Just when it seemed like the Vegas Golden Knights weren’t bringing back Jeremy Lauzon, that course seems to have changed.
The Knights are bringing back the hard-hitting defenseman with a six-year extension on Tuesday, a source confirmed to the Review-Journal. The deal has an annual average value of $4 million.
The Fourth Period was the first to report an extension.
Lauzon will receive a full no-trade clause in the first year of the contract, according to TSN.
The move comes despite the Knights already addressing the left side of their blue line Tuesday by trading for Parker Wortherspoon from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Kaedan Korczak was sent to Pittsburgh and cleared $2.75 million in cap space.
Lauzon was acquired, along with center Colton Sissons, last June from the Nashville Predators in a trade that sent Nic Hague to Nashville.
The 29-year-old from Val-d’Or, Quebec played in 68 games and one goal and 13 points while leading the Knights with 89 penalty minutes.
This one wasn’t expected, neither in term or value.
Lauzon was carrying a $2 million cap hit on his previous contract, which was a four-year deal with Nashville signed on June 13, 2022.
The rising salary cap helps with the upper limit set to $113.5 for the 2027-28 season, but it is a rich contract for a third-pairing defenseman after acquiring one for a $500,000 cap hit in Wortherspoon earlier in the day.
This brings the Knights to $12.175 million in cap space with nine forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders under contract. The expectation is Rasmus Andersson will re-sign before free agency opens at 9 a.m. Wednesday at approximately $8.5 million per year.
This certainly makes things interesting for the Knights, who still need to sign at least one more forward and another defenseman.
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
