Knights right winger to hit open market

It appears the Jonathan Marchessault era in Vegas is over. The Golden Knights’ 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy winner didn’t agree to an extension as of Sunday night and is set to find a new home in free agency on Monday, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports.

Getting a Marchessault extension done in Vegas was always going to be a difficult proposition without a significant cap-clearing move, something that hasn’t happened to date. 

He’s likely to command upward of $6M annually on the open market, a figure that would have swallowed up all of the Golden Knights’ remaining space, even with goaltender Robin Lehner’s $5M cap hit projected to remain on long-term injured reserve next season.

Among the teams expected to express interest in the 33-year-old on Monday include the Devils, reports The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta. They’re on the hunt for a top-six winger, especially after parting ways with prospect Alexander Holtz via trade to the Golden Knights and with Dawson Mercer and Ondrej Palat coming off underwhelming seasons.

Both Vegas and Marchessault were intent on a reunion, but Monday’s news isn’t the most surprising. LeBrun had indicated last week that Marchessault was preparing to move on from Sin City without an agreement in close reach.

The Quebec native immediately becomes one of the most attractive goal-scoring options on the market and will almost certainly have a new home within hours. 

He’s coming off a career-high 42 goals for Vegas while also playing in all 82 games for the second time in his career. He added 27 assists for 69 points, six short of his career high of 75 set with the Knights back in 2017-18. Some regression should be expected, though, as he shot 4.2 percent higher than his career average of 11.6 percent last year.