The Vegas Golden Knights didn’t even wait until the start of NHL free agency on July 1 to settle their goaltending conundrum. A day before he was eligible to hit the open market, Adin Hill re-signed with the club he backstopped to a Stanley Cup mere weeks ago, agreeing to a two-year, $9.8 million contract.
Needless to say, Hill’s Cup heroics – he took over during Game 2 of the Golden Knights’ second round series against the Edmonton Oilers and carried a .932 save percentage and a 2.17 goals-against average the rest of the way – were instrumental in his new contract. If we’re being honest, paying Hill and Ivan Barbashev nearly $10 million next year would’ve seemed unthinkable a few months ago.
Of course, such is the price of victory. Framing it more positively, the Golden Knights just locked up a 27-year-old netminder with a bona fide championship pedigree to pair with a reigning All-Star between the pipes. With Hill in the fold, let’s look at what his new contract means for Vegas heading into their 2023-24 title defense.
Hill Wanted to Stay
The fact that Hill signed on the eve of free agency isn’t insignificant. Had he waited 24 hours or so, he would’ve been free to test the open market and see what teams were willing to pay for his sensational playoff run. That he didn’t speaks volumes about how good a situation he’s found in Nevada.
The former San Jose Shark and Arizona Coyote has clearly found a home with the Golden Knights. Apart from finding himself in a third consecutive warm weather climate, Hill surely came to appreciate the stellar blue line in front of him, the veteran identity of the club and the tutelage of goaltending coach Sean Burke. As someone who has spent much of his young career with losing teams, you’d have to figure that money wasn’t everything when it came to his free agent priorities.
What Happens Now in Vegas’ Net?
To start with the obvious, Hill’s return put an end to the tenures of Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick in Vegas. As free agency opened on Saturday, Brossoit signed on for a second tour of duty with the Winnipeg Jets and Quick took a one-year, $825,000 deal with the New York Rangers. It still remains to be seen, however, how Vegas balances out the goalies that they do have under contract.
Surely the Golden Knights didn’t just commit nearly $5 million for each of the next two years to Hill for him to play back-up. Then again, Logan Thompson was demonstrating All-Star form when he was last healthy and earned the right to see some time in the crease next season himself. It would make all kinds of sense for the middle school classmates to go back to sharing the net as a trusted tandem, but trade speculation has already begun to focus on Thompson.
The other wild card in all of this is Robin Lehner, who is continuing to return to health following double-hip surgery. It’s difficult to fathom the veteran Swede to be trusted with any significant role in net after a year away, some lingering legal troubles, and an iffy injury history. However, even if there’s no on-ice role for Lehner to fill, there’s still the matter of the $5 million cap hit the 31-year-old carries, which will no longer be stashed on long-term injury reserve (LTIR). The goaltending picture in Vegas doesn’t look completely clear just yet.
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Did the Golden Knights Find Value?
At the root of this signing lies a very simple question: did the Golden Knights get bang for their buck? There’s certainly plenty of risk associated with overreacting to a strong 16-game playoff showing at the expense of the six merely decent seasons – primarily in a backup role – that preceded it. But Hill’s new contract is just as much of a vote of confidence for the player as it is for the structure in front of him.
Hill hasn’t necessarily shown that he can succeed as a true No. 1 goalie, but he has shown he can succeed backstopping the Golden Knights. By locking him in for the next two years, president George McPhee and general manager (GM) Kelly McCrimmon showed that they are confident that an excellent 16-game stretch is sustainable over a longer stretch moving forward.
That said, the same argument could be made the other way around, too. Hill had a strong season in the Golden Knights’ net, but so did Thompson, Brossoit, and even Jiri Patera in sparse duty. If Vegas, under Bruce Cassidy, boasts the defensive system and personnel to succeed in front of pretty well any NHL goalie, then couldn’t they have saved money by landing a lesser goalie on a cheaper cap hit? Obviously, McPhee and McCrimmon didn’t think so.
The question of value obviously won’t be known for some time to come. In the meantime, the Golden Knights can enjoy the sudden change of narrative in net. Last summer, Lehner’s surgery set off alarm bells and resulted in a Thompson/Hill tandem that seemed anything but certain. Now, Hill returns as a Stanley Cup hero and the club feels as good about their ability to keep the puck out of their net as they have since Marc-André Fleury left town.