NHL Rumors: Jonathan Marchessault, Predators Agree to Contract Amid Stamkos Deal

Jonathan Marchessault is leaving the Vegas Golden Knights after seven seasons and a Stanley Cup win with the franchise.

Marchessault and the Nashville Predators agreed to a five-year, $27.5 million contract on Monday, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

This news comes as former Tampa Bay Lighting star Steven Stamkos agreed to a four-year, $32 million deal with the Predators, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Marchessault followed up his 2023 Conn Smythe Trophy campaign by racking up a personal-best 42 goals and 69 points in 82 games last season.

The veteran forward told David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal in May that he asked the Golden Knights to negotiate an extension before the 2023-24 season and was turned down by the team.

"I asked last summer. I was like, 'You know what? I would rather do it in the summer before the season,'" Marchessault said in May. "And they said they're not ready to do that, and after there's not even a single talk that happened during the season."

The Golden Knights have historically offered their larger contracts to young players. That might have led the team to hesitate before signing Marchessault, who turns 34 in December, to another long-term deal.

That holdout could lead to Nashville's gain as they add one of the 14 players who topped 40 goals during the 2023-24 season.

Marchessault's new contract is the latest step in an NHL career that began when he entered the league as an undrafted player in 2013.

He spent three seasons as a call-up option for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning before signing with the Florida Panthers in 2016.

Despite a breakout 30-goal season with the Panthers in 2016-17, Marchessault was left exposed in the 2017 Expansion Draft.

The Golden Knights then brought Marchessault to Vegas, where he became a cornerstone of one of the most successful inaugural seasons in NHL history as the Knights went to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final.

Marchessault paced all postseason scorers with 13 goals as he led Vegas back to the Final in 2023, where the Knights won the Stanley Cup in their sixth season in the league.

He will finish out his Golden Knights tenure as the franchise's all-time leader in all major offensive categories with 192 goals, 225 assists and 417 points in 514 regular season games.