The Vegas Golden Knights' chances of retaining Rasmus Andersson might have increased Tuesday after trading Kaedan Korczak to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Parker Wotherspoon in a swap of defensemen.
Andersson is a pending unrestricted free agent defenseman that has remained unsigned by the Golden Knights because they did not have the necessary salary cap space.
But the savings they carved out by trading Korczak could see them potentially agree to a new deal with Andersson before free agency starts Wednesday.
The Golden Knights trading Korczak led to them shedding his salary cap hit as the 25-year-old defenseman was about to start the first of a four-year deal worth $3.25 million annually.
Wotherspoon will count just $500,000 against the Vegas cap with the Penguins retaining 50% of his contract that ends after the 2026-27 season.
PuckPedia projects that the Golden Knights went from $4.625 million in cap space to now having $7.375 million in their bid to retain Andersson, who is coming off a six-year contract worth $4.55 million annually.
But that figure is expected to increase to $16.175 million with the expectation that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and his $8.8 million cap hit will be placed on season-ending long-term injured reserve. Pietrangelo missed the 2025-26 season while recovering from a prolonged hip injury.
How the Golden Knights would keep Andersson has been a question ever since the 29-year-old defenseman arrived in a January trade from the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenseman Zach Whitecloud, prospect defenseman Abram Wiebe, a 2027 first-round draft pick and a 2028 conditional second-round pick.
Getting Andersson allowed the Golden Knights to reunite him with former Flames defense partner, Noah Hanifin, to create a pairing that helped the club reach the Stanley Cup Final before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
Figuring out how the Golden Knights would keep Andersson, who had 17 goals and 47 points in 2025-26, was arguably the biggest concern for the NHL's Western Conference champions.
Vegas Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon has since traded away pending restricted free agents Pavel Dorofeyev and Akira Schmid to save what would have been future cap space taken elsewhere.
Wotherspoon, who had 30 points in 80 games for the Penguins, still gives the Golden Knights four defensemen under contract for next season with the idea that number could increase should they agree to a deal for Andersson.
Andersson is part of an eight-player UFA class for the Golden Knights that includes Dylan Coghlan, Jeremy Lauzon, Colton Sissons, Reilly Smith and Cole Smith.
Pittsburgh acquiring Korczak gives it another option who could strengthen both its top six and provide stability to a group that shuffled through several players in 2025-26.
The Penguins had 11 defenseman who played in more than 10 games while having 15 defensemen who played for them throughout the season.
Even with a top-six unit in flux, the Penguins still returned to the playoffs for the first time since the 2021-22 season where they lost in the first round to their cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers.
Korczak's arrival means the Penguins now have six defensemen under contract for next season in a group that includes veterans such as three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang.
PuckPedia projects the Penguins still possesses slightly less than $36 million in cap space ahead of free agency.