Golden Knights Gambling On Goaltender Situation

The Golden Knights enter the 2024 season with a goaltending dilemma.

Apr 14, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Adin Hill (33) makes a save against the Colorado Avalanche during the second period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Golden Knights are never afraid to shake things up. This offseason, they shipped out Logan Thompson, a former all-star with the team, to the Washington Capitals for draft picks. He won 20 games or more in back-to-back seasons with the Golden Knights, leaving a massive void in between the pipes.

In Thompson's place, the team signed Ilya Samsonov to pair with Adin Hill.

Writer Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, believes the team has more questions than answers at the position. In a recent column of his, Webster discussed the problems at hand for the Golden Knights' goaltenders.

"There’s pressure on Hill to prove he can stay healthy over a full campaign," he wrote. "Lower-body injuries have plagued his Knights tenure, even though he played in a career-high 35 games last season. Samsonov needs to prove he can bounce back after a poor showing in Toronto last year."

To complicate matters further, both Hill and Samsonov are entering the final seasons of the current deals. Hill signed a two-year deal before the 2023 season, earning a cap hit of $4.9 million. Samsonov signed a one-year deal with the Knights to begin free agency. The deal pays him $1.8 million as he looks to steal starts from Hill.

Looking ahead to the 2025 season, the Golden Knights are in a potentially dangerous situation. The organization hopes one of Hill or Samsonov plays his way into a new deal, but it's entirely possible that neither does. If that occurs, the Knights will have to hope one of the biggest players at the position become available next summer.

"The Knights will have cap space next summer to use on a goalie of their choosing," Webster writers. "But their options might be limited. The ideal scenario would be Hill playing well enough to warrant an extension. Otherwise, the Knights will hope the New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin or Ottawa’s Linus Ullmark hit the open market instead of signing deals with their current teams."

That might be the ideal scenario for the team, but that is far from the likeliest outcome. The Rangers are prioritizing an extension for Shesterkin. Ullmark is a potential candidate to wear a new uniform in 2025, but that is dependent on how the season in Ottawa goes.

There is also the scenario that none of those four options are available next year. Hill or Samsonov could play well enough to go to the open market and Shesterkin and or Ullmark could sign lucrative extensions with their current teams. The Golden Knights have to tread very carefully as the 2024 season approaches, or else their team could take a huge hit next season.

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