Golden Knights trade Korczak to Penguins for Wotherspoon, gaining cap space

The Vegas Golden Knights acquired defenseman Parker Wotherspoon from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Kaedan Korczak on Tuesday, ESPN reported. The transaction freed up more than $3 million in salary cap space for the Golden Knights. Korczak, 25, was entering the first year of a four-year contract worth $3.25 million annually.

Wotherspoon counts $500,000 against the Vegas cap after the Penguins retained 50 percent of his contract, which ends after the 2026-27 season. PuckPedia projects the Golden Knights' cap space rose from $4.625 million to $7.375 million. That total is expected to reach $16.175 million once defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and his $8.8 million cap hit are placed on season-ending long-term injured reserve.

Pietrangelo missed the entire 2025-26 season while recovering from a hip injury. The added flexibility increases the Golden Knights' chances of signing Rasmus Andersson, a pending unrestricted free agent defenseman acquired from the Calgary Flames in January. Andersson recorded 17 goals and 47 points in 2025-26.

Wotherspoon, 28, posted a career-high 30 points in 80 games last season for Pittsburgh. The Golden Knights now have four defensemen under contract for the 2026-27 season. Pittsburgh, for its part, gained a 25-year-old defenseman who scored 4 goals and 33 assists in 155 career NHL games and added three assists in 13 playoff games during Vegas's 2026 Stanley Cup Final run.

The Penguins now have six defensemen under contract and project to enter free agency with slightly less than $36 million in cap space.