big issue is they have to re-sign breakout restricted free agent Pavel Dorofeyev, who just absolutely lit the league on fire with 37 goals this season, and they also need to deal with star defenseman Rasmus Andersson. To make those deals happen, and still keep a legit full four-line setup, Vegas is probably going to do what they always do: ship out known expensive bodies before the financial calendar closes in.

Adin Hill ($6.25 Million Cap Hit)

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If you want the clearest, most obvious red flag candidate for a salary-dump this summer, it’s goaltender Adin Hill. Hill has been etched into Vegas history, backstopping the team to that 2023 Stanley Cup, and still, his current cap footprint just isn’t workable anymore. For the last year on his deal Hill’s sitting at a $6.25 million cap hit, which ties up far too much capital in a period where every dollar matters. And look, the arrival and rise of Carter Hart has made Hill expendable. Hart has taken over the crease under Tortorella, and during the 2026 regular season he’s been operating with near perfect positional awareness, while turning into the unquestioned number-one option during the Knights’ current playoff run.

Because Hill has a limited 10-team no-trade list, McCrimmon should be able to locate a goalie-hungry match fairly fast and a proven, Stanley Cup-winning netminder always has takers and dumping Hill would open the exact room Vegas needs to lock in Dorofeyev without detonating on-ice stability.

Tomas Hertl ($6.75 Million Cap Hit)

When Vegas acquired Tomas Hertl at the 2024 trade deadline, it was sold like a total indulgence, the best “go for it” move. But two years later, Hertl’s long-term contract has turned into an actual structural problem. He still carries a $6.75 million cap hit for several more seasons, and for a player who’s slid further down the lineup into more of that secondary middle-six type role, it’s a heavy price to keep paying. With Jack Eichel locked in as the main top-line engine, and William Karlsson handling the defensive-zone tracking stuff right down the middle, Hertl’s premium salary starts looking like a duplicate cost, redundant in a way that hurts roster flexibility.

To get a team to take Hertl, Vegas may need to get a little creative with asset bundling, or at least use some modest salary retention. Still, walking away from a multi-year commitment is exactly the proactive, aggressive chess move the Vegas front office seems obsessed with- especially if they want to keep their competitive window wide enough to matter.

Ivan Barbashev ($5.0 Million Cap Hit)

Calling an Ivan Barbashev trade is the thing that makes fans swallow hard. He brings nonstop physical intensity and those high-danger playoff scoring flashes. Barbashev also fits the Golden Knights’ heavy forechecking style better than most, yet that flat $5.0 million cap hit through 2028 still makes him a very portable, very tradable piece.

Unlike those “you can’t move them” veteran arrangements, Barbashev’s value stays strong across the league because he has real playoff credibility, plus he can fill a top-six role without the identity getting weird.

If Vegas can’t get Hertl’s larger contract off the books, then Barbashev might become the more practical, sacrificial option. The Knights have already shown they’ll move efficient, beloved wingers in order to free up immediate operational room, think along the lines of Max Pacioretty and Reilly Smith type exits. Trading Barbashev would sting, no question, and it might dent the team’s physical personality but it also could be the only workable route left to keep this roster’s elite younger core together, while still pretending the cap isn’t a daily emergency.