Pietrangelo scored an NHL career-high 16 goals in 70 games for the St. Louis Blues last season, and his 52 points were two shy of his high, set in 2017-18. He also set NHL career highs in power-play points (22; six goals, 16 assists) and shots on goal (225) playing a St. Louis-leading average of 24:11 per game. Pietrangelo, who was Blues captain from 2016-20, helped them to the best points percentage in the Western Conference last season (.662) after leading NHL defensemen with 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in 26 games in the 2019 playoffs, when St. Louis won the Stanley Cup for the first time in its history. He scored six points (one goal, five assists) in nine games in the 2020 postseason before signing a seven-year contract with Vegas on Oct. 12.
"He is consistent. He eats a lot of minutes, he can add to your power play, he's very solid defensively," Rupp said. "He does everything good. Nothing's going to blow you out of the water, but he's solid and he eats up those minutes which are so important."