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Golden Knights are Closing in on a William Karlsson Extension

June 23, 2019, 11:39 AM ET [6 Comments]
Jeff Paul
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It's no secret that the announced 2019-20 salary cap of $81.5 million was horrible news for George McPhee and the Vegas Golden Knights. They are up against the cap, even at the original projection of $83 million and now have $1.5 million less to work with. They are going to need to be active on the trade market, in order to re-sign William Karlsson and Nikita Gusev, their two most-prized restricted free agents. Despite the bad news, the club seems to be making headway following an uneventful draft.


William Karlsson has been a crucial part of the team since their inception (USA Today Sports)

Both mega-insiders Pierre LeBrun and Bob McKenzie have reported that a Karlsson extension is close to being done.

Pierre LeBrun on Twitter

Hearing that William Karlsson's extension, once signed this week, will be 8-year max term, which was really important to him. Loves it in Vegas.



Eight years keeps those beautiful gold locks in Vegas for a very long time, one less than superstar Mark Stone. One question remains, how much money will it be worth? The Golden Knights don't have much cap to throw around. Teams are hesitant to give out much term, but when you don't have the cash to give in AAV, you can't avoid the long-term commitment a player like Karlsson was looking for.

Bob McKenzie on Twitter

AAV will be a shade under $6M. https://t.co/TJCQjgrUzH



Kevin Hayes got a much better deal from the Flyers, but they had the money to swing and Karlsson clearly wants to stay in Vegas. According to Jesse Granger of The Atletic, Karlsson's deal is anticipated to be $5.9 million per season over those eight years. He is giving the team a discount in AAV, but how big of a hit is it when he gets to lock in that much cheddar over that many years? Wild Bill won't be hurting for money any time soon. The scary part, is that Colin Miller, Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, and/or Gusev are almost guaranteed to be gone via trade. I broke it down in detail on the Twitter.

Jeff Paul (VGK) on Twitter

@Erik_Simonis @JesseGranger_ @TheAthleticNHL @Wptseuss $49.03 million spent on forwards right now. $54.93 million with Karlsson at $5.9 mil/year. $21.11 million on D without Schuldt/Engelland/call-ups. $7 million on 🌸. =$83.04 million. Already $1.54 million over with tons of work to do for the #VegasBorn boys. It's significant.



Stay tuned all summer for updates through Developmental Camp (June 25th) and the start of Free Agency.
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