Knights' Roster After Mitch Marner Trade Questioned by NHL Insiders in Free Agency

The Vegas Golden Knights made the biggest splash of the NHL offseason by acquiring three-time All-Star winger Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but there are reportedly questions within the league about Vegas' roster construction.

According to ESPN Greg Wyshynski, league sources expressed concerns about the Golden Knights' overall depth, and an anonymous NHL coach wondered if their defense corps is good enough.

Marner, 28, has been one of the most consistent offensive producers in the NHL in recent years, averaging over a point per game in each of the past seven seasons.

He has recorded 85 or more points in four consecutive seasons as well, including last season when he scored 27 goals and finished with a career-high 75 assists and 102 points.

Marner joins a forward group that includes Jack Eichel fresh off a career-high 94 points, Mark Stone and Tomáš Hertl, who both had over 60 points last season, and Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev, who both topped the 50-point mark.

That makes for a strong top six, but it remains to be seen if Vegas' bottom six will be as strong as in past years.

In order to secure Marner, the Golden Knights had to part with a key contributor in third-line center Nicolas Roy, who matched his career high with 15 goals last season and chipped in at least 30 points in each of the past four seasons.

Defense may be an even bigger uncertainty due to the loss of Alex Pietrangelo and Nic Hague.

Pietrangelo, who is a three-time All-Star and two-time Stanley Cup winner, is set to miss the entire 2025-26 season and may never play again due to his need for a bilateral femur reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Vegas dealt the 26-year-old Hague to the Nashville Predators for forward Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon this offseason. An anonymous coach told Wyshynski that Hague is "very underrated" as a defensive defenseman.

Still, the Golden Knights are returning their leading scorer on defense in Shea Theodore, as well as Noah Hanifin, Brayden McNabb and Zach Whitecloud.

Lauzon is a candidate to fill a third-pairing role, as are Kaedan Korczak, Ben Hutton and a few others.

The Golden Knights may not have stars on their roster from top to bottom, but that is simply a fact of life during the salary-cap era.

Vegas is the model all other expansion franchises strive to be like, though, as the Golden Knights have reached the playoffs in seven of their eight seasons, reaching the Stanley Cup Final twice and winning it in 2023.

The Golden Knights always find a way to be in the mix, and adding Marner to the equation should keep that going even if there are some shortcomings they have to overcome.