‘Twas the night before Free Agency, and all through the house, 

Not a creature was stirring, except for Kelly McCrimmon. 

On Tuesday night, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Vegas Golden Knights signed pending Unrestricted Free Agent Jeremy Lauzon to a long-term contract extension: six years, with a $4 million AAV.

In year one of the contract, Lauzon will count for $5.7 million against the cap and has a full No-Trade Clause. In year two, the cap hit drops to $4.3 million, and the No-Trade Clause becomes a 16-team no-trade list. For the remaining four years, Lauzon’s cap hit will be $3.5 million; in years 3-4, he has a 10-team no-trade list, and in years 5-6, that becomes a 7-team no-trade list. 

After missing most of the 2024-25 season with a lower-body injury, Lauzon returned to action and played 68 games. He struggled out of the gate, but eventually, the rust wore off, and he settled in. Lauzon is more of a stay-at-home defender, but he registered a goal and 13 points during the regular season. He averaged 17:10 TOI, 1:54 of which came on the penalty kill.

Lauzon is best known for his physicality, and he’s often described as someone who is ‘difficult to play against.’ He led all Golden Knights defensemen— and was second on the team— in hits with 251. He also led the team in penalty minutes with 79. 

The Golden Knights are now in an interesting position, as all five contracted defensemen on their roster are left shots. They traded right-shot Kaedan Korczak to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, and received Parker Wotherspoon, a cheaper left-shot defenseman, in return. Shea Theodore has already been playing on his offside for several seasons; now, it seems like one of Lauzon or Wotherspoon will have to join Theodore in that endeavor.