Report: NHL insider breaks 11 Vegas expansion picks

Some of these selections, and the price to acquire them, may surprise you.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Report: NHL insider breaks 11 Vegas expansion picks
Keystone Press

Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee has submitted his selections for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and now we wait for the official unveiling of the NHL’s newest franchise. One NHL insider however, TSN report Bob McKenzie, shed some light on 11 possible expansion picks this morning. There’s a lot to digest here, so let’s take them one by one.

Las Vegas should claim Clayton Stoner and also raise the nose on Josh Manson and Sami Vatanen. In exchange, the Ducks would offer young defender Shea Theodore to the Knights.

Anaheim Ducks
It’s expected that McPhee will select defenseman Clayton Stoner and will receive Shea Theodore in exchange for taking on Stoner’s onerous contract. 

Chicago Blackhawks
As was reported by TSN’s Frank Seravalli last week, it’s expected the Golden Knights will select Trevor van Riemsdyk who was made available on the condition that they also take on Marcus Kruger’s contract via trade.

Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets have traded their first round pick (24th overall) along with David Clarkson to Vegas. In exchange the team has made forwards William Karlsson, Matt Calvert and defenseman Ryan Murray available.

Florida Panthers
This one is a little puzzling. The Panthers elected to expose both Jonathan Marchessault AND Reilly Smith. Of course, McPhee can only select one, but McKenzie suggests that both could be headed to Vegas in a package deal of sorts.

Minnesota Wild
In a deal just announced this morning, the Vegas Golden Knights have agreed on terms with Wild free agent Erik Haula, which qualifies him as the team’s selection from the Wild. It has also been reported that McPhee received assets in the form of prospect Alex Tuch and draft picks in order to stay away from more valuable Wild players like Eric Staal and Matt Dumba.

New York Islanders
Somehow Isles GM Garth Snow has convinced McPhee to take on the contracts of Mikhail Grabovksi and Nikolai Kulemin. The return is reportedly a high 2nd round draft pick. 

Pittsburgh Penguins
This is the worst kept secret in hockey. Marc Andre Fleury is going to Vegas. Take it to the bank.

Tampa Bay Lightning
According to McKenzie, the Bolts have a deal in place to protect Slater Koekkoek, meaning that Jason Garrison will likely be on his way to Vegas. What else Vegas gets out of the deal is not yet known.

So there you have it. Almost half of the Vegas Golden Knights! Not much to look at so far, but it’s a good start! For the full recap from McKenzie, see the Twitter chain below:


Source: Bob McKenzie