The deal is worth a total of $61.6 million and includes a no-movement clause.
Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million annual salary-cap hit through 2027 — the fifth-biggest cap hit for a defenseman in the NHL — is causing the Golden Knights to shuffle the deck to fit him in. Adding the top free agent available gives Vegas another big-money talent, but the team needed to make another move to shed salary just to add him under the $81.5 million salary cap.
Before registering Pietrangelo’s contract, the Golden Knights traded defenseman Nate Schmidt to the Vancouver Canucks for a 2022 third-round pick, clearing his $5.95 million cap hit off the books.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon said that trading a well-liked veteran like Schmidt, an original Golden Knight, was a difficult but necessary part of the equation.
After already sending center Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets, the team likely needs to make another move, such as trading goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, to be cap-compliant when next season starts.
Pietrangelo was drafted fourth overall by the St. Louis Blues in 2008. They are the only NHL team for which he has played, with Pietrangelo serving as their captain since 2016 and helping the team to its first Stanley Cup in 2019.
