UPDATED: Breaking Down the Golden Knights Offseason Schedule

Get your calendars out. For the first time in franchise history, the Golden Knights will get the unwelcomed luxury of experiencing a full offseason. This post is a continuously updated article going over every key date that the Golden Knights will have on their summer 2022 calendar.

Stanley Cup Playoffs Start- May 2nd

The first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs started in early May.

Golden Knights Cleanout Day- May 3rd

The Golden Knights held their cleanout day on May 3rd. Head coach Peter DeBoer, general manager Kelly McCrimmon, and a handful of players spoke with the media.

DeBoer announced that Laurent Brossoit would be having offseason surgery and also that he would meet with Kelly McCrimmon on his status as the Golden Knights head coach.

Henderson Silver Knights Start Calder Cup Playoffs- May 4th

Unlike their parent team, the Henderson Silver Knights made the postseason and competed in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The HSK lost to the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.

NHL Draft Lottery- May 10th

The NHL Draft Lottery was held on May 10th with the Montreal Canadiens winning the first overall picks. The Golden Knights traded their first-round pick to the Buffalo Sabres in the Jack Eichel deal. Now that the lottery is over, we know that this pick will be the no. 16 overall.

IIHF World Championships- May 13-29

Three members of the Golden Knights competed in the 2022 IIHF World Championships in Finland. Zach Whitecloud, Logan Thompson, and Nicolas Roy won Silver with Team Canada.

NHL Draft Combine- May 30th- June 4th

The 2022 NHL Draft Combine was held at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Every year, The Combine allows teams to get a feel for the physical state of some of the top draft-eligible prospects. Teams host interviews with select prospects all throughout the week to get to know the players.

NHL Awards- June 21st

The NHL Awards took place between games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals in Tampa Bay. The hour-long show awarded the Hart, Norris, Vezina, Calder, and Ted Lindsay trophies.

No Golden Knights were honored for any awards outside of Jack Eichel, who was the Golden Knights Masterton Memorial Trophy nominee. Alex Pietrangelo received one fifth-place vote for the Norris.

Stanley Cup Final Concludes- June 26th

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to win their third Stanley Cup in franchise history on Sunday, June 26th in Tampa Bay, Florida.

Hockey Hall of Fame 2022 Inductees Announced- June 27th

The 2022 Hockey Hall of Fame class was announced just one day after the Stanley Cup Final concluded. Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Roberto Luongo, Daniel Alfredsson, Riikka Sallinen, and Herb Carnegie were the six names entered into the Hall this year.

With the Golden Knights being such a young team, no members of the franchise have been inducted just yet. Marc-Andre Fleury is a safe bet once he inevitably retires.

First Buyout Window Opens- July 1st

Clubs will be able to buyout player contracts in preparation for free agency in early July. The Golden Knights have never bought out a player in their history and have no real candidates for a buyout either. Last offseason, we saw Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, and James Neal get bought out.

NHL Draft Round 1- July 7th

Day one of the 2022 NHL Draft was on June 7th in Montreal. The Golden Knights did not have a pick in day one of the draft as they did not have a first-round pick.

NHL Draft Rounds 2-7 July 8th

The Golden Knights drafted six players at the 2022 NHL Entry-Level Draft. They are Matyas Sapovaliv, Jordan Gustafson, Cameron Whitehead, Patrick Guay, Ben Hemmerling, and Abram Wiebe.

RFA Qualifying Offer Deadline- July 11

This date marked the last possible date teams had to give qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. Nicolas Roy, Keegan Kolesar, Nicolas Hague, Brett Howden, Jake Leschyshyn, Jonas Rondbjerg, Ben Jones, Brayden Pachal, Dylan Ferguson, and Jack Dugan were all Golden Knights RFAs.

If a team did not hand out qualifying offers to their RFA’s, players became unrestricted free agents on July 13th.

Free Agency- July 13 at Noon

Free Agent Frenzy began less than a week after the draft. The Golden Knights re-signed Reilly Smith and Brett Howden and also made a major trade involving Max Pacioretty to free up cap space.

Golden Knights Development Camp- July 11-16th

The Golden Knights held their first five-day Rookie Camp in three years at City National Arena with scrimmages and practices for prospects in the system.

NCAA Free Agency- Mid August

All NHL teams will have free range to negotiate with undrafted college free agents at this time. The Golden Knights currently have one college free agent signing in the organization in Zach Whitecloud.

2022 IIHF World Junior Championship- August 9-20

Due to COVID-19, the 2022 World Junior Championships were pushed back to summer 2022. Three Golden Knights prospects competed in the tournament; Jakub Demek, Matyas Sapovaliv, and Lukas Cormier.

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Rookie Camp- September 14

The San Jose Sharks will host the 2022 NHL Rookie Faceoff Camp at the future arena home for the San Jose Barracuda. The Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks will all participate.

Training Camp- September 21

Training camp will begin on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, and will bleed into the preseason.

NHL Preseason Start- September 25

The Golden Knight’s preseason schedule is as follows: 9/25 at Colorado at 6:00 pm, 9/26 vs Los Angeles at 7:00 pm, 9/28 vs Colorado at 7:00 pm, 9/30 vs San Jose at 7:00 pm, 10/4 vs Arizona at 7:00 pm, 10/6 in Salt Lake City vs Los Angeles, at 6:00 pm, and 10/8 in Boise vs Arizona at 5:00 pm.

Start of 2022-23 Regular Season- October 11th

The Golden Knights will begin their sixth season in franchise history. An 82-game regular-season schedule in an effort to rebound after a disappointing non-playoff year in 2021-22. The season will start on October 11th against the Los Angeles Kings on the road.

#IsItOctoberYet?