Neal, Fleury give Vegas Golden Knights some immediate star power
New team picks up 11 draft picks via trades
The Vegas Golden Knights played the long game in constructing the base of their first very NHL roster.
Knights general manager George McPhee went heavy on defenders and short on high-end help in selecting 30 players at the first NHL expansion draft in 17 years. Marc-Andre Fleury and James Neal were among the few high profile picks, which were revealed Wednesday evening during the NHL awards show in Las Vegas.
Fleury was joined by the likes of Jonathan Marchessault, Marc Methot, Trevor van Riemsdyk, and former Edmonton Oilers winger David Perron.
McPhee opted not to pick the top unprotected player on many rosters and instead, landed his club extra draft picks, prospects and players. In one such example, Vegas did not select Matt Dumba, Marco Scandella or Eric Staal from the Minnesota Wild and got in return prospect Alex Tuch and a conditional third round pick.
The Knights also scooped up second and fourth round selections and the rights to a prospect from Tampa, a sixth from Buffalo, a first and third from Winnipeg as well as a fourth rounder and former 20-goal-scorer Reilly Smith from Florida.
McPhee took advantage of wide-ranging reluctance among clubs to lose valued contributors, adding promising defenceman Shea Theodore from Anaheim and first and second round picks from Columbus.
Teams could protect seven forwards, three defencemen and one goaltender from exposure or eight skaters and a goalie. The Knights were allowed one player from each roster for a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders.
Fleury, who also netted Vegas a second round pick, will likely be the face of the first roster. The 32-year-old opted to waive his no-movement clause with the Penguins for the chance to become a starting netminder once more after Matt Murray stole his long-time No. 1 job in Pittsburgh.
His former teammate Evgeni Malkin let his feelings known over Instagram.
Joining him in the crease for Vegas are two inexperienced types: Calvin Pickard and Jean-Francois Berube, the latter formerly of the Islanders.
Vegas landed a first rounder in 2017 and a second in 2019 from New York — all to likely keep the Knights from selecting one of Brock Nelson, Calvin de Haan, or perhaps Ryan Strome.
It was thought that Vegas might load up on goalies, but McPhee passed on intriguing options like Philipp Grubauer, Petr Mrazek and Antti Raanta and instead went for a surplus of defencemen — and more apparent trade value.
The NHL's 31st franchise ended up picking 13 on defence, including Methot, the long-time defence partner of Ottawa Senators captain and Norris trophy nominee, Erik Karlsson. Also in that group: Vegas resident Deryk Engelland, Colin Miller, Nate Schmidt, Jason Garrison, Brayden McNabb, Griffin Reinhart, Luca Sbisa and hard-hitting former Montreal Canadien Alexei Emelin.
The Knights aren't expected to keep them all, though Engelland seems a sure bet.
The 35-year-old was born in Edmonton and raised in British Columbia before playing minor league hockey with the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers. Engelland, who signed a one-year deal with Vegas, has made his off-season home there ever since. "It's a small town in a big city type of thing," he said in an interview last June.
In constructing protection rules for this expansion draft, the NHL hoped Vegas might boast a relatively formidable initial roster. But that's not likely to be the case here with the Knights preferring to load up on assets that will help in the construction of a more sustainable winner down the line.
Vegas makes 10 trades
Vegas made 10 trades and netted 11 draft picks in all — including five this weekend in Chicago — with one sent back in a swap with Winnipeg.
The Knights probably won't be as bad initially as the expansion Atlanta Thrashers — who managed a meagre 39 points in 1999 — but more in line instead with the 2000 Blue Jackets and Wild franchises, which finished 22nd (tied) and 25th overall in their first seasons.
Quality goaltending was key to those clubs and Fleury should offer something similar to the Knights.
Scoring figures to be an early challenge for the group coached by former Panthers bench boss Gerard Gallant. Neal, Perron and the two former Panthers, Marchessault and Smith, are among the few current forwards with any kind of scoring track record in the NHL.
Most of those selected up front were depth types or prospects with minimal experience, including Oscar Lindberg, Tomas Nosek, William Carrier, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Teemu Pulkkinen and Brendan Leipsic.
The Knights can continue building their roster through free agency with more trades potentially to be announced Thursday.
Formerly of the lowly Colorado Avalanche, Pickard was the first named Knight with selections revealed in reverse order of last season's standings. McPhee and Knights chairman and CEO Bill Foley announced each pick while sitting at a table on stage at the award ceremony.
McPhee accidentally revealed the pick from Dallas — Cody Eakin — ahead of the one from Detroit.
Other players picked include Erik Haula, Connor Brickley, Chris Thorburn, David Schlemko, Jon Merrill, Clayton Stoner, and William Karlsson.
Beyond requisite positional numbers, the Knights needed to pick at least 20 players under contract for the 2017-18 season with a minimum collective cap hit of US$43.8 million. Vegas submitted their list of with four minutes to spare before Wednesday's 10 a.m. ET deadline.
"We've needed every minute of this process to get this done," McPhee said before emailing the picks in a video posted by the team.
Full Roster
Goaltenders
Jean-Francois Berube, N.Y. Islanders (and acquired F Mikhail Grabovski); Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh (plus Penguins' second-round pick in 2020); Calvin Pickard, Colorado.
Defencemen
Alexei Emelin, Montreal; Deryk Engelland, Calgary; Jason Garrison, Tampa Bay (also acquired rights to F Nikita Gusev, Lightnings' 2017 second-round plus 2018 fourth-round selections); Jonathan Marchessault, Florida; Marc Methot, Ottawa; Brayden McNabb, Los Angeles; Jon Merrill, New Jersey; Colin Miller, Boston; Griffin Reinhart, Edmonton; Luca Sbisa, Vancouver. David Schlemko, San Jose; Nate Schmidt, Washington; Trevor van Riemsdyk, Chicago.
Forwards
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, LW, Philadelphia; Connor Brickley, LW, Carolina (plus Hurricanes' 2017 fifth-round selection); William Carrier, LW, Buffalo (plus Sabres' sixth-round selection in 2017); Cody Eakin, C, Dallas; Erik Haula, Minnesota (acquired F Alex Tuck for 2018 selection); William Karlsson, Columbus (also acquired F David Clarkson plus 2017 firstand 2019 second-round picks); Brendan Leipsic, LW, Toronto; Oscar Lindberg, C, N.Y. Rangers; James Neal, LW, Nashville; Tomas Nosek, C, Detroit. David Perron, LW, St. Louis; Teemu Pulkkinen, Arizona; Reilly Smith, RW, Florida (acquired in trade, plus Panthers' 2017 -round selection); Clayton Stoner, Anaheim (also acquired D Shea Theodore); Chris Thorburn, RW, Winnipeg (plus 2017 first-round — sent to Columbus — and 2019 third-round picks).