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Jack Eichel's contract extension should extend the Vegas Golden Knights' championship window into the early 2030s. Candice Ward / Getty Images
LAS VEGAS — The ending to the Vegas Golden Knights’ 2024-25 season felt different from past years.
The team’s second-round playoff defeat to its division rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, was convincing. Vegas lost the series 4-1 and didn’t score a goal in the last 127 minutes. Its lone victory came via a miraculous last-second goal that Edmonton center Leon Draisaitl deflected into his own net.
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The Golden Knights approach every season with Stanley Cup aspirations, and they’ve only realized that goal once (not bad for a franchise entering its ninth NHL season). However, their other postseason exits felt less discouraging. Most years, when Vegas fell short in the playoffs, the team appeared to be a bounce or two away from winning.
Last May, that wasn’t the case. The Golden Knights ran into a clearly superior opponent. Even worse for them, it was the team they’ll likely need to overcome to win another Cup inside of this championship window.
“We got to the second round of the playoffs and we weren’t as good as the team we were playing against,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said on the first day of training camp. “What do you do with that? How strong of a reaction do you have?”
In typical Golden Knights fashion, they’ve responded by upping the ante.
On Wednesday, Vegas signed star centerman Jack Eichel to the richest contract in franchise history. The eight-year, $108 million extension will begin in the 2026-27 season and should keep Eichel in Vegas through 2033-34. It came only three months after the Golden Knights added top-dollar free agent Mitch Marner and his eight-year, $96 million contract.
The acquisitions give the Golden Knights two of the most dynamic forwards in hockey for the foreseeable future. They also give the team a chance at redemption against the back-to-back Western Conference champions up in Alberta, who earlier this week extended the best player in the world for another two years.
In essence, the Golden Knights saw Edmonton’s two-year extension for Connor McDavid, and raised with eight years for Eichel and Marner.
When the pair hit the ice in Wednesday night’s season opener against the Los Angeles Kings, they didn’t take long to show what they’re capable of. Early in the third period, Marner found Eichel with a perfect pass through the legs of a defender, and Eichel lasered a one-timer into the back of the net to give Vegas its first lead of the game.
CHEMISTRY pic.twitter.com/92dQeecgij
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 9, 2025
The very next shift, the two passed the puck back and forth in transition to set up their linemate, Ivan Barbashev, for a tap-in goal on the doorstep. Eichel finished the game with a goal and three assists, while Marner had two assists.
LOOK AT IT
LOOK AT IT
LOOK AT IT
LOOK AT IT
LOOK AT IT pic.twitter.com/13lFByyMmL
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 9, 2025
“I thought as the game went on, we settled in and started making plays, finding each other and using our speed,” Eichel said after the game. “I thought the first game was good (for our line). We’ll only continue to get better.”
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Vegas ended up losing the back-and-forth contest 6-5 in a shootout. The team is still adjusting to life without star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who’s out for the season with a hip injury, but it showed how explosive its offense can be with the newly constructed top line.
Along with the recent mega-contracts for Eichel and Marner, the Golden Knights last year locked up defensemen Shea Theodore and Noah Hanifin through the 2031-32 season, and goaltender Adin Hill through 2030-31. These moves give the organization a clear core for the next six years, which the team believes is capable of adding to the Cup they won in 2023.
“That’s huge,” Eichel said of the roster moves. “That’s one of the reasons why this is such a special place to play. It’s an organization that wants to win the Stanley Cup every year, and as a player, that’s all you can ask for.”
The Western Conference is stacked with contenders. The Oilers, led by McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, return most of the roster that won the conference in each of the last two seasons. The Dallas Stars have Mikko Rantanen signed for the next eight years and one of the deepest lineups in the NHL behind him. Winnipeg just signed perennial 40-goal scorer Kyle Connor for eight years, and still has reigning Vezina and Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck in net. Los Angeles has a budding star in Quinton Byfield and a deep forward group, and the Kings showed on Wednesday that they can also be formidable opponents in the Pacific Division.
With Eichel leading the way, the Golden Knights believe they have the talent to compete with other Western powers. The 28-year-old has developed into one of the best two-way centers in hockey, and he often converts defensive stops into showstopping plays in transition.
Eichel is a difference maker in every facet of the game. He was the centerpiece of Vegas’ second-ranked power-play unit last season. He plays more even-strength minutes than any forward on the team, and unlike many of his superstar counterparts, he’s also heavily used on the penalty kill.
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“He touches every part of the ice,” coach Bruce Cassidy said of Eichel following the extension. “He’s helped us win a Stanley Cup, and hopefully it’s many more for Jack. I love coaching the guy. It has just been great for me. It’s a privilege to have him in our locker room. I’m glad he’s back with us for another eight (years).”
As Cassidy pointed out, Eichel has also proven he can be the top-line center for a championship team. Back in 2023, he led the league with 26 points in 22 playoff games and finished runner-up for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Eichel headlines one of the best groups of centers in the NHL, along with Vegas teammates Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson, Colton Sissons and Brett Howden. The Golden Knights’ clear weakness from a year ago — and the biggest reason the Oilers shut them down in the second round of the playoffs — was their lack of high-end scoring on the wing.
Insert Marner, the NHL’s fourth-highest scoring winger since he entered the league in 2016-17.
“We wanted to add a really skilled winger, and we did,” McCrimmon said. “We really felt another winger with that high-end skill, creativity and playmaking ability was going to be important, if we had the ability to do it. We made it happen.”
The team has operated that way since day one. From the moment Vegas sensed a window to win in its inaugural season, the franchise has aggressively pursued upgrades via the trade market or free agency.
“We definitely have high expectations for our team,” McCrimmon said. “We always have, and we do again this year. It’s just how the organization has been. We haven’t had a stretch in our history where you know you’re taking a step back, or you’re in a different area of the standings. That’s now how we feel. We’re going to be pedal to the floorboard.”
Vegas isn’t young. At 28.8, it has the sixth-oldest average age in the NHL. There are key pieces that could age out in the not-so-distant future. Captain Mark Stone is still producing at more than a point per game, but he’s 33. Hertl will be 32 in November, and Karlsson will be 33 in January. On the back end, Brayden McNabb is still as steady as ever, but he turns 35 in January.
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That group is still currently playing at a high level, but it’s fair to wonder how much longer they can maintain it. It’s why the core of Eichel, 28; Marner, 28; Hanifin, 28; and Theodore, 30, is key. Having them locked up at reasonable salaries for the next half-decade should go a long way toward keeping the Golden Knights in contention.
Eichel’s $13.5 million AAV is the highest in franchise history, but it’s still well below what he could’ve commanded on the open market. When the extension kicks in next season, Vegas’ salary cap will be $104 million, meaning Eichel’s cap hit will only be 12.9 percent of the total. The following year, his salary will only be 11.9 percent of the cap, with the percentage continuing to decline from there. For context, Eichel’s current deal has been worth roughly 12 percent of the total cap since he came to Vegas. This week’s extension gives him a well-deserved raise, but it doesn’t break the bank for Vegas’ future cap situation.
Vegas also has 24-year-old Pavel Dorofeyev, who led the team with 35 goals last season and scored a hat trick on opening night. The team projects to have roughly $16 million in cap space next summer to further upgrade the lineup. The Golden Knights shouldn’t have issues attracting more talent, considering how popular a destination Las Vegas has become for NHL players. The most difficult part of building the roster was finding a franchise center to build around, and with Eichel signed to a long-term deal, that box is checked.
On Wednesday, the Golden Knights got what they wanted. They locked up their dominant, Stanley Cup-winning centerman for the rest of his prime, and they did it for a price that allows the organization to continue building a strong team around him.
Eichel also got what he wanted. He committed his future to a team that shares his desire for more Stanley Cups.
Keeping up with McDavid and the Oilers is a tall task, but the Golden Knights are pushing hard to reclaim their place atop the West.
“We know they’re going to do what’s necessary to give us a chance to win, and that’s what I want to do, continue to push another Stanley Cup here in Vegas,” Eichel said. “That was a huge part of my decision.”
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Jesse Granger is a staff writer for The Athletic NHL based in Las Vegas covering the Golden Knights and goaltending across the league. He has covered the Golden Knights since its inception and was previously an award-winning reporter for the Las Vegas Sun. Follow Jesse on Twitter @JesseGranger_
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