Golden Knights give 2-year contract extension to key defenseman

The Vegas Golden Knights have filled out their blue line, bringing back defenseman Dylan Coghlan on a two-year deal, a source confirmed to the Review-Journal on Wednesday.

Coghlan will carry a cap hit of $875,000. It is a one-way deal, indicating he’ll enter training camp as one of the seven defensemen on the NHL roster.

It’s a well-earned extension for the 28-year-old, who came in cold and made his Stanley Cup Playoff debut in the second round against Anaheim and replaced Kaedan Korczak in the lineup.

Coghlan scored three points in 13 playoff games, including his first career playoff goal in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final.

It was a good audition for Coghlan in his second tour with the Knights. He joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2017, worked his way up the organizational pecking order and made his NHL debut in the 2021 season.

That included his first career hat trick on March 10, 2021 against the Minnesota Wild.

He played a career-high 59 games in 2021-22 before he was traded to Carolina along with Max Pacioretty in July 2022. Coghlan signed a one-year deal to return to Vegas last July, and finished with a career-high 44 points in 62 games with the Henderson Silver Knights.

Coghlan’s deal gives the Knights seven defensemen after re-signing Rasmus Andersson and Jeremy Lauzon, and trading for Parker Wortherspoon on Tuesday.