Steve Marcus/Las Vegas Sun via AP
Vegas Golden Knights‘ Right Wing Jonathan Marchessault will become an Unrestricted Free Agent on July 1st. He had the best goal-scoring season of his NHL career with 42 goals last season for the defending Stanley Cup Champions. The 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy Winner is a priority for Vegas, although no contract talks have begun yet between Vegas General Manager Kelly McCrimmon and Marchessault’s agent Pat Brisson. Five potential landing spots for the Cap-Rouge, Quebec native are:
- Vegas Golden Knights – The Golden Knights want to re-sign Marchessault and he wants to stay but Vegas’ cap situation is complicated. Vegas only has slightly more than 6 million dollars, including the use of LTIR, so it’s not a given they can find common ground and get a deal done without some creative cap gymnastics from the Knights’ front office. The 33-year-old winger should be looking to cash in on what could be his last NHL contract. Even with Vegas’ cap situation cloudy at best, this is the most likely destination for the experienced forward.
- Montreal Canadiens – The Montreal Canadiens would love nothing more than for the local hero to return home and provide some veteran leadership and mentorship to the young core group as Montreal tries to regain its status as the NHL’s most dominant franchise. Montreal certainly has a long road back to the top of the league but adding a scoring threat like Marchessault to some of their young talented forwards like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Alex Newhook would go a long way toward gaining some respectability again.
- Boston Bruins – The Bruins are searching for offense and have a lot of cap space to burn to acquire that offensive help. Marchessault would slot it nicely opposite Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle as Jake DeBrusk may test free agency. Marchessault’s Stanley Cup experience and ability to rise to the occasion in big games could potentially help a Bruins team that has trouble getting over the hump when it matters the most.
- Detroit Red Wings – The Red Wings will be looking to build upon their 91-point campaign last season. Detroit narrowly missed the playoffs losing out on a tiebreaker with the Capitals (Washington had 32 regulation wins to the Red Wings 27). The Wings have over 29 million to spend and Marchessault could fit in nicely into Detroit’s top six. The Red Wings’ main need is on the defensive side of the ice as Detroit was 24th in goals against, but adding a piece with Marchessault’s resume has to be intriguing for GM Steve Yzerman.
- Carolina Hurricanes – One of the Hurricanes’ top priorities is to bring back Jake Guentzel. Guentzel had immediate chemistry with the Carolina forwards, but Marchessault would be a nice consolation prize if the Canes front office can’t get a deal done with Guentzel. Marchessault is older but has similar playoff experience. He will likely be less expensive than Guentzel so he could be a better fit with Carolina’s roster situation up in the air. Carolina will be trying to pinch pennies to keep as many of their free agents and RFA’s as possible so every bit of cap savings they can muster will help to produce a roster capable of winning the Stanley Cup.
Season 3. Episode 50. Prospects 25-21 – Bruins Benders Podcast
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