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Steve Marcus

Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny (26) is shown in the third period of a preseason game against the Colorado Avalanche at T-Mobile Arena Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019.

Updated 8 hours, 18 minutes ago

The Golden Knights have started off the first day of free agency with a trade, presumably to set up other moves.

Vegas traded center Paul Stastny to the Winnipeg Jets this morning, moving his $6.5 million cap hit. It allows the Golden Knights to dip under the salary cap and give them flexibility to sign free agents. In return, the Golden Knights will receive a 2022 fourth-round pick and defenseman Carl Dahlstrom.

The teams have announced the deal. Stastny was traded to Winnipeg in 2018 and played 19 games there, including the Western Conference Final against Vegas.

Entering the day, the Golden Knights were the only team in the league already above the salary cap. Teams can exceed the cap by 10% in the offseason, but if Vegas was going to go big-game hunting, it was going to have to make some moves to make the money work.

It was reported the Golden Knights are looking to move goalie Marc-Andre Fleury after signing Robin Lehner to an extension last weekend. That’s still possible, so the urgency for a move lessened by moving Stastny.

According to CapFriendly, the Golden Knights are about $2.8 million under the $81.5 million salary cap.

Stastny signed a three-year deal in Vegas in the summer of 2018, becoming an impactful top-six center, and his departure leaves a hole in that regard. With the trade and the decision to not qualify Nick Cousins, the Golden Knights have lost two centers this week.

In two seasons with the Golden Knights, Stastny played 121 games with 30 goals, 50 assists and 80 points. He turns 35 in December and has one year left on his contract.

Dahlstrom, 25, has played 64 career games with 10 points, all assists. He counts $850,000 against the cap and will be a restricted free agent next offseason. He will battle for a roster spot and figures to play in AHL Henderson if he does not make the Vegas roster.

Article written by #LasVegasSun

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