Insider expresses serious concern over health of Golden Knights defenseman

The Vegas Golden Knights defense was always set to endure a shakeup this offseason.

With the Knights looking to go big-game hunting for one of the top forwards in free agency, the team will be looking to move some money out shortly. Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb are unlikely to go anywhere, due to receiving extensions during last season. However, Nic Hague is already being linked to the Philadelphia Flyers, while Zach Whitecloud could be a sleeper to be moved if the Knights believe Kaedan Korczak is ready for a full-time role and if they think they can get in on the inflation of right-shot defensemen.

However, they have their choice of keeping or selling Hague or Whitecloud, while another defenseman might be out for a different reason.

An insider gave out a grim projection of a core member of the Knights defense.

On the 32 Thoughts podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman expressed concern over whether Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will be healthy to be considered when Team Canada puts together its roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“You’ll remember that the NHL and the countries have an agreement [about naming Olympic teams],” Friedman said. “The full team is the end of December, but they have to name six players by the end of June. The dates aren’t set up yet, but it sounds like it could potentially be the week of [June] 16th— which is a week and a half from now. I put together a long list for all these teams of who could be on it, and I had Pietrangelo on that list. And someone indicated to me that he might not be available.

If Friedman’s source is worried about Pietrangelo’s readiness, that puts him as being injured until at least February, when the Olympics begin.

Losing Pietrangelo would put a serious dent in the Golden Knights defensive corps, forcing them to change course on some of their decisions. While putting Pietrangelo on long-term injured reserve could help out financially, it would also be difficult to replace what the alternate captain brings to Vegas. Pietrangelo still logs heavy minutes and plays on both the power play and penalty kill, and he was one of their few reliable scorers in the playoffs (six points in 10 games).

“I don’t have any confirmation on that yet,” continued Friedman. “I still think it’s one of those things where, at this time of year, teams are trying to figure out what their rosters might look like for next year and [if there are] any injury concerns. So, we’ll see what happens with Pietrangelo… But it sounds like there’s at least the possibility that they’re trying to figure out what his health will be like for the start of next season.”

If Pietrangelo’s ailments are set to cost him a significant chunk of next season, the Golden Knights will have to make serious adjustments quickly.