Only a few days out from the start of their 2026-27 training camp, the Vegas Golden Knights have announced a 6 year, $20.4M extension with forward Braeden Bowman.
The deal, which will carry an AAV of $3.4M per season, locks up the undrafted free agent for the foreseeable future, and avoids him becoming a restricted free agent at season’s end. Bowman appeared in 54 games for Vegas last season, tallying 8 goals and 18 assists, while adding 12 minutes in penalties.
The 23 year old figures to play a prominent role on the team’s bottom six forward group in the upcoming season, though he’s shown the ability to move up and down the lineup and contribute in a variety of areas including on the powerplay. A former captain of the OHL’s Guelph Storm, his signing seems to follow a pattern of offseason spending by clubs around the NHL this summer.
Earlier this offseason Pittsburgh inked winger Ville Koivunen to an 8 year, $4M AAV deal despite having just 47 games of experience to his name. With the salary cap creeping up incrementally year over year, NHL front offices are becoming more comfortable doling out long term deals to players with short resumes in the hopes that they can lock in a future asset at a reasonable price.
The 6’1″ winger averaged 14:07 minutes of ice time per game in his rookie campaign, and is largely viewed as a developmental success story for the organization.
Vegas will kick off their preseason with a game against the Kings on Saturday September 19th, followed by tilts against the Sharks (x2) and Mammoth, before beginning their regular season at home vs. the Chicago Blackhawks on September 29th.
Photo: Bill Feldberg. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.