Is there a future Blackhawk on the Golden Knights?

The Vegas Golden Knights made it to the Western Conference Finals last night. It’s their fifth visit to a Conference Final in their short nine-year history. Mitch Marner has spent the last two rounds giving everyone who called him a “playoff ghost” in Toronto the double bird, with his league-leading 18 points.

This postseason has also been Pavel Dorofeyev’s coming-out party to the national scene, as he leads all players with nine playoff goals. He will be a restricted free agent this summer, leaving the Golden Knights with some tough decisions ahead.

Offer Sheet Candidate?

Dorofeyev is one of the few home-grown talents the Golden Knights have developed. He was a third-round pick in 2019 and struggled to stay in the NHL during the 2023-24 season. When Jonathan Marchessault left via free agency, Dorofeyev was given an opportunity to play up in the lineup and has taken full advantage of it. He hasn’t missed a game in two seasons, while scoring 72 goals and 116 points.

The 25-year-old winger does a lot of his damage on the power play, where 33 of his goals have come from the past two seasons. His 5-on-5 needs some work. He doesn’t have the greatest acumen, won’t win a ton of one-on-one battles, and isn’t the greatest skater. But his shot is lethal, and you can overlook those deficiencies when you can shoot the lights out.

Per usual, the Golden Knights will need to spend their summer figuring out their salary cap. They have just under $100 million of cap space invested into 15 players next season. That gives them about $4 million in cap space with a lot of work to do. That could lead to a team signing Dorofeyev to an offer sheet.

Offer sheets rarely happen because of the compensation, and you have to have your own picks to give up – they can’t be picks acquired from other teams. If you were to sign Dorofeyev to an offer sheet, he’d likely fall into the $7.02 million - $9.36 million AAV tier. That means if the Blackhawks signed him to an offer sheet, Kyle Davidson would have to give up their first, second, and third-round picks in the 2027 NHL Entry Draft. That doesn’t sound so bad when you consider they have two extra picks in the first round from the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, plus the Vancouver Canucks’ second-rounder. However, in all likelihood, the Golden Knights will match an offer sheet he signs.

Like the Vultures Circle

To bring Dorofeyev back, the Golden Knights will need to make roster moves to squeeze him and whoever else they add under the salary cap. This means general manager Kelly McCrimmon will have to work the trade market and likely have to move a player he’d love to keep. We saw this a lot here during the Stan Bowman era, so it would be nice to see the Blackhawks on the beneficial side of one of these deals.

Some of the most likely trade candidates include forwards Ivan Barbashev and William Karlsson, defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Brayden McNabb, and goaltender Adin Hill. McCrimmon will likely have to trade more than one of these players, but he’s shown he is ruthless and not afraid to hurt feelings to make his team better.

Karlsson is an intriguing candidate. He’s signed for one more season with a $5.90 million cap hit. It probably wouldn’t cost much to acquire him if you’re willing to take on his full salary. While a lower-body injury suffered in November caused miss most of the regular season and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he’s still been productive. He was very effective with three assists in the six-game victory over the Anaheim Ducks. With Karlsson, Anton Frondell, and Roman Kantserov all in the top nine, the Blackhawks will definitely be a more dangerous team.

Pietrangelo could be had even cheaper than Karlsson, but he likely won’t even play next season, even though he didn’t rule it out. Even if he does play, who knows what you’re going to get? If not, you’re just acquiring his contract for the LTIR and hitting the cap floor. I want those types of deals to be a thing of the past.

McNabb would provide the veteran presence and physical play that the Blackhawks’ defense is lacking. However, with two years left on his contract, the 35-year-old blueliner becomes far less attractive.

One player not on my list, but I’d love to bring over is forward Keegan Kolesar. He’s a big and mean power forward who would be a welcome addition to the Blackhawks’ bottom six. His offense dropped a bit this season after a career-high 12 goals and 30 points in 2024-25. But, you don’t dress a guy like Kolesar for his points. He has two years left on his contract, with a $2.50 million cap hit. I don’t think he’d be a trade candidate, but let’s see how desperate McCrimmon gets.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow