Trouble in Vegas; 23-year-old defenseman refusing to report to training camp

Things may go from bad to worse for the Golden Knights, as they are still without a deal in place for defenseman Nicolas Hague, who has announced that talks between he and the team are not progressing at all. The 23-year-old has stated that he will not report to camp without a new deal.

Hague is entering his third NHL season and has never played more than 52 games in a single season. His career high is also 17 points, so it's not likely that he'll break the bank on his next deal.

The Golden Knights are more than $10M above the salary cap at the moment, which could be standing in the way of getting a deal done - though there are multiple players on the team who are expected to start the season on IR, plus goaltender Robin Lehner who is expected to miss the entire 2022-23 season and will ride out the year on LTIR. They also have the Shea Weber contract, which will provide ~$7.8M in additional LTIR relief.

Perhaps the Golden Knights are trying to put the squeeze on the Kitchener, ON native to get the best deal that they can, as they already have 6 NHL defensemen signed through next season (Pietrangelo, Martinez, Theodore, McNabb, Whitecloud, Hutton).