The end of the 2025-26 season cleared the Vegas Golden Knights’ long-term injured reserve. That forced former alternate captain Alex Pietrangelo back onto the main roster list, a move that Vegas reversed on July 1st. With the onset of the 2026-27 season, Pietrangelo has been moved back to LTIR, with general manager Kelly McCrimmon telling reporters including Golden Knights reporter Taylor Rocha that Pietrangelo’s playing status is not expected to change.

The veteran defenseman will remain out of the lineup through the 2026-27 season. McCrimmon mentioned that Pietrangelo still frequents the team’s facilities and has begun coaching local baseball – but remains sidelined by lower-body injuries. Pietrangelo will sit through the final year of his seven-year, $61.6MM contract signed with Vegas in 2020. A summer LTIR designation will, specifically, keep Pietrangelo from returning in either the 2026-27 regular season or the 2027 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as was the case through the 2025-26 season.

This news will keep the 2024-25 campaign as Pietrangelo’s last in NHL lineup. He was an effective defender on both sides of the puck through his final year, scoring 33 points and a plus-11 in 71 games of his age-35 season. He had matched his scoreline from the 2023-24 season – four goals and 29 assists. That dip in scoring came after Pietrangelo tied his career-high of 54 points during the 2022-23 season.

Pietrangelo held down an important lineup role next to Shea Theodore on Vegas’ top-pair. The duo were the go-to’s on Vegas’ special teams, with Theodore leading power-play minutes and Pietrangelo manning the penalty-kill for much of Pietrangelo’s five seasons in Vegas. The versatility offered by the pair of reliable, two-way defensemen was invaluable in Vegas. They could play together, or on separate pairs, lending a stability on the blue line that helped Vegas secure the 2023 Stanley Cup championship. That was the second Cup of Pietrangelo’s career, after he captained the St. Louis Blues to their first franchise in 2019.

Pietrangelo’s career will end with 17 seasons and 1,087 games in the NHL. He recorded 637 points, a plus-123, 761 hits, and 2,095 shot blocks in that span – or, averaged 48 points, 57 hits, and 158 blocks per 82 games played. He was a perennial leader who earned Norris Trophy votes in eight seasons – though he only finished in the top-five of voting three times. With two Cups and four seasons captaining the Blues under his belt, Pietrangelo could have a long-shot bid at the Hall of Fame, boosted by Gold Medals at the 2009 World Juniors, 2014 Winter Olympics, and 2017 World Cup.

With Pietrangelo on LTIR, Vegas will wield just under $1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. The Golden Knights still have three roster players on the open market: veteran wingers Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad, as well as defenseman Ben Hutton.