Elliotte Friedman opines on Jonathan Marchessault's contract holdout with Vegas Golden Knights

By ARJUN B

Modified May 29, 2024 17:36 GMT

Elliotte Friedman shared his thoughts on Jonathan Marchessault's contract situation with the Vegas Golden Knights on his "32 Thoughts" podcast. Marchessault is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.

Marchessault originally signed a six-year, $30 million contract with the Golden Knights in January 2018, worth $5 million per season.

Marchessault stood out this season, scoring a career-high 42 goals and 27 assists for 69 points. During the playoffs, he scored two goals and two assists. Despite his stats, the Golden Knights have not extended his contract.

"I think the Vegas Golden Knights look at it ‘Hey, it’s May 28. Free agency isn’t until July 1, we have time, we’re going to sort it out, or at least figure out exactly what we can offer you and go from there. But we still have a month," Friedman said.

"But the player who’s been waiting all year, and it’s his future, he’s a bit more on edge. He wants to know, his family probably wants to know."

Friedman believes Jonathan Marchessault's perspective is:

"I want this to be over. I want to know that I’m going to be a Golden Knight or not. I don’t like the uncertainty and I don’t want to have it for another month."

Jonathan Marchessault frustrated by lack of communication from Knights

Jonathan Marchessault voiced his concerns about the lack of communication from the Vegas Golden Knights regarding a potential contract extension.

Speaking before the World Series of Poker event, Marchessault said:

"They (Vegas Golden Knights) said they were interested to definitely re-sign me and we'll see. Technically they have time until June 30, so we'll see how it goes."

Jonathan Marchessault speculated that the Golden Knights were still evaluating their options and the marketplace before committing to him long-term.

"The Golden Knights, they want to be good every year, so they're probably looking at all their options and probably checking what's out there and we'll see where it brings us," he said.

The veteran forward expressed frustration that the team had not initiated discussions during the season after rebuffing his request last summer.

"I asked last summer. I was like, 'You know what? I would rather do it in the summer before the season.' And they said they're not ready to do that, and after there's not even a single talk that happened during the season," Marchessault added.

It remains to be seen if the two sides can find common ground on an extension before July 1st.