Robin Lehner’s time with Golden Knights comes to an end

Robin Lehner is off the Golden Knights’ books.

The final year of the goaltender’s five-year, $25 million contract with the Knights will not count against the club’s salary cap this season after a settlement was reached by the team, the NHL and the NHL Players Association. Lehner will still be paid his $4.4 million salary this year.

Lehner’s contract could have been terminated after he failed to report for a mandatory preseason medical exam. He has spent the previous two years on long-term injured reserve because of shoulder and hip surgeries and was not expected to suit up this season. Still, players are required by the collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA to undergo physicals before being deemed unfit to play.

Lehner, 33, released a statement to Sportsnet on Sept. 21, saying “everyone knows why I couldn’t be there. I am waiting calmly for things to be sorted out.” That is the only public comment Lehner has made since he last appeared for the Knights.

The NHLPA, as well as the Knights, declined to comment Thursday.

Lehner’s contract coming off the books does give the team additional flexibility this season. The Knights, because they will no longer have a player on LTIR, will be able to accrue cap space throughout the year.

That could give them more room to work with before the NHL’s March 7 trade deadline.

The Knights signed Lehner to his five-year extension Oct. 3, 2020.

He was the team’s primary starter in the playoffs that year and led the group to an appearance in the Western Conference Final. He last appeared for the Knights on April 20, 2022. He was out the final three games of the regular season that year due to his shoulder injury and discovered he needed double hip surgery later that summer.

Lehner finished his Knights tenure with a 39-31-4 record, a .910 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average.

Lehner is currently in an almost two-year-long Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in which he owes creditors more than $27 million.

A judge froze Lehner’s assets Sept. 27 after lawyers alleged Lehner and his wife, Donya, transferred money to off-shore companies, as well as spent $1.5 million on luxury purchases and gambling.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.