Another bad news hit the Golden Knights: The head coach of the Golden Knights shed tears as four of his star players made a final decision to terminate their huge contracts.
The Golden Knights received more unfortunate news: Four of its finest players decided to end their enormous contracts, causing the head coach to cry.
The Vegas Golden Knights must make a significant choice because Jonathan Marchessault is expected to become a UFA at the end of the current campaign.
Marchessault has been a member of the Knights since their founding. Before the Golden Knights selected him in the expansion draft, he scored thirty goals with the Florida Panthers in the 2016–17 campaign. His years with the Golden Knights were statistically the greatest of his career; he was one of the original misfits.
With 15 games left in the season, he is on track to score 45 goals, surpassing the career best of 75 points he established in his debut season with the Golden Knights. Should he fulfill his projection, he would surpass William Karlsson in terms of the most goals scored by a Golden Knight in a single season.
Although the Canadian winger’s track record speaks for itself, additional considerations are taken into account before signing contracts. The age of the player, the pay cap, and the state of the team all matter.
The Golden Knights will have to make a number of important decisions in light of the salary cap. The Golden Knights have one RFA and seven UFAs pending. The other pending UFAs are Alec Martinez, Noah Hanifin, Michael Amadio, William Carrier, Anthony Mantha, and Chandler Stephenson. The RFA is Pavel Dorofeyev. The Golden Knights have just under $15 million in cap space to fill four important roster spots, despite the salary cap increasing to $87.7 million.
Marchessault, a 33-year-old, has contributed significantly to the Vegas Golden Knights’ success. He equaled Leon Draisaitl for the most goals scored in the playoffs and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy the previous season. Marchessault was trailed in points only by Jack Eichel. Even so, general manager Kelly McCrimmon might consider the long-term picture, but he never seems to be overly concerned about it.
The term that Marchessault is requesting may play a major role in the negotiations. He would be 37 at the end of a four-year contract, and giving a player over $5 million at that age carries a lot of risk.
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