Are Golden Knights finished tweaking blue line?

The Vegas Golden Knights have been very busy over the past week.

In fact, Vegas has:

• Selected four players at the 2025 NHL Entry Draft (Ihs-Wozniak/Nobert) (Weiermair/Sjoqvist).
• Re-signed forwards Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad to one-year, $2 million contracts.
• Traded Nicolas Hague and a 2027 3rd to Nashville for Jeremy Lauzon and Colton Sissons.
• Announced that Alex Pietrangelo is stepping away from the game for health reasons.
• Brought Dylan Coghlan back to Vegas and signed forward Cole Reinhardt and defensemen Jaycob Megna and Jeremy Davies via free agency.
• Landed Mitch Marner in exchange for Nic Roy via an eight-year, $96 million sign-and-trade with Toronto.
• Extended Kaedan Korczak to a four-year deal.

In a press conference on Tuesday, general manager Kelly McCrimmon said he’s comfortable with where the team is at this point.

“You never close the books on trying to make your team better,” he said. “I like the makeup of our roster pretty well. I think that we’ve got good depth, we’ve got high-end players, we’ve got — I think, on paper — a good team, and obviously when you get going with the season, those will be things that you look at. We’ll continue to listen during the offseason.”

He referenced the Jack Eichel trade — which was completed on Nov. 4, 2021 — because discussions for that move began in August. “So you never know. You try and stay in tune with what type of opportunities might be out there, and obviously then at what cost.”

The Golden Knights are relatively cap-strapped with the addition of Mitch Marner’s $12 million contract. Vegas currently sits $7.613 million over the ceiling, though that doesn’t take into account Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million cap hit being moved to long-term injured reserve. Even so, it appears as though the Golden Knights don’t have the cap flexibility to make this work.

That’s never stopped them before, though.

Given Vegas’ willingness to do whatever it takes, it’s difficult to completely rule out the idea that Vegas is pursuing other options.

The Korczak extension — along with McCrimmon’s comments about Korczak taking on more responsibility next season — doesn’t negate the possibility.

The Golden Knights have been rumored to be one of several teams pursuing two defensemen: Rasmus Andersson from Calgary and Bowen Byram from Buffalo.

Rasmus Andersson (Calgary Flames)

Andersson, a 6-foot-1, 202-pound right-shot defenseman, has one year remaining on his contract with an average annual value of $4.55 million.

SportsNet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last week that Vegas has had trade talks with Calgary but was unable to work out a deal before the draft.

Vegas is not alone in its pursuit of the 28-year-old, with TSN’s Darren Dreger reporting that the Ottawa Senators had a package together for Andersson and that Columbus and Los Angeles are among the other teams with interest. But the Golden Knights have an advantage the others do not.

According to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, because of Andersson’s modified no-trade clause, he has the ability to decide with which team he’d be willing to sign an extension. Reportedly, that list has one team on it: Vegas.

“It’s not that he must be extended to be dealt, but if he isn’t, the value in the trade is diminished to some degree,” LeBrun wrote. “There are lots of moving parts to all this, but the biggest takeaway is that if Andersson agrees to an extension as part of a trade in the coming days, it’s likely with Vegas.”

That being said, Flames general manager Craig Conroy said he never gave Andersson’s agent permission to negotiate with other teams. He also said he doesn’t feel pressure to sign Andersson, who could remain with the Flames for the 2025-26 season.

Andersson scored 11 goals and 31 points in 81 games last season; he was originally drafted by Calgary in the second round (No. 53) in 2015.

Bowen Byram (Buffalo Sabres)

Byram, 24, is a restricted free agent coming off a two-year deal with an AAV of $3.85 million.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound rearguard was selected fourth overall by the Colorado Avalanche in 2019 but was traded to the Sabres for center Casey Mittelstadt in March 2024.

Byram was part of Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup team, tallying nine assists in 20 games during that run. He recorded seven goals and 31 points in 82 games with Buffalo this past season.

As of now, most of the buzz surrounding Byram involves an offer sheet.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported yesterday that Vegas was among several teams discussing a possible trade and that an offer sheet was on the table as well.

The Athletic‘s Chris Johnston speculated that such an offer sheet could come in just barely below the threshhold of $7,020,114 in order to lessen the compensation package to first- and third-round picks (instead of also requiring a second-round pick).

Without their 2026 first-round pick — which was used in the Noah Hanifin deal with Calgary — the Golden Knights are not eligible to extend that offer.

However, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said Buffalo would match any offer sheet.

“Absolutely,” he said. “That’s why the moves we’ve made and the position that we’ve put ourselves in from a cap perspective have been strategic. If you leave just enough room in your cap where you maybe see a projection on a one-year deal and then someone comes over the top, you’re potentially putting your organization in a really tough spot. The moves we’ve made and decisions we’ve made for weeks now are with that in mind.

“We’ll be matching and have the opportunity to have a player under contract who we think helps our team win.”

Vegas could still trade for Byram, but Andersson’s 2025-26 cap hit is much more manageable. Details about what Andersson would be seeking in an extension have not been reported.

At the end of the day, it’s unlikely the Golden Knights will land either player. Andersson makes more sense for a number of reasons, but Vegas may not be able to put forth an adequate package to make it happen.

Plus, the validity of some of the recent speculation surrounding the Golden Knights’ trade block was called into question by McCrimmon during Tuesday’s press conference.

McCrimmon indicated that there was little to no truth to most of the rumors that have been circulating, including those involving William Karlsson and Tomas Hertl.

“It’s shameful, to be honest, that I’ve got to phone William Karlsson and say ‘Karly, I’m sorry you’ve gotta go through this s***, you’re not for trade. Tomas, relax, you’re not for trade.’ It’s ridiculous.”

Though general managers deny rumors all the time, you can never say never when it comes to this organization.

Only time will tell.