Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner is staying put in Sin City, as the netminder has signed a 5-year, $25 million contract extension with the team.
The news, first reported by TSN’s Frank Seravalli, takes a big-time free agent off the market as the NHL prepares for the start of free agency next week:
The Golden Knights confirmed the deal Saturday morning.
Lehner, who appeared in 16 playoff games for the Golden Knights and posted a 1.99 goals against average and a .917 save percentage, was acquired by the Knights in a trade deadline deal from the Chicago Blackhawks.
The netminder appeared in 33 games with the Blackhawks last season, with a 3.01 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
The goaltending market has begun to finally get going, as Lehner’s signing and the re-signing of Tristan Jarry by the Pittsburgh Penguins seem to indicate that teams are hoping to get a jump on free agency, which starts next week.
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The Philadelphia Flyers also re-signed Brian Elliott to a one-year contract on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks have a lot of questions left at goaltender, as Corey Crawford is set to hit unrestricted free agency next week. The Blackhawks do have Collin Delia under contract for next season, and Malcolm Subban is a restricted free agent, but the team will have to get creative if they want to dip their toes into the free agency pool for a new netminder.
