Alex Pietrangelo wants to return and Carter Hart is considering signing: good luck to the Golden Knights

hit.

The math, in fact, is this: right now, the Golden Knights are $7.6M over the salary cap. If Pietrangelo can’t come back this season, there’s no problem (because the club can exceed the $8.8 M cap)… but if the defenseman can come back, the club can’t exceed it by more than $3.8 M.This is a new rule adopted in the new collective agreement, but it takes effect this season.

And when you consider that the Golden Knights are one of the 3-4 finalist teams to sign Carter Hart according to Chris Johnston (the Hurricanes, who are expected to sign Michael McLeod, are also among them, as are 1-2 other teams whose identities we don’t know), it suddenly starts to make the Knights‘ situation even more complex.

Because if there really is competition between different teams, it could cost Vegas more than we think to sign him.

It’s worth remembering that Pietrangelo’s contract expires at the end of the 2026-27 season. That means that if he’s considering a return to action, the club could be looking at $8.8M on its active payroll next year… which brings us to Jack Eichel. The center needs a new contract for next season, and we’re expecting to see him get a pay raise, as he’s getting $10M a year on his current deal. In a world where Vegas has to pay Pietrangelo next year, it suddenly becomes harder to see a world in which the club will be able to pay Eichel big money without sacrificing another big piece of its core.William Karlsson, who makes $5.9M a year for the next two seasons, could be a good candidate to sacrifice…. but ideally, Vegas would probably like to keep him, we agree.We’ll have to keep an eye on this one, but Vegas payroll specialists may be in for a headache over the next few months if Pietrangelo really is aiming for a comeback.

’Overtime’

– Oh?

– Interesting.