The Vegas Golden Knights have signed forward and leading scorer Jonathan Marchessault to a six-year contract extension worth $30 million ($5 milllion AAV), the team announced Wednesday.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie was the first to report of the extension.
“Really happy,” Marchessault said, per the Golden Knights’ Twitter. “More happy to be here with my teammates and the organization has done amazing things for us. Since we all came here, we just feel like a part of a big family and we love this city.”
Marchessault, who was chosen by the Golden Knights in this past summer’s expansion draft, is in the final year of his contract where he’s making $750,000. Marchessault scored 30 goals in his lone season with the Panthers in 2016-17.
“He fits our identity of a guy who competes on both ends of the rink, and he’s generating offense,” Golden Knights general manager George McPhee told SB Nation. “We like how the line he’s on is performing [with Reilly Smith and William Karlsson] and we wanted to keep it together.”
With the Golden Knights, Marchessault has been the catalyst to Vegas’ top line. He leads Vegas in scoring with 37 points with 15 goals and a career-high 22 assists. He’s been the driving force behind the Golden Knights’ surprising ascension to the top of the Western Conference standings with 27 wins and 56 points.
There is not enough to say how well-deserved this deal is for Marchessault, who is playing for his fourth team in five NHL seasons and has been longing for stability. It appears he’s got that in Vegas.
“We were hoping he would be this kind of player,” McPhee said. “It’s not easy scoring 30 goals in this league, and he’s playing at a level where he can do it again this season.”
This is the second contract extension the Golden Knights have signed this season. Vegas secured defenseman Brayden McNabb to a four-year deal on Nov. 29.