The top 5 moments of Alex Pietrangelo’s Golden Knights career

Alex Pietrangelo was a difference-maker from the moment he signed with the Golden Knights.

It was already common practice for the Knights to bring in impact players, but the defenseman’s seven-year, $61.6 million contract signed on Oct. 12, 2020, remains the largest the Knights have ever committed to an incoming free agent.

The former captain of the St. Louis Blues played 329 games in five seasons with the Knights, scoring 187 of his 637 career points. He tied his career high of 54 points in the 2022-23 season as the No. 1 defenseman on the Knights’ Stanley Cup-winning team.

But a hip injury that requires bilateral femur reconstruction has all but ended the 35-year-old’s playing career after 1,087 NHL games. Pietrangelo has been placed on long-term injured reserve with two years remaining on his contract.

“I’ve never met a person like him,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “Just the leadership, the care and compassion for teammates. … We’re not a Stanley Cup champion without Petro being part of our organization.”

It was rare that Pietrangelo missed time. He only missed 40 games the past four seasons combined.

Nine games were in 2023 after his daughter Evelyn was hospitalized and diagnosed with encephalitis.

He missed the final month of the 2024 regular season after getting his appendix removed.

Pietrangelo missed 11 games last season due to injuries and had to withdraw from representing Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Pietrangelo continued on, at times not looking like himself, but never let it show that his career was likely coming to an end.

He talked as if he still had hopes of wanting to play for Canada in the Winter Olympics in February. That he wanted to play out the rest of his contract and retire on his own terms.

“He’s a walking, living legend, but I just see him as Petro,” defenseman Zach Whitecloud said in December. “I hope people realize how incredible that is to have a defenseman like that in our age. To be able to play with one and work with one is pretty special.”

Here are the top five moments of Pietrangelo’s run with the Knights:

5. Weird first season

Pietrangelo’s arrival in Las Vegas would’ve been welcomed with plenty of fanfare in any other year but 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the 2020-21 season start date to January, and fans weren’t allowed inside T-Mobile Arena until March.

So, Pietrangelo didn’t get the welcome treatment right away. It didn’t take long to see why he was one of the game’s best defensemen.

He led the Knights in ice time at 24:26, almost two minutes more than the next on the list, his defense partner Alec Martinez (22:34).

Pietrangelo turned out to be the workhorse they invested in, playing in all three phases. He proved that in the playoffs with 12 points in 19 games, including the game-winning goal in the Game 6 clincher against the Colorado Avalanche.

It was the third time in four years the Knights made the league’s semifinals, and it wouldn’t be the last with Pietrangelo in the fold.

4. An All-Star again

Pietrangelo’s third and final All-Star appearance came at T-Mobile Arena.

Pietrangelo joined captain Mark Stone and former right wing Jonathan Marchessault as the Knights’ representatives in the 2022 midseason classic.

The Pacific Division lost 6-4 to the Metropolitan Division, but it was still a memorable experience for Pietrangelo.

“When you’re in the comfort of your own home and your home rink, it makes it even better,” Pietrangelo said. “You’re on your home ice. It’s a real special experience to have an opportunity to make it when you’re on that home team.”

3. First goal vs. Blues

Pietrangelo already played the Blues nine times before a Dec. 23, 2022, matchup at T-Mobile Arena. He had yet to score against his former team, though.

That was until he took a drop pass from center Chandler Stephenson, skated through the slot and fired a backhand by former teammate Jordan Binnington.

The Knights won 5-4 in a shootout.

2. 1,000th game

Pietrangelo always hoped this night was under better circumstances.

He became the first Knights player to skate in his 1,000th NHL game on Feb. 12, 2024. He was joined on the ice by his family, and McCrimmon presented him with a gold stick.

The Knights lost 5-3 to the Minnesota Wild to put a damper on that night.

“I like winning,” Pietrangelo said. “That’s the frustrating part.”

But Pietrangelo still took a step back to acknowledge how special of a moment it was.

“Personally, having my family on the ice is a pretty special thing,” Pietrangelo said. “It’s been a pretty crazy year for me and my wife, especially everything that went on last year, so I’m blessed to have a special family.”

1. Hoisting Cup again

Pietrangelo already knew what hoisting the 35-pound Stanley Cup was like. He did it four years prior as the captain of the Blues.

He was one of a few players on the Knights who already won it before. They relied on his veteran leadership and experience to capture the first championship in franchise history.

Pietrangelo had 10 points in 21 playoff games, his last point coming on a stretch pass to a streaking Jack Eichel, who dropped it to Martinez for the first of four Knights goals in the second period in a 9-3 win in Game 5 over the Florida Panthers on June 13, 2023.

Pietrangelo wasn’t the first to hoist the Cup this time, but he had the most rewarding moment, putting Evelyn — six months removed from that traumatic health scare — in the Stanley Cup.

“You have to understand what it means for her to be here with me, with us, like this,” Pietrangelo said. “Six months ago, she couldn’t eat, she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t walk. Six months ago, I was ready to give up my career for her.

“I never envisioned a moment like this back then. And now, to win a Cup, to have her running around the ice to celebrate with us, I mean, dreams do come true. And this is a dream.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.