Jan 30, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (7) shoots against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Golden Knights Eligible for Full Cap Relief

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI
By Jennifer Streeter | Last updated Oct 7, 2025 6:00 PM ET

As the NHL regular season opens, the Vegas Golden Knights have officially declared defenseman Alex Pietrangelo out for the 2025-26 season.

The Golden Knights have long danced dangerously close to the salary cap ceiling. This season, Vegas found itself $7.638 million over the cap, creating a major problem. Pietrangelo was part of that issue — he signed a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with an annual salary cap hit of $8.8 million.

By declaring him out for the season, the Golden Knights have made themselves eligible for full cap relief of Pietrangelo’s $8.8 million contract according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Freidman, which Pietrangelo has two years remaining on.

With just under $9 million in freed cap space, the Vegas franchise quickly managed to get back within the salary cap of $95.5 million.

Las Vegas opens their regular season on Wednesday when they host the Los Angeles Kings at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Pietrangelo will be missing the year due to a hip injury that nagged him throughout the 2024-25 season. Though, that same year he did still manage four goals and 29 assists for 33 points in 71 games in the regular season and two goals and four assists for six points in 11 playoff games. But, the hip issue did require him to miss out on the 4 Nations Face-Off after being named to Team Canada’s roster.

The Golden Knights currently have a projected $23,929 in salary cap, according to PuckPedia.

The Vegas roster for opening-night is as follows:

Forwards (13) — Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Dorofeyev, Jack Eichel, Tomáš Hertl, Brett Howden, William Karlsson, Keegan Kolesar, Mitch Marner, Cole Reinhardt, Brandon Saad, Colton Sissons, Reilly Smith, Mark Stone

Defensemen (eight) — Jeremy Davies, Noah Hanifin, Ben Hutton, Kaedan Korczak, Jeremy Lauzon, Brayden McNabb, Shea Theodore, Zach Whitecloud

Goaltenders (two) — Adin Hill, Akira Schmid

It was the signing of Davies to a two-year, $3.3 million contract on Oct. 5 that put them over the cap and forced the eventual ruling of out for Pietrangelo.

The Golden Knights were eliminated from the most recent Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers with a 1-0 overtime loss in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Western Conference Second Round. Edmonton went on to be the runner ups for the Stanley Cup and Vegas finished with a 50-22-10 record.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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