The rising salary cap is a breath of fresh air for many teams in the NHL. However, there are still some teams fighting to stay under it and remain competitive, including the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas showed in the playoffs that they are far from returning to the Stanley Cup Final with their current roster construction. However, they have just over $9 million in cap space heading into this offseason.
Nicolas Hague is one of the players they'd need to fit underneath that cap, as he will be a restricted free agent after July 1. Vegas risks losing him to an offer sheet if any teams are willing, and according to The Fourth Period, they might try to be proactive and trade him before that happens.
The Fourth Period is reporting that the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Detroit Red Wings are all interested in his services. They are all teams that have talked about upgrading the left side of their defense to enter contention, and the fit would make sense for either.
Vegas must improve its depth up front, so any trade would have to start with them getting a top-six forward piece in return. The Canadiens have a deep prospect pool they can draw on to get that return piece, which would also help alleviate the Golden Knights' cap issues.