Devastating update on defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

It is hard not to feel for Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

According to a report from National Hockey League insider David Pagnotta, Pietrangelo will miss all of the 2025-26 NHL season, at least. Pagnotta reports that Pietrangelo will undergo multiple surgeries this summer and that, as a result of these surgeries and the subsequent recovery time, Pietrangelo will be unable to play next season.

I’m hearing Vegas defenceman Alex Pietrangelo is dealing with serious injuries and is going to require multiple major surgeries this summer, which will result in missing the entire 2025-26 season, at least.

This likely rules Pietrangelo out of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games as well which is terrible news when you consider that NHL players have been barred from participating in the Olympics for the vast majority of Pietrangelo's career. The 2026 Winter Olympic Games could very well have been Pietrangelo's last chance to represent his home country.

This will also be a massive blow to the Vegas Golden Knights who have leaned heavily on Pietrangelo over the course of the past 5 NHL seasons. Despite dealing with a variety of injuries, Pietrangelo still ate up over 22 minutes of ice time a night on average for the Golden Knights. That jumped up to over 23 minutes a night during the Stanley Cup playoffs, minutes that will be very difficult for the Golden Knights to replace in short order.

The one positive here for the Golden Knights is that Pietrangelo will now go on long term injured reserve, which will give them additional cap flexibility. The Golden Knights have made full use of the extra cap space they get from LTIR in the past and I expect this time around with Pietrangelo will be no exception.