Golden Knights hire Craig as coach, sign Olofsson to help replace Dorofeyev
Could rely on prospects Connelly, Sapovaliv in attempt to make another Cup run
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2025-26 season: 39-26-17, first in Pacific Division; lost in Stanley Cup Final
Key arrivals
Victor Olofsson, F: The 31-year-old, who signed with the Golden Knights on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent, had 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in 78 games last season, including 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists) in 60 games for the Colorado Avalanche before he was traded to the Calgary Flames on March 6. He played 56 games for the Golden Knights (29 points; 15 goals, 14 assists) in 2024-25. … Parker Wotherspoon, D: The 28-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for Kaedan Korczak on June 30. Wotherspoon had NHL career highs of three goals, 27 assists, 30 points and a plus-17 rating in a career-best 80 games last season. He also led the Penguins with 112 blocked shots and was fourth on the team with 2:22 of short-handed ice time per game. … Marc Gatcomb, F: The 26-year-old signed as an unrestricted free agent on July 1 to provide a physical presence in the bottom six. Gatcomb had 16 points (11 goals, five assists) in 88 games over two seasons with the New York Islanders. His 23.30 hits per 60 minutes led New York and his 192 hits were second behind forward Emil Heineman (247). … Ryan Craig, coach: Hired to replace John Tortorella on June 17. Craig guided Henderson of the American Hockey League the past three seasons. He joined the Golden Knights coaching staff for their inaugural season of 2017-18 and was an assistant for six seasons, including their 2023 Stanley Cup championship team. Craig was named Henderson coach after that season and the Silver Knights (39-21-12) went to the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs.
Key departures
Pavel Dorofeyev, F: Traded to the New York Rangers on June 26 for a first-round pick (No. 26) in the 2026 NHL Draft, a third-round pick (No. 92) in the 2026 NHL Draft and a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft. Dorofeyev had NHL career highs in goals (37), assists (27) and points (64) in 82 games last season. His 12 goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs were second on Vegas behind forward Brett Howden (14). … Keegan Kolesar, F: Traded to the Detroit Red Wings on July 1 for a third-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. Kolesar had 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 82 games last season, and one goal in 21 playoff games. … Kaedan Korczak, D: Traded to Pittsburgh by Vegas for Wotherspoon on June 30, the 25-year-old had 16 points (three goals, 13 assists) in 78 regular-season games and three assists in 13 playoff games. … Akira Schmid, G: Traded to the Florida Panthers on June 29 for a third-round pick in the 2028 NHL draft. Schmid was 16-10-6 with a 2.59 goals-against average, .893 save percentage and two shutouts in an NHL career-high 34 games (29 starts) last season. He did not play in the postseason. … Colton Sissons, F: Signed a two-year contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs on July 1. Sissons had 11 points (six goals, five assists) in 66 games last season and eight points (two goals, six assists) in 22 playoff games. … John Tortorella, coach: The Golden Knights announced June 16 that Tortorella would not return. Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy on March 29, with eight games remaining in the regular season and Vegas went 7-0-1 before its run to the Stanley Cup Final, a six-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. He's ninth in NHL history among coaches with 777 wins and his 1,628 regular-season games are sixth.
On the cusp
Trevor Connelly, F: The 20-year-old had 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists) in 46 games of his first full season with Henderson. Connelly was named the Upper Deck AHL Rookie of the Month for March, broke the Silver Knights single-season record for assists by a rookie, and joined Daniil Miromanov (40 in 2021-22) and Ben Hemmerling (50 in 2025-26) as the only first-year players with at least 40 points in one season. The first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2024 NHL Draft signed a three-year, entry-level contract April 1, 2025, after helping the United States win gold at the 2025 IIHF U20 World Junior Championship. … Mathieu Cataford, F: The 21-year-old completed his first full season for Henderson of the AHL with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 59 games. Cataford was selected in the third round (No. 77) of the 2023 NHL Draft, a pick they acquired with forward Jack Eichel in the trade that sent forwards Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch to the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 4, 2021. … Matyas Sapovaliv, F: The 22-year-old native of Kladno, Czechia, had 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 72 AHL games last season. Sapovaliv was a second-round pick (No. 48) in the 2022 NHL Draft and skated in the IIHF World Junior Championship for Team Czechia in 2022, 2023 and 2024. … Juho Piiparinen, D: The 17-year-old signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Golden Knights on July 15 and will likely return to Tappara in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. Piiparinen was selected in the first round (No. 29) of the 2026 NHL Draft. He had three assists in 29 games last season, and one assist with a plus-6 rating in four games for Team Finland at the 2026 World Juniors.
What they still need
Finding enough offense to collectively replace Dorofeyev after he led the Golden Knights in goals each of the past two seasons (37 in 2025-26; 35 in 2024-2025) and his 20 power-play goals in 2025-26 ranked second in the NHL behind Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston (27). Rasmus Andersson and Dylan Coghlan are the only two right-shot defensemen on the active roster with lefty Shea Theodore playing on the right side for most of his NHL career and Alex Pietrangelo out all of last season with a hip injury. Craig enters his first NHL head coaching job looking to build on a run to the Final that began when the Golden Knights averaged 4.13 goals per game and allowed 1.88 per game under Tortorella to end the regular season.
They said it
"This team's been built through standards since Day 1, and those standards aren't going to change. You talked about winning the Stanley Cup or competing for the Stanley Cup. That's the standard that is in this organization. As for expectations, we're going to go about our business day in and day out with the goal in mind to continue to build, stack, get better each and every day, so that we have an opportunity when the calendar flips in mid-April to compete for the trophy." -- Golden Knights coach Ryan Craig
EDGE stat to watch
The Golden Knights ranked fourth in offensive zone time percentage (42.3 percent) last season and were led by Tomas Hertl (47.7), who ranked ninth among forwards. Other Vegas forwards who ranked high in that category include Mark Stone (46.6; 95th percentile), Mitch Marner (45.6; 91st percentile) and Jack Eichel (45.2; 88th percentile). Eichel was an NHL EDGE standout. He was in the 99th percentile in the NHL in 20-plus mph speed bursts (370) and finished highly at his position in skating distance (257.04 miles; 97th percentile), hardest shot (94.62 mph; 96th percentile), average shot speed (61.45; 93rd percentile), mid-range shots on goal (95; 97th percentile), mid-range goals (nine; 89th percentile) and high-danger goals (14; 87th percentile). -- Chris Meaney
Fantasy spin
Eichel is one of three active United States-born players with consecutive 90-point seasons (Kyle Connor, Matthew Tkachuk) and is a fringe top 20 overall fantasy player for 2026-27 (ranked No. 22). Vegas was the only team last season to have more than three forwards with at least 24 power-play points (Eichel, Marner, Stone, Dorofeyev, Hertl). Dorofeyev's departure could elevate Theodore or Andersson, each of whom have strong power-play pedigrees, to the top unit and give either greater appeal. Theodore and Andersson could be attainable around the top 150 overall in fantasy redraft leagues. -- Troy Perlowitz
Projected lineup
Ivan Barbashev -- Jack Eichel -- Mark Stone
Brett Howden -- William Karlsson -- Mitch Marner
Victor Olofsson -- Tomas Hertl -- Braeden Bowman
Alexander Holtz -- Nic Dowd -- Marc Gatcomb
Brayden McNabb -- Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin -- Rasmus Andersson
Parker Wotherspoon -- Jeremy Lauzon
Carter Hart
Adin Hill
Injured: Alex Pietrangelo (hip)
