Golden Knights continue to exploit salary-cap rules with another blockbuster trade

Nobody is better at manipulating the NHL's salary cap than the Vegas Golden Knights, and they proved it again at the 2024 trade deadline. 

After previously acquiring forward Anthony Mantha (from the Washington Capitals) and defenseman Noah Hanifin (from the Calgary Flames) earlier in the week, they sneaked in just before Friday's deadline and made another whopper of a trade. This time they acquired center Tomas Hertl from the San Jose Sharks, making one of the biggest — and unexpected — splashes of the deadline.

In exchange for Hertl, the Golden Knights will be sending their 2025 first-round draft pick and prospect David Edstrom (Vegas' first-round pick in 2023) to the Sharks. San Jose is also retaining 17% of Hertl's contract, which carries an $8.1 million salary-cap hit through the end of 2029-30 season.

Hertl, 30, has 15 goals and 34 total points this season and adds to Vegas' already-impressive center depth that includes Jack Eichel, William Karlsson and Chandler Stephenson. 

It also continues their commitment to going all-in every single season and finding ways to get around the league's salary cap. 

From the moment they arrived in the NHL, the Golden Knights have been one of the most aggressive teams in the league, always finding ways to add impact players no matter what their salary-cap situation looks like.

The biggest part of that has been their ability and willingness to spend well above the cap whenever possible. The way they are able to do that is taking advantage of long-term injury reserve. When a player goes on the LTIR, teams are allowed to exceed the salary cap until that player returns. 

Currently, the Golden Knights have captain Mark Stone ($9.5 million salary cap hit) and goalie Robin Lehner ($5 million) on the LTIR, giving them the opportunity to exceed the cap. Lehner is out indefinitely, and Stone will not return until the playoffs. What allows Vegas to make all of this work is that once the Stanley Cup playoffs begin, the salary cap goes and a team's payroll can be as high as possible. With all of their moves, and when Stone returns for the start of the playoffs, Vegas will be icing a roster that is more than $15 million over the league's salary cap.

It is all within the rules.

Teams need three things to be able to pull this off.

The first is an aggressive general manager who is not afraid to sacrifice future draft picks and prospects to win. Vegas has that.

They also need the teams they are trading with to be willing to retain salary in trades, even if that drives up the trade cost. Vegas got that with all three of its moves at this deadline. 

It also needs an owner who is willing to spend as much money as possible. Golden Knights owner Bill Foley has more than expressed his willingness to do that. The result is a team that has been a Stanley Cup contender from day one, won it all a year ago and has positioned itself to make another serious run this season.