The expansion draft is over. The Vegas Golden Knights finally have players.
Of course, there is no guarantee all or any of these players will be on the team come Oct. 6, but leave that for another time (tomorrow).
For those who missed it here is video of the first nine selections:
- Anaheim Ducks – Clayton Stoner, D (32 years old; $3.25 million cap)/
Vegas receives defensive prospect Shea Theodore in the trade.
- Arizona Coyotes – Teemu Pulkkinen, LW (25 years old, RFA)
- Boston Bruins – Colin Miller, D (24 years old; $1 million cap)
- Buffalo Sabres – William Carrier, LW (22 years old, $689,000 cap)/
Vegas receives a sixth-round pick in 2017 (No. 161), to not select Linus Ullark.
- Calgary Flames – Deryk Engelland, D (35 years old; $1 million cap)
- Carolina Hurricanes – Connor Brickley, C (25 years old, RFA)/
Vegas receives a fifth-round pick in 2017 (No. 142) with this selection.
- Chicago Blackhawks – Trevor Van Riemsdyk, D (25 years old, $825,000 cap)
- Colorado Avalanche – Calvin Pickard, G (25 years old, $1 million cap)
- Columbus Blue Jackets – William Karlsson, C (24 years old, $1 million cap)/
Vegas receives a first-round pick in 2017 (No. 24), and second-round pick from 2019, and David Clarkson with this selection.
Vegas then traded this 1st Round pick to Winnipeg for their 1st Round pick in 2017 (No. 13).
- Dallas Stars – Cody Eakin, C (26-years old, $3.85 million cap)
- Detroit Red Wings – Tomas Nosek, LW (24 years old, $612,000 cap)
- Edmonton Oilers – Griffin Reinhart, D (23 years old, RFA)
- Florida Panthers – Johnathan Marchessault, C (26 years old, $750,000 cap)/
Vegas receives 26-year old wing Reilly Smith ($5 million) with this selection. Vegas trades a fourth-round Pick (2018) to Florida.
- Los Angeles Kings – Brayden McNabb, D (26 years old, $1.7 million cap)
- Minnesota Wild – Erik Haula, C (26 years old, RFA)/
Vegas receives prospect Alex Tuch, 21. Golden Knights send a third-round pick to Minnesota, either this year or next. Haula and Vegas agreed to a contract extension earlier in the day, according to the Star Tribune.
- Montreal Canadiens – Alexei Emelin, D (31 years old, $4.1 million cap)
- Nashville Predators – James Neal, LW (29 years old, $5 million cap)
- New Jersey Devils – Jon Merrill, D (25 years old, $1.138 million cap)
- New York Islanders – Jean-Francois Berube, G (25 years old, UFA)/
Vegas receives a first-ound pick in 2017 (No. 15), a second-round pick in 2019, 22-year old defensive prospect Jake Bischoff, and Mikhail Grabovski as part of this selection.
- New York Rangers – Oscar Lindberg, C (25 years old, RFA cap)
- Ottawa Senators – Marc Methot, D (32 years old, $4.9 million cap)
- Philadelphia Flyers – P.E Bellemare, LW (32 years old, $1.45 million cap)
- Pittsburgh Penguins – Marc-Andre Fleury, G (32 years old, $5.75 million cap)/
Vegas receives a second-round pick in 2020, along with Flower.
- San Jose Sharks – David Schlemko, D (30 years old, $3.27 million cap)
- St. Louis Blues – David Perron, LW (29 years old, $3.75 million cap)
- Tampa Bay Lightning – Jason Garrison, D (32-years old, $4.6 million cap)/
Vegas receives 24-year-old prospect Nikita Gusev with this selection. He had 71 points in 47 games on St.Petersburg SKA of the KHL. Vegas also acquires a second-round pick in 2017 (No. 45) and a fourth-round pick in 2018.
- Toronto Maple Leafs – Brendan Leipsic, LW (23 years old, RFA)
- Vancouver Canucks – Luca Sbisa, D (27 years old, $3.69 million cap)
- Washington Capitals – Nate Schmidt, D (25 years old, RFA)
- Winnipeg Jets – Chris Thorburn, RW (34 years old, UFA)/
Vegas receives a third-round pick in 2019 with this selection.
Wow.
That is a lot of something.
It looks like he Golden Knights left a lot of talent on the table and selected many questionable contracts to get a bounty of picks and prospects for the future (11 picks in, three picks out).
George McPhee and his team were most interested in having set the foundation for the long-term health of the organization.
Not bad. pic.twitter.com/pBY3LpAE7w
— Mike Hannah (@MikeHannah_) June 22, 2017
As an analytics guy, some of the draft is concerning. I remain unsold on some of the defensemen, including Engelland, Sbisa, and Emelin. If these guys stay with the team the whole approach feels like a very old-school “we need grit and D who block shots” one, and it is a bit disheartening.
As are the rumors that Colin Miller (an analytics darling) is suggested to be on the move.
But the coming days will give us all a much more clear understanding of the roster going forward as Vegas and the rest of the NHL gear up for the entry draft.