Alex Pietrangelo signed a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. It has an average annual value of $8.8 million.
The 30-year-old defenseman has played all 12 seasons of his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues. He scored 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 70 games last season and six points (one goal, five assists) in nine postseason games.
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“With Alex, we get a guy that’s in the discussion for the Norris Trophy each year,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He’s one of the top four or five defensemen in the game. He’s the first over the boards in every situation for his team. … He’s a four-year captain (with St. Louis). He’s extremely high-character, very committed to winning, Stanley Cup champion. Right shot. He’s 6-foot-3, brings great size (210 pounds) to our blue line. And again, we wouldn’t have gone to these lengths for anyone but a player that we think can do as much for our team as Alex can.”
Pietrangelo scored 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in 26 Stanley Cup Playoff games to help the Blues win the Cup for the first time in their 51-season history in 2019.
The Golden Knights traded defenseman Nate Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday for a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, clearing space under the $81.5 million NHL salary cap to help them be able to sign Pietrangelo. The 29-year-old has five seasons left on a six-year contract ($5.95 million AAV) he signed with Vegas on Oct. 25, 2018.
“There is only one scenario, one situation, where we would have considered a trade involving Nate Schmidt, and that was exactly the situation that presented ourselves with the opportunity to add Alex to our team,” McCrimmon said.
Selected by St. Louis in the first round (No. 4) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Pietrangelo has scored 450 points (109 goals, 341 assists) in 758 NHL games. A two-time selection to the NHL Second All-Star Team (2011-12, 2013-14), Pietrangelo has scored 51 points (eight goals, 43 assists) in 92 playoff games.
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