Can Vegas afford to bring back ‘Original Misfit’ Jonathan Marchessault next season?

For most, Jonathan Marchessault is the face of the Vegas Golden Knights. But with his six-year, $30 million contract expiring after this season, how much longer will he continue to be? 

One of the ‘Original Misfits’ selected by the team in the 2017 expansion draft, Marchessault has not only been a part of, but has played a huge role in the success for Vegas in its first eight seasons. 

Outside of the shortened seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21, Marchessault has scored 25 or more goals every year for Vegas. His career-high previously sat at 30 goals until the 33-year-old exploded for 42 goals and 27 assists this season. 

Oh, did I mention that he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, helping the Golden Knights to their first Stanley Cup in 2023?

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Marchessault currently has four points (two goals, two assists) in five games against the Dallas Stars in the Golden Knights’ first-round series. Vegas trails Dallas 3-2 as the series shifts back to ‘Sin City’ for Game 6 on Friday. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: As soon as the Golden Knights got Tomas Hertl, it felt like it was a signal to Marchessault that ‘We might be moving on from you.’ Is that an accurate read of this situation?

Frank Seravalli: It’s just a mathematical read of the situation. I just can’t look at the Vegas Golden Knights’ cap table, with the addition of Tomas Hertl, with the new extension for Noah Hanifin. Even with the cap space that’s being added to all 32 teams this summer, $4.3 million in additional dollars. The Vegas Golden Knights have basically spent a big chunk of that already. So then you have Marchessault have this incredible 42-goal year. How do you say goodbye to one of the ‘Original Golden Misfits’ who has won a Stanley Cup and been to a Final?

Unless he is willing to take a massive hometown discount, which also doesn’t really make a lot of sense for him…. He’s going to probably need to go after every dollar that he can, and I just can’t see that happening in Vegas. 

You can watch the full segment and episode here: