Las Vegas Golden Knights Preparing to Bend NHL Rules for Mitch Marner

With Mitch Marner looking to explore free agency on July 1st, there are a ton of teams that believe they can acquire the forward.

One team that has shown interest is none other than the Las Vegas Golden Knights, who are supposedly near the top of Marner's wish list.

However, one big issue with the Golden Knights is the fact that they do not have a ton of cap space, and would have to twist themselves in knots in order to acquire Marner

In fact, according to a new report from Elliotte Friedman, the Knights are preparing themselves to do just that. Or at least, that is what it seems like.

During the new '32 Thoughts,' Friedman revealed that the Golden Knights might just be without defenseman Alex Pietrangelo next season. He is dealing with an injury, and the consensus is that he will be placed on LTIR.

If that is the case, Pietrangelo's $8.8 million cap hit would be excluded from the Golden Knights' books. That would allow them to afford Marner, who might cost a total of $13.5-$14 million per season.

The Las Vegas Golden Knights have been known to engage in these kinds of tactics in the past, so it would not be a surprise for them to do it all over again.

At the end of the day, this is well within the NHL's rules, but if you are a Leafs fan, you can't help but feel a bit cheated here.

Either way, when free agency comes around, you have to expect that teams are going to do what they can. If you aren't exploring the full extent of the rules, you aren't trying.

At this stage, one just has to wonder whether or not Marner will actually sign elsewhere. He has not ruled out the Leafs, and he has yet to make his decision official to the public.