It’s official: Knights make Marner one of NHL’s highest-paid players

The Golden Knights have done it again.

Mitch Marner is heading to Las Vegas.

The chase for this summer’s top free agent ended before he could make it to the open market. The Knights acquired Marner in a sign-and-trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team announced Tuesday morning.

The 28-year-old right wing inked an eight-year, $96 million contract extension as part of the deal. He will wear No. 93 with the Knights.

Marner’s $12 million cap hit next season will be tied for the fifth-highest in the NHL and tied for the highest among wingers with Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen. It will also be the highest in Knights history, surpassing the eight-year, $80 million deal the team inherited after trading for center Jack Eichel in November 2021. Eichel, 28, is eligible for an extension beginning Tuesday.

Participating in the sign-and-trade allowed Marner to sign an eight-year deal. Free agents can only sign for a maximum of seven years.

Center Nicolas Roy was sent to Toronto in the Marner trade. Roy has two years remaining on his contract with a $3 million cap hit.

The Knights also gained additional financial flexibility Monday when they announced defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is stepping away from hockey because of a significant hip injury. Pietrangelo, 35, did not say he was retiring, but said the “likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play.”

Pietrangelo has two years remaining on his contract with an $8.8 million annual cap hit. Placing him on long-term injured reserve and trading Roy will give the Knights $11.8 million in spending power, the almost exact amount of Marner’s new deal.

New star

Marner, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 draft, is one of the top two-way forwards in the NHL. He scored 741 points in 657 games with Toronto and earned votes for the Selke Trophy for best defensive forward each of the last seven years.

Marner, a native of Markham, Ontario, scored a career-high 102 points last season and has eclipsed the 90-point mark four different times. He is the third member of the 2015 draft class to join the Knights after Eichel, who was picked No. 2 overall by the Buffalo Sabres, and defenseman Noah Hanifin, who was selected No. 5 overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Marner is also the Knights’ latest marquee addition after the team made waves with previous moves for Eichel, Pietrangelo, captain Mark Stone and center Tomas Hertl.

The Marner trade continued the club’s roster makeover this offseason. Roy, 28, scored 166 points in 362 games with the Knights after being acquired from the Hurricanes for center Erik Haula in June 2019. Roy was the team’s fourth-line center when it won the Stanley Cup in 2023 but could move higher up the lineup when needed.

Other additions

The Knights also traded defenseman Nic Hague to the Nashville Predators in a deal that was finalized Monday morning for center Colton Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.

Hague, a restricted free agent, signed a four-year, $22 million contract with the Predators. The 26-year-old was part of the Knights’ first draft class in 2017 and scored 83 points in 364 games with the organization. He was on the third pair when the team won its first championship.

The Knights also sent Nashville a 2027 third-round pick that can become a second-round selection if they make it to the Western Conference Final this season.

In exchange they received Sissons and Lauzon, who should be able to fill Roy and Hague’s roles.

The Predators are retaining half of Sissons’ $2.857 million cap hit, while the Knights will take on Lauzon’s full $2 million cap hit. Both players are entering the final year of their contracts.

That means the Knights, after the dust settles and Pietrangelo is placed on LTIR, should have $1.986 million in cap space remaining with 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders under contract.

The team still has five restricted free agents in center Cole Schwindt, left wing Jonas Rondbjerg, defenseman Lukas Cormier and right wings Alexander Holtz and Raphael Lavoie. The Knights gave them all qualifying offers Monday, which allows them to retain those players’ rights.

The team also still has three players who will become unrestricted free agents Tuesday in goaltender Ilya Samsonov and left wings Tanner Pearson and Victor Olofsson. All three will likely explore their options on the open market.