The Vegas Golden Knights have signed defenseman Jeremy Davies to a two-year, $2.3MM contract per PuckPedia. The deal is a rare two-way contract that pays north of $1MM at the NHL level. To be exact, Davies will receive $1.15MM in salary at the NHL level and $425K at the AHL level.
PuckPedia explained that Davies’ contract will put Vegas within $24K of the maximum cap relief they could receive by putting Alex Pietrangelo on season-opening injured reserve. Pietrangelo will miss the bulk of the regular season, but hasn’t yet ruled out a late-season return. With recent changes to LTIR usage, Vegas would need to be cap compliant to ice Pietrangelo in a regular or post season game.
With near maximum LTIR relief in place, the Golden Knights are expected to waive Davies when the season kicks off. He would head back to the minors for a fourth-straight season should he clear. Davies has proved productive at an AHL level in terms of scoring and penalties. He led the Belleville Senators’ blue-line in scoring with 11 goals and 48 points in 72 games last season. He also recorded 44 penalty minutes. It was a relatively tame year compared to the 23 points and 90 penalty minutes he recorded in 66 games with the Rochester Americans in 2022-23. He split the two seasons with 35 points and 79 penalty minutes in 66 games with Rochester in 2023-24.
Davies will be a bruising depth piece for the Golden Knights. A seventh-round draft pick in 2016, he has found his way to three points and 12 penalty minutes in 23 NHL games across his career. His last came with the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23.