Logan Thompson
This one is going to take some work and some convincing but follow along. The Vegas Golden Knights just won the Stanley Cup with Adin Hill in net. They then paid him close to $5 million per season on a new deal. Hill spent part of last season as the Knights’s third option, but he came up in the clutch.
That leaves a lot of questions in Vegas. Robin Lehner is the biggest question. The former Vezina Trophy candidate hasn’t played a game since the end of the 2021-22 season. He was out with a major injury last year, but he’s not likely to be one of those players who goes off in the sunset. He has some pretty well-reported financial issues, so he has every motivation to give it another go. The Knights will likely try to move that deal.
The Knights might be left with other options. Thompson has so much more value than Lehner, who is basically worthless on the trade market. If Lehner didn’t have that contract, he would be worth a flier. The issue is Thompson’s contract is basically a minimum salary for two more years. The Knights have no motivation to move that one.
The Devils can sweeten the pot by adding major assets while taking salary off the Knights hands. That would put the Devils in their own pickle since they have very little money left, but the Devils can afford to hold a little salary if they find another team to take a contract. The logistics are complicated, and the Knights can hold off for a season, so this is incredibly unlikely. However, the Devils should be calling everyday in case they change their minds.