Kolesar Elects For Salary Arbitration

Vegas Golden Knights free agent forward Keegan Kolesar elected for salary arbitration, the NHL Players Association announced on Sunday.

Kolesar was one of the six restricted free agents Vegas recently extended qualifying offers to. The others included defensemen Nicolas Hague and Brayden Pachal, and forwards Jake Leschyshyn, Jonas Rondbjerg, and Nicolas Roy.

Kolesar's decision will call for a meeting between him and the organization, along with a third party decider, that would take place between the dates of July 27 and Aug. 11, should the forward and the team fail to reach an agreement on a contract.

Vegas would give the free agent its offer, while he would give it his request. The third party would ultimately decided on the terms of the contract. 

While it is unlikely, if the Golden Knights were to disagree with the result and walk away from the deal, Kolesar would go on to become an unrestricted free agent.

The 25-year-old right wing was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the third round of the 2015 NHL Draft. He's spent his past two professional seasons as a Golden Knight, along with one game in the 2019 season.

Last season Kolesar scored seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points in 77 games while having led the team in hits with 246. He also added a total of 46 blocks and 33 takeaways.

Kolesar's previous contract of two years came with an AAV of $725,000.

The Golden Knights have dealt with salary arbitrations twice before.

In August of 2017, former Golden Knights defenseman Nate Schmidt case against the organization resulted in a two-year, $4.45 million deal. Schmidt had wanted a one-year, $2.75 million contract, while Vegas wanted to sign him for two years and a $1.9 million AAV.

In the second occurrence, the contract was settled before the decision reached an arbitrator. Golden Knights forward William Karlsson had elected for salary arbitration in 2018, and he and the team agreed on a one-year, $5.25 million deal.

Roy, one of the restricted free agents previously mentioned, did not file for arbitration and will be eligible to be given an offer sheet by another team if he does not file by the 2 p.m. PST deadline on Monday.