Colorado goalie Calvin Pickard was the first player McPhee announced as a Golden Knight.
The conversation wasn't anything terribly serious, but in the coming weeks it could be.
In true Las Vegas fashion, teams gambled, and it appears the house, in this case the Golden Knights, won.
Canadian teams lost several players in the expansion draft: Vancouver lost defenceman Luca Sbisa, Winnipeg gave up forward Chris Thorburn, Calgary had defenceman Deryk Engelland selected and Toronto forward Brendan Leipsic was also taken.
"We have to move some contracts", McPhee said Thursday night. "I think there's a number of players who display the skill that he is looking for".
The Stars shook things up from there by taking defenseman Miro Heiskanen, and then we finally got to some really tough choices for teams. There were so many different directions he could have gone in to craft an identity for the NHL's newest team, each one with its own unique set of strengths and weaknesses. "You just want to establish a friendship and a culture right away, and it starts right now and leads into training camp and continues forward to the first game". He's fun to be around every day. "I got to sleep on it and then get up in the morning and start getting excited to read about the city and the set-up they have".
And so, Crosby waited patiently, kind of like how Fleury has waited patiently during the past 18 months. "I found out (Fleury) was going to be on the team and so I talked with him". "I'll give it everything I've got to win some games and try to get into the community to meet people and spread the word about the Golden Knights". "I think it will go well".
In the event the Canucks grab Lind before Vegas can make a trip to the stage, the Golden Knights will still have solid options at their disposal, including winger Isaac Ratcliffe and center Jaret Anderson-Dolan.
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All of the best organizations in the league are built on homegrown talent and, even if top prospects Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick aren't on the same tier as Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews, they're going to provide a boost to New Jersey (No. 1 pick), Philadelphia (No. 2), Dallas (No. 3) or whoever else might end up with them. The Tampa Bay Lightning used the 14th pick to take D Callan Foote, son of two-time Stanley Cup champion Adam Foote.
"I thought it went really well", said McPhee after the first round. He did a masterful job of making sure teams did business with him, rather than each other, in the lead-up to the expansion draft and it slowed the anticipated redistribution of players.
Rounding out the first nine picks was defenseman Brayden McNabb, who was voted the top newcomer for the Los Angeles Kings after scoring 51 points this past season.
History was made on Wednesday night as the National Hockey League 31st team took shape.
The NHL's announced objective was to help the Golden Knights become competitive more quickly than expansion teams of the past. 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.
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. "I was also thinking of (Reaves) and how important he is to the fourth line, the energy he brings".
The Western Conference-champion Nashville Predators open the season October 5 at Boston.
OILERS: Edmonton traded forward Jordan Eberle to the New York Islanders for forward Ryan Strome. Smith is signed for five seasons, but he's still just 26 and has scored at least 20 goals in two of four full National Hockey League seasons.
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