David Perron was ready for an extended stay in Sin City.

The Vegas Golden Knights forward, and pending unrestricted free agent, held talks with the team earlier this season in hopes of inking a contract extension, he revealed during Friday's locker room cleanout, as per David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Perron can hit the open market as of July 1, but indicated his preference is to remain with the Golden Knights, telling Schoen, "I want to stay."

The 30-year-old is coming off a career year in which he picked up 66 points in 70 games, besting his previous high of 57 points set in the 2013-14 season. He then added nine points in 15 playoff appearances.

With those sorts of numbers, he could cash in this offseason, particularly as part of a free-agent market lacking quality right-shot forwards. A sizable raise could also be in the offering, as Perron's cap hit was only $3.75 million this season, as per CapFriendly.

The Golden Knights claimed Perron from the St. Louis Blues in last summer's expansion draft.

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With Vegas sportsbooks setting the Golden Knights' odds of winning the Stanley Cup as high as 500-1 last year, big-time payouts appeared to be on the horizon for people who bet on the expansion club.

But the Golden Knights ultimately fell to the Washington Capitals, who won the series 4-1 on Thursday night.

In hopes of minimizing liability, sportsbooks adjusted their odds midseason, and during the playoffs, motivated bettors to put their dollars down on Vegas' opponents. Many also offered partial payouts during the postseason and ahead of the Stanley Cup Final.

"This wasn't my biggest liability, but it was pretty significant," Wynn executive director of race and sports John Avello told ESPN's Ben Fawkes.

The Stanley Cup Final wrapped the NHL's first full season in Sin City - a year in which the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported a 36 percent uptick in the category of bets that includes hockey.

Would it really have been so bad if the hometown team had won it all?

"I was rooting for the town," Avello admitted. "We've taken hits before. If I was going to pay off on something, I (would've been) glad to pay off on the Knights. They've been the talk of the town."

All the sportsbook directors Fawkes spoke to agreed.

"We root for the house as much as we can, but this is such a unique story," said Nick Bogdanovich, William Hill director of trading. "I think we have a free waiver on this one."

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The Washington Capitals' Stanley Cup championship had a global flavor.

In addition to taking home the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and joining some elite company in the process, Alex Ovechkin also became the first Russian-born captain to win the Cup.

Nathan Walker is the first Australian-born player to hoist Lord Stanley's mug, after becoming the first player from Down Under to play in regular-season and postseason games, respectively, earlier in the campaign.

Then there was Lars Eller, who made some history of his own after scoring the most important goal of the Capitals' season.

Capitals backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who started Washington's first two playoff games this year, is the fourth German player to win the Cup, joining Tom Kuhnhackl, Dennis Seidenberg, and Uwe Krupp. It's the third straight year a German-born player has won it, after Kuhnhackl's back-to-back titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Ovechkin became the third non-North American player to captain his team to the Cup, joining Nicklas Lidstrom and Zdeno Chara, and he's the fifth non-Canadian, joining Lidstrom, Chara, and U.S.-born players Derian Hatcher and Dustin Brown.

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Chandler Stephenson already knows what he's doing for his day with the Stanley Cup.

The Washington Capitals forward and Saskatoon native plans to bring hockey's Holy Grail back to his home province, and more specifically, the community of Humboldt.

Humboldt, of course, is the home of the SJHL's Broncos, who were involved in the bus collision in April that resulted in the deaths of 16 people on board and injured 13 others.

"I knew a couple of the guys on the bus, so it's one of those things that I want to do for those guys and the people of Humboldt," Stephenson told Scott Oake of "Hockey Night in Canada."

This postseason run marked a breakthrough for Stephenson, as he appeared in all 24 games and netted two goals and five assists.

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The fairytale didn't end the way the Golden Knights wanted.

Vegas lost its fourth straight game for the first time this season Thursday, and it happened at the most inopportune time - in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Washington Capitals are Cup champions, and Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury spoke in a somber Knights locker room after the game, singling out his team's new and rabid supporters.

"Thank you for all the support throughout the season," Fleury told reporters. "From day one, they've been incredible. Sorry we couldn't bring it home."

Fleury, who became the face of the club, struggled in the Cup Final, but he knows that he and his team - which physically did not exist a year ago at this time - have much to be proud of.

"It was pretty quiet in here after the game," he said. "Nobody talked about it. I think we all need a little time to realize what we've done."

The Golden Knights' magical run is over, but it was some ride.

"It was a lot of fun," Fleury said.

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Bryce Harper may be the Vegas Golden Knights' biggest celebrity fan, but he's employed in Washington, D.C. So this Stanley Cup Final was a win-win for him.

On Thursday, the Capitals brought the Cup to the District of Columbia for the first time with a 4-3 win in Las Vegas. Harper, a Vegas native who's gone on to stardom with the Nationals, attended Games 3 and 4 of the series in Washington clad in Golden Knights gear but left Capital One Arena disappointed after the home team won.

Related: Nats' Harper wants future child to play hockey because of Golden Knights

When the clock ran out on Vegas and the Capitals lifted the Stanley Cup, a defeated Harper took it all in stride and congratulated his adopted hometown on its first major professional sports title in 26 years.

The 25-year-old did make sure to mention his Golden Knights too, who stunned the sports world by finishing three wins short of a championship in their inaugural season.

With the Nationals playing at home this weekend, Harper is now ready to honor Washington's new champions when they face off against the Giants. He's already imploring his baseball team to don some Capital red in celebration.

Harper wasn't the only member of the Nationals celebrating the win on Thursday, as some of his teammates took to Twitter as well.

Perhaps the Nationals will all rock the red while Lord Stanley himself pays a visit to Nationals Park in the near future.

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Barry Trotz coached under the weight of an expiring contract all year, but it appears the door is open for a return to the Washington Capitals if he desires.

"If he wants to be back, he'll be back," Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said, according to Sportsnet's Luke Fox.

When Trotz was asked about the situation postgame, he firmly stated he's also open to coming back.

In four seasons as the Capitals' bench boss, Trotz has won the Presidents' Trophy twice, and has now captured the Stanley Cup. It's safe to say a lot of teams around the league would re-evaluate their own coaching situation if Trotz were to hit the open market.

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Warning: Video contains course language

Triumph can often bring out the most emotional moments in sports, and that couldn't have been more true with Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie on Thursday night.

In his Stanley Cup-winning postgame interview with Scott Oake, Oshie got choked up talking about his father, Tim, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

This spectacular photo was captured, and as TSN's Frank Seravalli puts it, "sometimes a picture really is worth 1,000 words."

This memory will stay with the entire Oshie family forever.

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