NHL News: Golden Knights' Alex Pietrangelo's Health Comes Into Question Ahead of Next Season

Three-time All-Star and longtime top-four defenseman Alex Pietrangelo played 71 games this season with the Vegas Golden Knights along with 10 playoff contests, never publicly making mention of fighting through any injury. But we're learning now that his health could be in question ahead of the 2025-26 season.

On the 32 Thoughts podcast, insider Elliotte Friedman said he gets the impression that the 17-year veteran might be battling some type of health issue that might keep him from being named an early entrant for next winter's Canadian Olympic team.

The full team is (named at) the end of December, but they have to name six players...potentially the week of (June) 16th— which is a week and a half from now. I put together a long list for all these teams of who could be on it, and I had Pietrangelo on that list. And someone indicated to me that he might not be available.

Is Alex Pietrangelo's health in question this summer?

The insider also noted that every year he hears something about the beating Pietrangelo's body has taken, and question marks about his health. But it's never resulted in any significant time off. In fact, he's played at least 71 games in 12 of his 15 full NHL seasons. This past year, he played 71, while notching 33 points, a +11 rating and 139 blocked shots.

The two-time Stanley Cup winner has logged a lot of miles on that 35-year-old body. He's averaged 24:22 minutes of ice time over the course of 17 seasons and over 1,000 regular-season games and over 2,000 blocked shots. Add to that, another 149 playoff contests (in which he's averaged nearly 26 minutes TOI), and that's a lot of taxing on the body.

Will Pietrangelo be healthy to start the 2025-26 season for the Golden Knights?

"We’ll see what happens," continued Friedman. "But it feels like there’s at least the possibility that they’re trying to figure out what his health will be like for the start of next season.”