It’s never easy to lose a cornerstone player, let alone the captain who brought the Stanley Cup to St. Louis. Alex Pietrangelo is a Golden Knight now, and he will be for the next seven years - and the contract structure may cause headaches for Vegas as time goes on.
Already players are in the process of being moved (some of whom were caught off guard by their being dealt), and at least one other will have to be shipped out to relax Vegas’ cap situation. The obvious target for trade is Marc-Andre Fleury, but with a $7 million cap hit, and most teams’ goaltending looking to be set, that may be easier than done.