San Jose Sharks trade Adin Hill to Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired goaltender Adin Hill from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for fourth round pick in 2024.

“I know we talked last week about our goaltending being Logan Thompson and Laurent Brossoit, and it’s just an example of how quickly things can change in our business,” said Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon shortly after the trade.

Hill initially joined the Sharks in the 2021 offseason when they acquired his signing rights along with a seventh round pick in exchange for goalie Josef Korenar and a second round pick. He then signed a two year contract with the club, which now has one year left with a $2.175 million cap hit.

Hill had an okay season with the Sharks, going 10-11-1 in 25 games with a .906 save percentage. He ended up in more of a backup role behind James Reimer for most of the season, and then was the third string goalie after the Sharks acquired Kaapo Kahkonen at the trade deadline.

For the Golden Knights, they get another depth option for the team in the wake of Robin Lehner’s injury. With Lehner out for the entire 2022-23 season, the team was left with the tandem of Laurent Brossoit and Logan Thompson, with their next best option with experience being Michael Hutchinson. Hill will probably be a part of that tandem with Brossoit, while Thompson plays in the minors since his contract is still exempt from waivers. Vegas still has about $2.6 million in cap space right now with Lehner and Shea Weber on long-term injured reserve.

For the San Jose Sharks, the clear up some cap space at a position where they didn’t need to spend as much as they were. Not that investing $7 million into goaltending is a bad thing, but it wasn’t necessary when they had three NHL-calibre goalies making more than $2 million, especially when they were over the cap. With this trade, they get a mid-round pick to get themselves back under the cap, although they currently have just under $140,000 in space. However, they did this while still having Reimer and Kahkonen in net, as well as Aaron Dell in the minors if they need experience in case of injuries.

The Sharks made another minor move today as well, signing their final restricted free agent in Jonah Gadjovich to a one-year, $750,000 contract. Gadjovich had one goal and three points in 43 games for the Sharks last season.