from Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

A team in Dallas that deserved to win. It was the better team most of the series. It earned the right to advance.

It means the Knights get ready for exit interviews and clean-out day and vacation plans. It also means this: The team next season could have a decidedly different look given several free agents on the roster.

Among them is one of the most popular players in franchise history in forward Jonathan Marchessault. You can’t overstate the importance of Marchessault to the Knights these past seven years, an Original Misfit who became a fan favorite almost overnight.

But the Knights have hardly been afraid of moving on from such beloved names (see Fleury, Marc-Andre), and it’s uncertain if they would again.

From a player who scored 42 goals this season and won the Conn Smythe Trophy during last season’s playoffs.

He’s 33 and has completed a six-year, $30 million deal. He’s also among five players remaining from an original expansion roster in 2017-18.

This was Marchessault earlier this season: “Obviously, it’s on my mind. I have a wife and four kids. I love it here, love the organization. I think I’ve been very good for it, too. It’s just about seeing eye to eye on things. I know it’s a business. I know we’re not married to each other. But you know what you’re going to get from me every year. I have a lot of hockey in front of me.”

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