Marchessault waiting to hear from Knights about new contract

Jonathan Marchessault is still waiting for a phone call from the Golden Knights.

The team’s leading scorer appeared Tuesday at the opening of the World Series of Poker and said he has not heard from the Knights to begin negotiations on a new contract. Marchessault is set to become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

“I did not have a call yet or anything,” Marchessault said. “They said they were interested to definitely re-sign me and we’ll see. Technically they have time until June 30, so we’ll see how it goes.

“The Golden Knights, they want to be good every year so they’re probably looking at all their options and probably checking what’s out there and we’ll see where it brings us.”

Marchessault developed into one of the team’s most popular players during his seven seasons with the Knights. He won the 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP while helping the team win the Stanley Cup. He’s also the club’s all-time leader in goals, assists and points.

Marchessault’s 42 goals this season were one off the franchise record set by center William Karlsson during the Knights’ inaugural campaign.

Marchessault signed a six-year, $30 million extension in 2018 that is about to expire. He was eligible to negotiate a new contract last summer and said he told the Knights he preferred to get a deal done then.

He said the team wanted to wait.

“I asked last summer. I was like, ‘You know what? I would rather do it in the summer before the season.’ And they said they’re not ready to do that, and after there’s not even a single talk that happened during the season,” Marchessault said. “I don’t know. Technically as an organization you sign the player for six years, so you have the full six years and after you can deal with it. So we’ll see.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.