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<\/a>D Nicolas Hague<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Hague has been no stranger to the rumor mill in recent weeks with several teams believed to be inquiring about his services.\u00a0 With Vegas looking to maximize its salary cap flexibility, it\u2019s believed that the 26-year-old is available.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that long ago that Hague was viewed as a key young cog for the Golden Knights but while he started off his career in an encouraging fashion, his development has largely plateaued in recent years as he has settled in as more of a fifth or sixth defenseman.\u00a0 He\u2019s owed a qualifying offer of $2.7MM with arbitration eligibility and projects to earn a bit more than that, likely on a multi-year deal even coming off just a 12-point effort.<\/p>\nF Alexander Holtz<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Things just have not gone as planned for the 2020 seventh-overall pick.\u00a0 Unable to live up to expectations in New Jersey, Vegas picked him up last year in a draft-day swap with the thought that he\u2019d build off the 28-point effort he had in 2023-24.\u00a0 Instead, he struggled considerably, notching just 13 points in 53 games while being a healthy scratch at times and was even sent to AHL Henderson for a 16-game stint.\u00a0 It\u2019s unlikely that Vegas is ready to give up on Holtz just yet but a one-year deal at or around his $874K qualifying offer seems likely, giving him one more chance to lock down a spot.<\/p>\n F Cole Schwindt<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 A waiver claim from Calgary at the end of training camp, Schwindt stuck with the big club all season long but only got into 42 games, managing just eight points.\u00a0 With less than 50 career NHL games under his belt, arbitration rights shouldn\u2019t be too concerning for the Golden Knights so if they want to keep him around, they should feel comfortable extending the $840K qualifying offer.\u00a0 If he winds up staying, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising if that qualifying offer winds up being his next contract.<\/p>\n Other RFAs:<\/strong> D Lukas Cormier<\/a><\/strong>, F Raphael Lavoie<\/a><\/strong>, F Ivan Morozov<\/strong><\/a> (signed in Russia), F Jonas Rondbjerg<\/a><\/strong>, G Isaiah Saville<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Key Unrestricted Free Agents<\/strong><\/p>\n F Tanner Pearson<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Pearson was one of the few players whose training camp tryout was successful as he inked a one-year deal for the minimum and gave them solid fourth-line minutes while staying healthy for the first time in several years.\u00a0 Pearson probably is going to be viewed as someone earmarked for a similar role moving forward so his offers should come in at or around the $1MM mark.\u00a0 But after having to play his way onto Vegas this season, he should have a bit more success on the open market this time around.<\/p>\n F Brandon Saad<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 After clearing waivers with St. Louis, Saad walked away from more than $5MM in guaranteed salary through next season in the hopes of finding another NHL opportunity.\u00a0 That came with Vegas where he inked a pro-rated $1.5MM contract.\u00a0 He fared reasonably well with them, notching 14 points in 29 games which is decent secondary scoring.\u00a0 Now, he\u2019ll look to recoup more of that money back on the open market but it would be surprising to see any offers come near his old $4.5MM AAV.\u00a0 Something closer to half of that might be more realistic but he might be able to get a multi-year agreement out of it.<\/p>\n G Ilya Samsonov<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Like Olofsson, Samsonov took a one-year deal last summer in the hopes of rebuilding some value following a particularly rough year in Toronto.\u00a0 He probably didn\u2019t hurt his value with a 2.82 GAA and a .891 SV% but he likely didn\u2019t help it too much either and it has already been decided that he won\u2019t be back<\/a> in Vegas.\u00a0 Coming off a $1.8MM contract, he could land something around a similar price tag this year but a multi-year commitment seems unlikely.<\/p>\n F Reilly Smith<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Brought back for a second stint with the team in a trade with the Rangers at the trade deadline, Smith wasn\u2019t able to produce at the same level as he did the first time around but, like Saad, provided decent secondary scoring.\u00a0 Still, he has reached 40 points in each of the last two seasons so his camp may try to market the 34-year-old as a two-way middle-six option.\u00a0 Coming off a $5MM AAV, it would be surprising to see him get a raise but his next contract might not be too much below that either.<\/p>\n Other UFAs:<\/strong> F Callahan Burke<\/a><\/strong>, F Mason Geertsen<\/a><\/strong>, D Robert Hagg<\/a><\/strong> (signed in SHL), D Dysin Mayo<\/a><\/strong>, F Mason Morelli<\/a><\/strong>, F Gage Quinney<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Projected Cap Space<\/strong><\/p>\n Vegas enters the summer with around $9.6MM in salary cap space which is better than it often has been for this franchise at this time of year.\u00a0 However, they have a few players to sign with that money and they have been linked as a speculative landing spot for some of the more prominent pending unrestricted free agents.\u00a0 They\u2019ll need more cap space to do so, meaning a trade might be needed although the availability of Alex Pietrangelo<\/a><\/strong> for the start of next season is also in question.\u00a0 If he\u2019s going to be out long-term and the team goes back into LTIR, they could be in line to make a splash over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n<\/a>F Victor Olofsson<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 Olofsson elected to take a one-year, $1.075MM deal last summer with the Golden Knights in the hopes of rebuilding some of his value.\u00a0 While injuries limited him to just 56 games, he did rebound somewhat, managing a respectable 15 goals and 14 assists despite seeing basically third-line minutes.\u00a0 That\u2019s not going to be enough to get him to what he made on his last deal when he was in Buffalo ($4.75MM) but it\u2019s possible that he can get a multi-year deal somewhere around the $3MM range.\u00a0 Olofsson had six goals with the man advantage this season; he has reached or beat that mark five times in the last six years, making him an intriguing option for teams looking for a little more firepower on the power play.<\/p>\n