Insider: A Turn of Events in Marchessault - Golden Knights Stalemate - NHL Trade Rumors

The last we had heard from the Vegas Golden Knights' reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Marchessault a couple of weeks back, he was disappointed that the team had yet to reach out for any extension talks.

On Sunday, we get an update from hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, on somewhat of a turning point in the stalemate with Vegas and the impending UFA.

It's clear from some people I heard from at the Combine, that those conversations at least have started. I can understand how a player can get frustrated, but teams will sometimes say 'look, we've got time'. But I'm under the impression from some things I've heard that at least the conversations have begun.

It was 'frustrating' for both Marchessault, and no doubt Vegas fans, that their team leader was sort of twisting in the wind as his contract expired after their season came to an end after the first round of this year's playoffs. "I did not have a call yet or anything," he said at the time.

Adding to his annoyance was the fact that he didn't want it to get this far in the first place. “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."

Now, there's no doubt that the Golden Knights have precious little, if any, cap space to play with, and it'll take some cap gymnastics to make it work, what with all the other things they need to get done this summer, so it's understandable that they're taking their time to figure things out. But they do have until June 30th to stave off Marchessault hitting free agency, so hopefully this new development is a harbinger that not all is lost just yet.

Following his Conn Smythe playoff run in helping the team to the 2022-23 Stanley Cup championship, all Marchessault did for an encore this season was net a career-high 42 goals and 69 points.