The Vegas Golden Knights will face competition to sign forward Jonathan Marchessault as he will become a free agent on July 1.
According to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun, the Golden Knights and Marchessault couldn’t agree to a deal before midnight on June 30. Consequently, one of the members of the “Original Misfits” group of players could leave Vegas ahead of the 2024-25 season.
“Jonathan Marchessault is headed to market Monday. Unable to come to terms with the Vegas Golden Knights,” LeBrun reported a few minutes into July 1.
Marchessault, still 33 years old, is coming off completing a six-year, $30 million contract signed in 2018. He scored 32 goals in the 2024 season for the Golden Knights, but everything pointed toward a break in the relationship judging by the latest updates.
Marchessault & Golden Knights Not In Best Terms
The truth is we hadn’t heard a lot from Marchessault or Vegas before LeBrun shared his report just a few hours before free agency kicks off on July 1 at noon ET.
Marchessault last appeared in public on Tuesday, May 28, during the opening day of the World Series of Poker when he spoke, as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Back then, with a month left between that moment and free agency, Marchessault revealed the lack of communication between both sides.
“I did not have a call yet or anything,” Marchessault said on May 28. “They said they were interested to definitely re-sign me and we’ll see. Technically they have time until June 30, so we’ll see how it goes.”
At that point, Vegas had not contacted Marchessault nor offered him a new contract. The forward seemed to understand the situation and the Golden Knights’ approach to the offseason, leaving all doors open.
“The Golden Knights, they want to be good every year so they’re probably looking at all their options and probably checking what’s out there and we’ll see where it brings us,” Marchessault said.
Before that, however, Marchessault told Danny Webster of Las Vegas Review-Journal that he “had done everything I can to stay here,” on May 9.
The Golden Knights have a tiny $1.8 million in cap space entering July 1. Consequently, it makes sense for the franchise to give itself some room and try to see who is available and who signs where instead of making any transactions, such as re-signing Marchessault, in advance.
Golden Knights’ Roster Maneuvers
The Golden Knights are one of the most savvy franchises in the NHL since they entered the league less than a decade ago.
Vegas has completed an endless number of roster moves in the past few years, most of them aimed at navigating and avoiding roster rules and constraints.
Ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, the Golden Knights acquired forward Tomas Hertl and defenseman Noah Hanifin via trades going over the salary cap set by the NHL taking advantage of Mark Stone‘s situation.
The Knights placed Stone on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) in the 2022-23 season following two back surgeries. Stone returned in time for the playoffs and Vegas won their first-ever title.
Then, a year later, he landed on LTIR again with a lacerated spleen on February 20, 2024. The injury sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season but he was ready to play in the first game of the postseason.
Like Heavy.com’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy.com
The post Golden Knights Risk Losing $30 Million Forward in Free Agency appeared first on Heavy.com.