Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights is the reigning Conn Smyth trophy winner, and has been a member of the team since its inception in 2017. Unfortunately for the Golden Knights, he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and his agent is giving an update on where contract talks stand.
In an interview with the Associated Press,
Marchessault's agent Pat Brisson said talks are taking place, but there's no deal done yet for the pending UFA. That's something that both Marchessault and Brisson would like to see changed.
"He's OK waiting,' Brisson said. "Of course, you would rather have a deal done. Sometimes the reason you don't have a deal done is because you're not there yet. He's been in Vegas ever since its inception seven years ago. He likes it there, been producing, won the Cup last year, won the Conn Smythe.
He's having a hell of a season this year. His production is not going down."
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Pat Brisson is right on the last part of that statement. Marchessault already has a career high 38 goals on the season, with 13 games left to go for the Vegas Golden Knights.
He's certainly due for a big raise over the $5 million per season he's been making for the past six years. The question is how the Golden Knights and GM Kelly McCrimmon can work magic with the salary cap to give Marchessault the money he's looking for.
As reported here on Markerzone, GM Kelly McCrimmon was not happy with suggestions that the Vegas Golden Knights are using long-term injury reserve to circumvent the NHL's cap system."Google 'lacerated spleen' and see if you can tell when a player is going to be back. It's ridiculous to suggest that these weren't significant injuries or aren't significant injuries," said McCrimmon, referring to the injury to
Mark Stone.
"Furthermore, the National Hockey League polices all of this. The rules are the rules, the NHL watches this very carefully."
Whatever the case,
Jonathan Marchessault appears to be firmly in the driver's seat when it comes to contract negotiations. If the Vegas Golden Knights can't make the numbers work, there will be plenty of teams lined up to offer him a new lucrative contract. He's certainly earned it.
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