Robin Lehner and Vegas Golden Knights reach an agreement
Enigmatic goalie Robin Lehner hasn't played for the Vegas Golden Knights since the 2021-22 season because of various injuries with the most significant being a hip issue which he has had surgery for. Even though, Lehner hasn't played he was still being factored into Vegas' cap. The franchise received some positive news per Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, Lehner's will carry a $0 cap hit for Vegas this upcoming season.
The franchise was exploring their options after the veteran goalie did not report to the team's training camp when it opened a few weeks ago. The veteran issued a statement shortly after, stating that the team was aware of his absence and the reasons why.
The 33 year old, Lehner is entering the final year of a five-year, $25M contract signed in October 2020.
Vegas has been known to put players on LTIR (see Mark Stone) and many hockey pundits thought this would be Lehner's fate for his final season on his contract.
This would be a world of relief for Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon. Vegas wouldn't have had any issues being cap complaint with Lehner on LTIR, now they will have the added bonus of being able to accrue space by operating without LTIR. The amount of flexibility is significant, as they'll have $1.36M in projected space on opening night with Lehner essentially off the books, per PuckPedia.
Hockey fans will be wondering how exactly can an injured player who is still under contract not be placed on LTIR? Many conspiracy theorists will believe favoritism towards the Golden Knights franchise once again.
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