Knights’ offseason starts soon: ‘We don’t get to sit on this for long’

Kelly McCrimmon saw joy all around the ice Tuesday night.

The Golden Knights general manager didn’t just see coaches, players and their significant others taking in the team’s first Stanley Cup championship at T-Mobile Arena. The organization’s pro and amateur scouts were there. So were members of the player development team and several other key front office executives. The staff McCrimmon and president of hockey operations George McPhee worked to assemble for seven years got to enjoy the moment after building a title team.

But their celebration won’t last as long as others.

The Knights’ brain trust will need to go right back to work to keep up with the NHL calendar. The draft begins June 28. Free agency opens July 1. The one thing at least making their lives easier is the foundation they’re starting with.

“We’re going to be able to keep the core of our Stanley Cup championship team together better than a lot of the previous winners,” McCrimmon said Friday. “We’re pretty good in terms of players locked up for next season.”

The Knights don’t have to worry about most of the skaters who clinched the Cup in Game 5 against the Florida Panthers.

Sixteen of the 18 they iced Tuesday remain under contract for next season. The only two who aren’t are left wings Brett Howden and Ivan Barbashev.

Howden is a restricted free agent, meaning the Knights will control his rights while negotiating a new contract. The 25-year-old, who had a $1.5 million cap hit last season, had 10 points in 22 playoff games playing alongside center Chandler Stephenson and captain Mark Stone.

Barbashev was a sharp trade deadline addition who had 18 points in the postseason next to center Jack Eichel and right wing Jonathan Marchessault. The 27-year-old’s hard work on the forecheck and net-front presence made life easier on his linemates, which helped Marchessault win the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP and Eichel finish second in the voting.

“(Barbashev) complemented them so well,” right wing Keegan Kolesar said before Tuesday’s game. “He doesn’t get the spotlight as much as those two do, and he does a lot of work behind the scenes that you don’t really notice that’s helping them get that success.”

The main question the Knights will have for Barbashev is his price tag. His impressive play probably earned him a significant raise on his $2.25 million cap hit, and the team is starting with about $4.25 million in space after accounting for its top 11 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders.

The Knights also will have to decide their next steps in net.

Adin Hill, who started the final 14 playoff games, is an unrestricted free agent after playing a massive role on the path to the Cup. So are Laurent Brossoit and Jonathan Quick. Brossoit opened the postseason in goal before suffering a lower-body injury in Game 3 of the second round against the Edmonton Oilers. McCrimmon said Brossoit was nearing a return when the playoffs ended. Quick was Hill’s backup after Brossoit’s injury.

The two netminders who are under contract are Logan Thompson and Robin Lehner. Thompson was the team’s No. 1 starter for the majority of the season. He even appeared in the 2023 All-Star Game as a rookie. He only played twice after the event because of lower-body injuries, but coach Bruce Cassidy said Thompson is skating again and should be 100 percent by training camp.

Lehner missed the entire season after undergoing operations on his shoulder and hips. Him spending the season on long-term injured reserve gave the Knights an extra $5 million in salary-cap flexibility, which led to the additions of Hill and right wing Phil Kessel. McCrimmon said he exchanged text messages with Lehner after the victory over Florida, but the team needs more time to assess where he’s at in the recovery process.

Those won’t be the only areas of focus this summer. The Knights must decide what to do with their five picks during the two-day draft in Nashville, Tennessee. It at least makes it easier that their first selection is 32nd overall, meaning they were the last team standing.

The party just can’t last forever. The offseason is coming up fast.

“We don’t get to sit on this for long,” McCrimmon said. “We’ve got work to do and things to prepare for.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.