Vegas (50-22-10) finished first in the Pacific Division last season and was eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five games.
Following the season, Pietrangelo said he made the decision to step away in order to return to a normal quality of life.
“I wouldn’t say anything changed, I guess going through what I went through last year to be able to play at the level I thought I could get to was obviously very difficult,” Pietrangelo said. “Then you get to the end of the season and all that stuff, it was all kind of fresh to me.
“My focus is what we didn’t accomplish as a team, it’s not really about the players. You talk to most guys here, they’re not going to dwell on injuries that everybody had. So you kind of go through that process and you consult with the medical staff and doctors and you kind of see what your options are and that’s how I came to the decision.”
Pietrangelo has not had surgery to this point and instead is focusing on his rehab process. It allows him to continue to be around his teammates at training camp.
“Mentally it’s great, because I love being part of a locker room and anybody that’s played sports, especially at our age, you get together with the guys and it’s been really fun for me to come here and get to see everybody and still be a part of the group,” Pietrangelo said. “I’m just trying to help guys too right now in training camp, be a sounding board. We have a lot of young guys, whether they’re in junior or Henderson (American Hockey League) or up here that hopefully, I can be a good sounding board for them.”
Pietrangelo has 637 points (148 goals, 489 assists) in 1,087 games and 80 points (15 goals, 65 assists) in 149 playoff games. He is not sure when he first sustained the injury.
“It probably started a long time ago, but last year was when it really took a toll on me, maybe due to age, I don’t know, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why,” he said. “But it really started to get to me last year and to try to address it with how good of a team we had, it would have cut the whole year off for me.”
Pietrangelo was to play for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off last season but withdrew from the tournament to rest his body and prepare for the second half of the season. He will not play for Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 in February. The King City, Ontario native won gold with Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
“That was one of the coolest experiences that I’ve ever had, that comes into the decision too,” Pietrangelo said. “The hard part for me about that is that I wish my kids would have had an opportunity to see me do it. My wife and my kids, to be able to see that would have been pretty special.”
Even without Pietrangelo, the Golden Knights are again expected to be one of the top teams in the Pacific Division this season.
“That’s a big hole and like other subtractions you have to fill it collectively as a group,” Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore said at the Hockey Canada Olympic Orientation Camp on Aug. 28. “We’re going to have to step up for sure and fill those shoes collectively. You can’t just bring in one guy to replace [Pietrangelo], we have to do it as a group.”