Golden Knights May Be Attempting to Circumvent the Salary Cap to Land Leafs' Mitch Marner

According to reports from a couple of weeks ago, the Vegas Golden Knights were once engaged in trade talks with the Leafs in an attempt to land Mitch Marner.

Unfortunately for both sides, a deal could not be reached due to the asks of the two sides and players refusing to accept the trade.

As Marner is set to test free agency on July 1st, the Knights have once again been a team at or near the top of the list as a landing spot for the 28-year-old star winger.

For the Golden Knights to land the former first-round pick, however, they would need to create a ton of cap space. According to PuckPedia, Vegas has just $9.6M in cap space with a roster of 18 players, and with Marner reportedly asking for $14M or more on the open market, Vegas will have to move a substantial amount of money out the door.

As the Knights have done the past handful of seasons, they have taken full advantage of their LTIR and acquired the likes of Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin. Now, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Pietrangelo may be used in similar fashion.

On Friday's '32 Thoughts', Friedman was discussing the roster for Team Canada at the upcoming Olympics and had mentioned that he included Pietrangelo on his list before someone he showed it to revealed that the former St. Louis Blues captain 'may not be available'.

The comment left Friedman in a bit of shock, but he noted that the last couple of off-seasons have led to questions surrounding Pietrangelo's ability to continue playing. This time, however, it seems very convenient that, as the Knights are heavily involved in the Marner sweepstakes, Pietrangelo's $8.8M cap hit would magically land on LTIR.

Should the Knights land Marner in free agency, it sounds like Pietrangelo's career would then likely shift over to LTIR for the balance of the 2025-26 season.

Dollars to donuts that he becomes healthy in time for Game 1 of the playoffs.