No one saw Ivan Barbashev’s runaway success with the Vegas Golden Knights last season coming.

Most assumed the Golden Knights had bolstered their depth and added to their physicality by acquiring the 6-foot, 187-pound wrecking ball of a forward shortly before last year’s trade deadline. There were hopes he could chip in some scoring coming off a career-high 60-point season in 2022 with the Blues, but it was no guarantee.

But the 27-year-old Russian native was never supposed to become a first-line winger and emerge as one of the reasons the Knights won the Stanley Cup. Barbashev scored 18 points in the playoffs to lead to another surprise in the aftermath: The team rewarded him with a five-year, $25 million contract extension to stay in Vegas.

Assumed to be a one-year rental player, Barbashev instead more or less displaced one of the most popular players in franchise history. The Golden Knights had to trade forward Reilly Smith, one of the last remaining players from the team’s first year, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in order to provide the necessary cap space to re-sign Barbashev.

“This is the team I want to be with,” Barbashev said. “There’s no other place I wanted. I’m just really excited. It’s been a fun last five months since the trade and winning the championship. Staying here for another five years, it sounds like everything is pretty fun right now.”

Barbashev can no longer be considered the new guy after playing such a critical role last year, but he might be the closest player the Golden Knights have to that distinction after largely reassembling the same roster.

Replacing Smith’s leadership and his revered status among the fanbase as an original Golden Knight will be difficult. Smith was the first player to receive the Stanley Cup after team captain Mark Stone in June, and it felt well-deserved with the consistent two-way play he had given to the franchise for six straight seasons.

But the Golden Knights are banking on Barbashev being more valuable and building on the success he had alongside center Jack Eichel and forward Jonathan Marchessault on the top line. Barbashev’s north-and-south game opened the ice for Vegas’ top scoring threats and allowed them to dominate.

His style is a lot different than Smith’s, but it’s one that team officials feel fits better with the current pieces in place. Vegas is hoping depth can help fill Smith’s void as it searches for a serviceable replacement in the center of William Karlsson’s third line.

“Barbashev comes in as a really good player for us,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think we will be able to replace (Smith’s) position with good hockey. Will it be exactly like Reilly Smith? That would be extremely disrespectful to Reilly. But who knows? Maybe someone will take the ball and run with it and replicate his numbers and value.

“We didn’t have Barbie to start last year, and we feel we have an advantage there with his play from Day 1. I think it balances itself out.”

Barbashev finished with 45 points last season, 16 of them in 23 regular season games with the Golden Knights. The question is whether he can sustain such production.

It wouldn’t be the first time Vegas hit the jackpot by trading for a perceived fourth-line skater who turned into a big-time difference maker. Chandler Stephenson went from the bottom of the Washington Capitals’ roster in 2019 to an All-Star with the Knights last year.

Expecting Barbashev to match that coup might be setting the bar too high but the organization clearly believes in him. It jumped at the chance to keep him, seeing it as a risk well worth taking.

And Barbashev isn’t interested in resting on the laurels he earned last season, but rather moving ahead with more to prove.

“We all know it’s going to be a competitive season,” Barbashev said. “Everyone’s going to play against you extra hard, try to be the next champions … but as soon as we can turn the page and start the road to the Cup, it’s going to be easier for us.”

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