When the St. Louis Blues named Pietrangelo as captain on Aug. 24, 2016, he became the latest defenseman to have that honor, a group that includes Chris Pronger, Al MacInnis, Al Arbour, Barclay Plager and Eric Brewer.

Pietrangelo was certainly a worthy choice after leading the Blues in blocked shots (136) in 2015-16 and helping them reach the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2001. In 2014-15 he became the first defenseman in team history to finish with at least 40 points in each of his first four full NHL seasons.

But his high point as captain came on June 12, 2019, when he scored what proved to be the Stanley Cup-winning goal in a 4-1 victory against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Game 7 of the Final, then received the Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. It capped a playoff run that saw Pietrangelo finish with 19 points (three goals, 16 assists) in 26 games and help the Blues win their first championship since entering the NHL in 1967.

Success has followed Pietrangelo throughout his hockey career. He reached the 2009-10 Ontario Hockey League final with Barrie, was a three-time OHL all-star and played in the 2008 CHL Top Prospects Game.

Pietrangelo won a gold medal with Canada at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship and a silver medal at the event in 2010, when he was named the tournament's best defenseman. At the 2011 IIHF World Championship, Pietrangelo finished with five points in seven games and was named the top defenseman at the tournament.

Selected by the Blues with the No. 4 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, Pietrangelo made his NHL debut Oct. 10, 2008, against the Nashville Predators. His first full NHL season was 2010-11, when he led Blues defensemen in points (43), plus-minus rating (18) and shots on goal (161).

In 2011-12 he ranked fifth among NHL defensemen in points (51) and first in game-winning goals (six). That season he also became the youngest defenseman (22) in Blues history to have consecutive seasons of 40 or more points and became the second defenseman in St. Louis history to score at least six game-winning goals and six power-play goals in the same season. Pietrangelo finished fourth in voting for the Norris Trophy, awarded to the NHL's top defensive player.

Pietrangelo ranked first in the NHL in 2012-13 with 32.4 shifts per game, and he led the Blues in shorthanded ice time per game (3:01) and power-play ice time per game (2:51), becoming the first defenseman to do so since MacInnis in 2002-03.

In 2013-14 Pietrangelo and Nashville's Shea Weber were the only NHL defensemen to score at least 50 points and play more than 200 power-play and shorthanded minutes.

NOTES & TRANSACTIONS

• NHL Second All-Star Team (2012, 2014, 2020)
• Played in NHL All-Star Game (2018, 2020)
• Signed as a free agent by Vegas, October 12, 2020.