Golden Knights land Alex Pietrangelo
The National Hockey League typically starts its season in October with the playoffs wrapping up in June. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic the calendar has been completely flipped upside down. With the Tampa Bay Lightning awarded the Stanley Cup just last week, the NHL began its annual free agent frenzy on October 6. While some big names were signed immediately, the biggest name on the board did not make anything official until Monday.
Superstar free agent defenceman Alex Pietrangelo decided the time was right to leave St. Louis and start anew after 12 years with the Blues’ organization. Pietrangelo inked a $61.6m, seven-year deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, becoming the fifth-highest paid defenceman in the league.
“When we looked at opportunities to improve our team, we had what we believed was an incredible rare opportunity to add a defenceman, an elite player, like Alex to our team,” said Golden Knights’ general manager Kelly McCrimmon, via TSN. “We projected what a contract would be for Alex and then at the end of that process asked ourselves, ‘Does this make us a better team? Does it improve our chances of winning?’ We believe quite strongly that it does.”
McCrimmon was a busy man on Monday, trading away another defenceman Nate Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks prior to landing Pietrangelo in order to free up some much-needed cap space. The Golden Knights only received a 2022 third-round pick in exchange for Schmidt, but they managed to clear up $5.95m in cap space.
“Nate has been one of the top defencemen in our division in recent years,” said Canucks GM Jim Benning following the trade. “He’s a dynamic player who competes hard all over the ice. I think he will be a really good fit in our group.”
Vegas were eliminated in the Western Conference final by the Dallas Stars and are looking to take that next step after reaching the Stanley Cup final in the expansion season two years ago.
“He’s one of the top four or five defencemen in the game,” McCrimmon said of Pietrangelo. “He’s the first over the boards in every situation for his team.
The Golden Knights’ gain is the Blues’ loss though as they lose one of the cornerstones that the squad was built around. Pietrangelo helped lead St. Louis to their first ever Stanley Cup triumph just last season. He was drafted fourth overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Blues and has spent his entire NHL career with the organization.
“We couldn’t find something that made everyone comfortable,” said Blues’ general manager Doug Armstrong. “It’s not the first time, it won’t be the last time this happens in the NHL. You just wish it didn’t happen because of the respect and the desire we had to keep Alex here.”
Along with winning the Stanley Cup last year, Pietrangelo also has a plethora of experience playing for Canada at the international level. He won a gold medal with his country at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games and also has a gold medal with Canada from the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
