Reports surfaced Friday morning that goaltender Robin Lehner had agreed to a five-year extension with the Vegas Golden Knights. Those reports suggested the deal had been tabled back in June and that all parties had agreed to the contract, even though the deal had not been officially signed yet.
A couple hours later, Lehner himself commented on those reports saying it simply wasn’t true. He added, “Nothing has been finalized. It’s kind of annoying. We’re here in the conference final, and people are saying things they don’t know.”
It might be too soon to say this deal doesn’t exist and/or that the player is doing his best for contracts talks not to become a distraction during the playoffs, but, if the cat is out of the bag, it’s already too late for that.
In other words, the deal is out there, it’s not signed yet, the two sides wanted to wait for the Golden Knights playoff run to end or culminate in a Stanley Cup win and news leaked. That’s an entirely possible scenario.
It’s one that has annoyed Lehner, who said, “I’m here to win a Cup, not discuss this stuff.”
Or, everyone has it wrong.
That’s probably not the case as it’s common knowledge Vegas wants to retain Lehner and Lehner is probably quite happy with his situation in Vegas.
Good Deal for Golden Knights If True
If five years at $5 million is what Lehner ends up signing for, that’s a great deal for the Golden Knights. In fact, it’s a steal.
Lehner has undoubtedly been one of the best goaltenders in this year’s postseason and his number heading into the playoffs weren’t shabby either.
This salary would place him around the 15th spot on the list for active goalies, tying him with Frederik Andersen, Semyon Varlamov and Pekka Rinne. It would also put him $2 million under Marc-Andre Fleury, who the Golden Knights will likely now look to trade.
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