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The Vegas Golden Knights are looking to re-sign a few key players this offseason, but in order to do so, they may have to shed some salary. According to Elliotte Friedman, the Knights could look to clear some cap space by offloading veteran forward Max Pacioretty this offseason. After agreeing to a new deal with Reilly Smith, the Knights are anticipated to be working on a deal for Brett Howden, however, facilitating that extension may force their hands on a Pacioretty move.
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The belief is that Smith will be returning to the Golden Knights on a three-year deal worth roughly $5 million annually. With Howden also in line for a new deal, the Golden Knights may deem Pacioretty expendable, seeing as he has just one year left on his contract.
The 33-year-old is slated to make $7 million in 2022-23, but after being limited by injuries over the last two seasons, the Golden Knights may feel it's more opportunistic to ship him off during the offseason.
In 39 games last year, Pacioretty logged 37 points, including 19 goals and 18 assists. The Knights missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, however, and now it looks like they may be leaning towards parting ways with the New Canaan, CT native, who is one of their longest-tenured players.
Vegas is in a cap squeeze as things stand, and in order to make any sort of splash in free agency they'll likely need to shed some salary. It seems that Pacioretty could be among the cap casualties offloaded in order to provide the team with a bit more financial flexibility as they navigate the offseason, especially with Smith and Howden expecting to be given new deals.
