On Wednesday night, in front of a packed house at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the Vegas Golden Knights unveiled what the majority of their roster will look like in 2017-18.
The problem is many consider Patrick the No. 1 prospect in the draft and he'll likely be long gone by the time the Golden Knights are on the clock. And while Vegas was playing with a stacked deck, the Golden Knights won big in a lot of them.
Marc-Andre Fleury will return to Pittsburgh on February 6 as the Golden Knights face the Penguins. Neal was ready once again to take off, and he showed his offensive game in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Vegas Golden Knights selected Methot in the expansion draft, Wednesday, June 21.
FILE - In this March 16, 2017, file photo, Florida Panthers' Jonathan Marchessault plays against the Columbus Blue Jackets during an NHL hockey game in Columbus, Ohio. Also heading to Vegas in a trade were the Islanders' first-round pick in 2017 and second-round selection in 2019 as well as defenseman Jake Bischoff and center Mikhail Grabovski.
Vegas shouldnt start blocking off the Strip for the parade just yet, but Sin Citys new team is holding a remarkable hand after general manager George McPhees 37-player haul from the expansion draft and several subsequent trades.
CHICAGO - The new faces all had a message Wednesday night, confident and direct in their assessment: That in their inaugural National Hockey League season, the Golden Knights have every chance to be as competitive as any expansion side in history.
"I think this still will be proven to be a good draft", Shero said.
Why did they pass on so many good players?
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What they don't have is the game-changing playmakers and goal-scorers that separate decent teams from great ones, but they've got a plan for that, too: Vegas will add even more top-shelf talent Friday in the draft in Chicago, where McPhee holds three first-round picks, including the sixth overall.
Calvin Pickard from Colorado and Jean-Francois Berube from the New York Islanders are only 25, and each one could be Fleury's backup or trade bait.
Looking down at his new sweater, he said, "It still feels a little bit surreal".
What's odd to me is how many people who should and maybe do know better are blowing smoke up your ass and saying this team might be good now.
Vegas didn't go hog wild with goalies, opting to leaving Detroit's Petr Mrazek, Philadelphia's Michal Neuvirth, the New York Rangers' Antti Raanta and Washington's Philipp Grubauer alone. Because the Tampa Bay Lightning wanted to prevent McPhee from taking one of their younger defenseman, the Lightning gave up a second-round pick, a fourth and prospect Nikita Gusev.
The existing Golden Knights' blue line isn't bad: Brayden McNabb from Los Angeles, Colin Miller from Boston, Jon Merrill from New Jersey and Griffin Reinhart from Edmonton.
That transition to the desert will be easier for some Golden Knights: Deryk Engelland has lived in Las Vegas in the off-season for a decade.
The players who have already arrived in Vegas realize that although theyre starting over, they arent starting from scratch. Even the few reasonably talented veterans grabbed by the Knights - Marc Methot and David Perron immediately come to mind - are possible trade candidates within the next week or at the trade deadline. Neal is a proven 40 goal scorer, when he is with the right guy, and now Vegas needs to find that guy as soon as they can, If they want to be competitive immediately. He began his career with the Florida Panthers, and played three seasons in the Sunshine State before signing with his hometown Canucks as a free-agent in 2012. They have many, many draft picks, and as much cap space as anyone, and seemingly the go-ahead from the owner to be patient. Recent expansion teams have taken five or six years before their first playoff appearance, so the odds are strong that not more than a couple names on the above list will still be here when the team is good.
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