October 17, 2024 | 4:51pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

VEGAS, HILL HAVEN’T STARTED CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Adin Hill, goaltender

With several goalies signing new contracts with their respective clubs, the Vegas Golden Knights have started the season with two netminders on expiring deals.

Earlier on Thursday, the Dallas Stars locked up netminder Jake Oettinger to an eight-year, $66 million contract.

In Vegas, Adin Hill is in the final year of a two-year, $9.8 million contract, while Ilya Samsonov signed a one-year, $1.8 million deal with the Knights in the off-season.

Hill, 28, helped the Golden Knights capture a Stanley Cup championship in 2023 and is in line for a raise over his current $4.9 million cap hit.

During the latest edition of “Game Day” on TFP, David Pagnotta reported that contract negotiations have not yet gotten underway between the Knights and Hill’s representatives.

“I talked to both sides this morning after Oettinger’s deal, (and) nothing has been going on this point, there’s nothing imminent,” Pagnotta said. “Conversations are expected to pick up in and around the New Year. Now, maybe Oettinger’s deal escalates things, but as of this morning, that’s kind of the mindset that they’ll tackle this towards the second half of the season, maybe just prior to it.”

The Golden Knights have just over $25.3 million in available salary cap space for the 2025-26 season, as per PuckPedia, based on this season’s $88 million cap ceiling. They can add an additional $4.5 million in cap space if the cap hits $92.5 million, as it is currently projected.

In addition to Hill, and Samsonov, defencemen Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb are also on expiring deals and will be in line for raises, too.

As Pagnotta noted, with respect to Hill, talks could begin sooner than January after Oettinger’s new deal was finalized earlier today, but it does not appear as if either side is in a big rush, at the moment.