It was only a matter of time. But Kelly McCrimmon figured he'd give the conspiracy theorists some more bait with his latest move.
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was placed on season-ending LTIR, freeing up $8.8 million in cap space. The hobbled defenseman has dealt with an array of health issues over the years, which has drastically affected his play. In fact, he's been recommended to get bilateral femur reconstruction, which isn't even a guaranteed success. Alas, Pietrangelo elected not to go for hip surgery and opted for rehabilitation.
After the Golden Knights acquired and signed Mitch Marner to an eight-year, $12 million AAV deal, something had to be done.