4 Big Questions for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020-21

2. What difference will Alex Pietrangelo make?

Arguably one of the biggest names available in Free Agency, Alex Pietrangelo opted to leave the St. Louis Blues and sign a huge seven-year, $61,600,000 million contract with the Vegas Golden Knights.

It automatically made Pietrangelo a very rich man while also transforming the Golden Knights from a very, very good team into an elite one.

So, exactly what difference will Pietrangelo make?

Well, for starters, despite boasting talent all over the ice, the one area Vegas really lacked in was on defense. Yes, they have a rising star in Shea Theodore who could soon be in Norris Trophy consideration but, outside of that, it was more of a get the job done by committee type.

Alex Pietrangelo changes all of that.

The 30-year-old automatically brings more balance to the rest of the defensive pairings, while he can log huge minutes, play in all situations, quarterback the power play and kill penalties.

He is also incredibly responsible in his own zone and can lay the body on, while his ability to move the puck will greatly help the transition game, an area in which the Golden Knights have really struggled.

Plus, Pietrangelo can also provide offense and he recorded 52 points (16 G, 36 A) in 2019-20 with the Blues, so he will also be relied on to put up big numbers for this Vegas team.

And, providing a lethal one-two punch with Theodore on the backend, Alex Pietrangelo will just give the Vegas Golden Knights an extra weapon to which to punish teams with, and the veteran could prove to be the final piece in this franchise’s Stanley Cup puzzle.