Alex Pietrangelo stepping away from hockey with major hip injuries

Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (7) falls on Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski (16) during the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series at T-Mobile Arena Friday, May 3, 2024. Photo by: Wade Vandervort

On the same day the Vegas Golden Knights acquired a new face of the franchise, they lost a previous one.

Top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo announced he was stepping away from the NHL after having played the past 17 seasons for either Vegas or the St. Louis Blues. He issued a dual statement with Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon.

The word “retirement” was conspicuously missing from the news release as it sounds like the 35-year-old isn’t ready to give up all hope of returning to the ice just yet. The 35-year-old’s body, namely a pair of injured hips that held him back throughout last season, just can’t physically hold up for an 82-game season at the moment.

“The past few years have been very challenging on my physical well-being, and I am in a difficult position with my overall playing health,” Pietrangelo said in his statement. “After exploring options with doctors as well as my family, it’s been advised to remove the intensity of hockey to see if my body can improve so that I can return to a normal quality of life. This decision has been difficult to come to terms with after the last 17 years of competition and the camaraderie with my teammates and coaches. The likelihood is low that my body will recover to the standard required to play, but I know this is the right decision for me and my family.”

Pietrangelo has two years at an annual salary of $8.8 million remaining on his current contract, which will presumably be transferred to long-term injured reserve. That will help make room for the new $12 million per year commitment Vegas made to winger Mitch Marner, acquired earlier Monday via sign-and trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.   

Regardless if he ever returns to play again, Pietrangelo’s place in Vegas hockey history is secure. He’s the all-time franchise leader in average ice time among skaters with an average just short of 24 minutes per game.  

He led the team with a 22:24 average this season and was third in total ice time — behind fellow defenseman Noah Hanifin and Brayden McNabb — despite missing 11 games to injury.

Pietrangelo pulled out of the midseason 4 Nations Face-Off, where he had committed to playing for his native Canada, in hopes that his hips would respond to the time off.

That didn’t happen.

“Instead, what we found were diminished positive results and a process that is no longer sustainable moving forward,” McCrimmon said. “Alex has given everything to the game and to the Golden Knights and has played through significant challenges in the pursuit of trying to win another Stanley Cup in Vegas. He is one of the most respected players in the league, not only for his elite talent but for his character, leadership, competitiveness and professionalism. Today’s decision is a difficult one for both Alex and the Golden Knights, but it is being made for the right reasons – so that Alex can be the family man we all know him to be.”

Pietrangelo and his wife, Jayne, have four children and have been active in the community since coming to the Golden Knights prior to the 2020-21 season.

With Marner now technically arriving via trade, Pietrangelo remains the biggest free-agent acquisition in Vegas history. He solidified the Golden Knights’ reputation for repeatedly targeting the biggest-name available players no matter how difficult the moves might appear to pull off.

Bringing Pietrangelo to Vegas will undoubtedly go down as a smashing success considering he helped anchor the blue line of the 2023 Stanley Cup championship team. That was his second Stanley Cup victory after serving as the captain for the 2018-19 Blues and scoring the game-winning goal in Game 7 of that season’s Stanley Cup Final against eventual Golden Knights’ coach Bruce Cassidy’s Boston Bruins.   

Pietrangelo was an alternate captain to Mark Stone in Vegas ever since former coach Pete DeBoer instituted the longtime hockey tradition with the Golden Knights in 2021.

For any chance at playing next season, McCrimmon said Pietrangelo would need, “bilateral femur reconstruction, with no guarantee of success.” After decades of fighting through injuries to stay on the ice, Pietrangelo decided that wasn’t the best course of action.

“Alex has our organization’s full support in prioritizing his long-term health and quality of life,” said McCrimmon.