Nicolas Hague has been one of the longest-tenured Golden Knights players. He has spent the last six seasons with the team and was one of their first-ever draft picks back in 2017. But his time in Vegas might be coming to an end as David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that the team has started to field calls about Hague in advance of his upcoming restricted free agency.
The 26-year-old has never been a big point producer at the NHL level as his career high in that regard is just 17, set back in 2020-21 and 2022-23. However, Hague has been a steady physical shutdown defender throughout his NHL career, a role he should be able to fill for several more years.
This past season, Hague played in 68 games for Vegas, picking up five goals and seven assists while averaging 17 minutes a night. He also chipped in with 74 blocked shots and 82 hits, numbers that were a fair bit below the 111 and 153, respectively, he had the year before.
Hague is entering his final year of restricted free agency and will have arbitration eligibility for the first time. His qualifying offer also checks in above his cap hit from the last three seasons at $2.7MM and it stands to reason he could push past $3MM on a one-year deal if he makes it to a hearing. Meanwhile, a longer-term pact could land closer to the $4MM range.
That’s an amount that the Golden Knights might not be able to afford. They presently have $9.6MM in cap room, per PuckPedia, but have several roster spots to fill with that money. Reilly Smith, Victor Olofsson, Brandon Saad, and Ilya Samsonov highlight the list of pending unrestricted free agents while Hague and Alexander Holtz are the notable restricted free agents. If Vegas wants to try to add a piece or two this summer, they’re going to have to go cheap to fill the other roster spots which could push Hague out, making his case one to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.