Top 5 Best Vegas Golden Knights Trades/Signings in 2022

The Holiday season brings about the end of the year, and for the Vegas Golden Knights, 2022 will be a calendar year they will likely want to forget. They missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, had extremely unfortunate injury troubles, and were forced to make some tough roster decisions. However, there were some solid moves made by general manager Kelly McCrimmon in the team's 2022 calendar year.

Here are Vegas Hockey Now's picks on the five best Vegas Golden Knights transactions of 2022.

5) Help With Hill

The Deal: On Aug. 29, 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights acquired goaltender Adin Hill from the San Jose Sharks for a 2024 fourth-round pick.

With unfortunate hip injuries to Robin Lehner and Laurent Brossoit, the Golden Knights went out and added goaltender Adin Hill from the San Jose Sharks. This move has given the VGK a more reliable goaltending duo with Hill and Logan Thompson. 

So far this season, they have put together a combined .908 save percentage, good for ninth in the league currently. In 12 games this season, Hill has been strong with an 8-3 record and a .903 save percentage. He has been a great complimentary goaltender for the VGK.

4) Nabber, My Bro

The Deal: On Jan. 30, 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights extend defensemen Brayden McNabb to a three-year deal worth $2.85 million AAV.

Brayden McNabb has been nothing but a perfect shutdown defenseman for the Golden Knights since being claimed in the team's expansion draft. He has played nearly 380 career games with the Golden Knights, putting up over 780 blocked shots.

McNabb is 31 years old, and signing him to a bridge deal at less than $3 million was a good move by GMKM, as every team needs a shutdown player like McNabb. As he enters the latter half of his NHL career, McNabb will continue to provide the VGK with a reliable veteran D-man.

3) Re-Signing Roy

The Deal: On Aug. 8, 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights extended forward Nicolas Roy to a five-year deal worth $3 million AAV.

General manager McCrimmon had a couple of challenging restricted free agents to sign in the summer of 2022. But perhaps none were more important than Nicolas Roy, who has emerged as a skilled bottom-six forward for the VGK since coming over from the Carolina Hurricanes.

At 6-foot-4, Roy has been the main catalyst to the Golden Knight's strong fourth-line play alongside Keegan Kolesar and William Carrier. Roy has 13 points in 33 games this season and has proven to be a clutch playoff performer. Signing the 25-year-old to a lengthy extension at a reasonable cap greatly helps the VGK's center depth heading into the future with Roy, William Karlsson, and Jack Eichel down the middle.

2) Tommer Time

The Deal: On Jan 30, 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights extended goaltender Logan Thompson to a three-year deal worth $766K AAV.

Extending a starting goaltender to a multi-year contract under $1 million doesn't happen often. But for Logan Thompson and the VGK, it might have. In 24 games this season, LT has been stellar for the VGK with a .914 save percentage and a 16-8-0 record. He is a frontrunner for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year, an award that has not been won by a goaltender since Steve Mason in 2009.

This deal was signed before injuries to Lehner and Brossoit arose and before Thompson truly emerged. Still, having such a good young goaltender at such a low cap hit will certainly benefit the cap-strapped Golden Knights in the next three years.

1) Signing Smith

The Deal: On July 13, 2022, the Vegas Golden Knights extended forward Reilly Smith to a three-year deal worth $5 million AAV.

A mutual understatement between Reilly Smith and the Golden Knight's management resulted in a contract extension that was quite literally an extension. Despite having all the cards on the table to do so, Smith's cap hit did not increase between his prior deal ($5 million AAV) and the one he signed with the Golden Knights ($5 million). In short, Smith, knowing the Golden Knight's cap situation, did not take a raise despite having the ability to do so.

This deal has already paid off for the VGK, as Smith is currently leading the team in goals with 17. He has been an extremely versatile player, scoring only seven of his 17 goals at even strength. He leads the league in shorthanded goals with four, has six powerplay goals, and three game-winners.

At 31 years old, the original Misfit Smith likely has a couple more seasons like this left with the Golden Knights.