Why Vegas Needs to Extend Jonathan Marchessault

1. He's Elevating His Game

The Original Misfit has 28 goals on the season, good for being tied for 14th in the NHL. In January, he had eight goals and five assists alone. This was when the injuries flew around, with William Karlsson and Jack Eichel being out of commission.

As for December? The Quebec native had the same stat line: eight goals and five assists. Jonathan Marchessault has been a boon for the Vegas Golden Knights. He's already closing in on his career-high in goals (30, both in 2016-2017 and 2021-2022) and is projected to score 42. For the Golden Knights, you can't pass up an opportunity to get back your superstar. That's especially true if he's a fan favorite.

2. Extending Jonathan Marchessault Can Be Done

While Marchessault is currently being paid $5 million for the season, there's a possibility he'll get more. Now, I know what you're thinking.

"With big contracts on the board (i.e. Eichel and Mark Stone), how can Vegas afford another? You're tying up more resources to a single player by giving him an extension. That's unpossible!"

Here's the thing: Chandler Stephenson is also a free agent after this season. The center's current cap hit is $2.75 million, which will relieve some cap space for the Knights. Alec Martinez is going to hit the free agent market after this season, with $5.25 million being lifted from the books.

Let's use some younger players as examples of good replacements. Young stars like Brendan Brisson and Kaeden Korczak are waiting in the wings. They're also cheaper options (Brisson's a $925,000 cap hit, while Korczak's a restricted free agent at the end of the season with a current AAV of $905,000). Vegas has plenty of options for replacements, where they can just plug in to replace Stephenson and Martinez.

All this is not even mentioning the NHL salary cap is projected to go up to $87.7 million next offseason. The Golden Knights have $4.2 million more to work with, which makes extending Marchessault easier.

3. There Are Other Benefits of Jonathan Marchessault

While Jonathan Marchessault isn't the biggest person and certainly doesn't look like he fits Bruce Cassidy's system, he does have a role. He's a goal scorer, where he put points on the board consistently. He sees the ice well, setting up quality scoring opportunities for his teammates.

On top of that, he's great on the power play. In his seven years as a Vegas Golden Knights, the Quebec native has 40 power play goals and 58 power play assists. While he isn't valuable on the defensive end, his offensive usage and assets are strong enough to mitigate his shortcomings.