Deryk Engelland offered job with Golden Knights if he retires

When Deryk Engelland decides to retire, there will be a job in the Golden Knights’ front office waiting for him.

Owner Bill Foley told the Review-Journal he met with the 38-year-old defenseman and offered him a position with the team when he is done playing. Engelland, a Las Vegas resident, is an unrestricted free agent.

“I think he loves Vegas, and he wants to be part of the organization, which I think is great,” Foley said.

Engelland’s agent, Allain Roy, said Monday that his client has not made a decision about his future and is exploring all his options on and off the ice. A request to interview Engelland made through the team Saturday had not been fulfilled as of Monday morning.

“There’s been no decision either way,” Roy said. “It was kind of a weird year, but Deryk feels like he’s in great shape and he can help a team, and obviously a few teams feel that way because I’ve received a few calls.

“Right now, he’s talking about all the different options, and I know (working for the Knights) is another option, too.”

Foley’s description of the job is similar to a special assistant to the owner. He said the framework of Engelland’s duties had been agreed upon and the sides were negotiating his salary.

“Deryk and I have talked about it,” Foley said. “We’ve talked about him getting involved in some foundation work and helping me and kind of taking the load off me relative to having to go to functions and be the representative. He’s all-in.”

General manager Kelly McCrimmon said Friday the Knights would not re-sign Engelland, who was a healthy scratch for 17 of the final 18 regular-season games and did not appear in the postseason.

Engelland had the opportunity to be traded at the deadline in February, but McCrimmon said he opted to remain with the Knights despite his playing time being diminished.

Engelland was one of the Knights’ locker room leaders the first two seasons and gave a memorable speech prior to the first home game nine days after the Route 91 Harvest festival mass shooting.

When the Knights won the Western Conference championship in their inaugural season, Engelland accepted the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.

He saw his role diminish after the All-Star break this season as rookie defenseman Zach Whitecloud emerged as a regular in the lineup and didn’t appear after Feb. 13.

Engelland skated with the team’s reserves in the playoffs and spent time with 2019 first-round pick Peyton Krebs while the Knights lived in the bubble in Edmonton, Alberta.

“His wife was bugging him about, ‘Talk to Bill. Talk to Bill,’” Foley said. “I called him up and said, ‘OK, you can tell Melissa there’s no problem. You’re in. It’s not going to be an issue. We want you.’ And we talked about what he was interested in doing and what we wanted to have him do.

“And we’re both all-in on it. He’ll be a great add. He’ll help me a lot, and he’s a great guy.”

Engelland began his pro career in 2003 with the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL and went on to play 11 NHL seasons with Pittsburgh, Calgary and the Knights.

He recorded eight goals and 33 assists to go with 79 penalty minutes in 202 games with the Knights after being taken in the expansion draft.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.