The Vegas Golden Knights have signed expansion draft selections Brendan Leipsic and Griffin Reinhart to two-year deals, the team announced Saturday.
Leipsic — the forward selected from the Toronto Maple Leafs — will receive a deal of $650,000 per year. Reinhart, the former fourth overall pick selected from the Edmonton Oilers, will earn an AAV of $800,000.
Reinhart, 23, and Leipsic, 23, were restricted free agents and are now signed through the 2018-19 season.
Leipsic is a former third-round pick who hasn’t seen much NHL time, but had an efficient stint with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies last year, posting 51 points in 49 games. His first, and only, NHL goal came on Feb. 13, 2016.
Vegas will be Reinhart’s third team in three seasons. The defenseman played only eight games in 2014-15 with the New York Islanders before being shipped to Edmonton in the 2015 offseason. The Vancouver native played in 29 games for the Oilers and tallied an assist in Game 6 of the second-round series against the Anaheim Ducks.
General manager George McPhee was adamant about getting young talent in the expansion draft, and getting these 23-year-old guys for cheap RFA deals is a good start.
Vegas’ available cap space has been bumped down to nearly $7.85 million, per CapFriendly.