Vegas Golden Knights have won the sweepstakes for All-Star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. Considered one of the top free-agents this offseason, Pietrangelo agreed to a seven-year deal with Vegas on Monday.
According to the terms of the deal, Pietrangelo is set to earn $8.8 million per year, with a total value of the contract being $61.6 million. This will make him the fifth-priciest defenseman in the NHL.
The 30-year-old defenseman will also receive a no-movement clause as part of the agreement.
In order to clear the cap space necessary for signing Pietrangelo, Vegas parted ways with several veterans, including defenseman Nate Schmidt. However, according to general manager Kelly McCrimmon, it was the price the organization needed to pay in order to get better.
“When we looked at opportunities to improve our team, we saw a rare opportunity to add an elite player like Alex to our team,” said McCrimmon. “For us, we viewed it as a similar opportunity to when we acquired Mark Stone. Generally, these are players don’t make it to market.”
Alex Pietrangelo spent his entire career with St. Louis Blues, serving as a team captain for the last five years and leading the team on an improbable Stanley Cup title-winning run in 2019. Blues made a strong push to resign him in recent weeks, but the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement.
Reportedly, Blues offered Pietrangelo an eight-year deal, with a value north of $64 million, but were short on finer details. The player asked for a no-movement clause and signing bonuses in later years of the contract, something that the organization wasn’t willing to give him.
Pietrangelo has 758 career games in NHL with the Blues, having contributed with 109 goals and 341 assists for a total of 450 points. He has two All-Star appearances and was selected to NHL Second All-Star Team three times.
