The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft
The NHL has their newest team, and now knows most of the people who are going to be on it. On June 21, they picked one player from every team to fill their roster. They also made several trades to different teams to entice Vegas to not pick a certain player. The Golden Knights selected these players (these were adjusted because of trades the next day involving the movement of Vegas players):
Forwards (14)
Teemu Pulkkinen, William Carrier, Cody Eakin, Tomas Nosek, Jonathan Marchessault, Connor Brickley, Chris Thorburn, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, James Neal, Brendan Leipsic, David Perron, Oscar Lindberg, Erik Haulla, and William Karlsson.
Defensemen (11)
Luca Sbisa, Jon Merrill, Brayden McNabb, Jason Garrison, Deryk Engelland, Colin Miller, Marc Methot, Griffin Reinhart, Alexei Emelin, Clayton Stoner, and Nate Schmidt.
Goaltenders (3)
Marc-Andre Fleury, Calvin Pickard, and Jean-Francois Berube.
They also made several trades (also adjusted for after-the-draft trades):
Buffalo trades 2017 6th round pick.
Florida trades forward Reilly Smith and 2018 4th round pick.
Carolina gives 2017 5th round pick. Later traded 2017 2nd round pick for defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and 2018 4th round pick.
Winnipeg trades 2017 1st round pick and 2019 3rd round pick for the Columbus 2017 1st round pick.*
Tampa Bay trades forward Nikita Gusev, 2017 2nd round pick, and 2018 4th round pick.
New York Islanders trade forward Mikhail Grabovski, defenseman Jake Bischoff, 2017 1st round pick, and 2019 2nd round pick.
Anaheim trades defenseman Shea Theodore.
Columbus trades forward David Clarkson, 2017 1st round pick*, and 2019 2nd round pick.
Pittsburgh trades 2020 2nd round pick.
Minnesota trades forward Alex Tuch for 3rd round pick in 2017 or 2018.
Montreal trades 2019 5th round pick for defenseman David Schlemko.
In total, Vegas currently has 22 forwards, 13 defensemen, 3 goaltenders, and 13 new entry draft picks. Some of the biggest names on the roster include Marc-Andre Fleury (G), James Neal (F), Jonathan Marchessault (F), and Marc Methot (D).
My Projected Lines
Forward 1: Perron (LW), Marchessault (Center), Neal (RW)
Forward 2: Haula (LW), Karlsson (Center), Smith (RW)
Forward 3: Carrier (LW), Grabovski (Center), Thorburn (RW)
Forward 4: Bellemare (LW), Eakin (Center), Tuch (RW)
Defense 1: Engelland, Schmidt
Defense 2: Sbisa, Miller
Defense 3: Emelin, Methot
The goaltending will be headed by Marc-Andre Fleury for at least the time being. Pickard will likely be the backup on the bench most nights, and Berube will either be scratched or in the minors.
Overall the Golden Knights had a good night. Their defensive corps can put up solid points and are a well rounded 6. The top 6 forwards also have the ability to put up major scoring numbers. The lower 2 lines will be their weakness. They are more inexperienced and not as productive as their other half.
As far as a draft grade, I would give the Golden Knights a B+. They made some good moves in trading (which I did factor in) and have a nice top 6 forward corps. The blue liners have the potential to become a force to be reckoned with. They also have some young players, like Tuch and Theodore, who can excel as they age. Ultimately, they will probably not be a huge threat if they make it to the playoffs, but can make some moves over the season with the team they’ve built.
The NHL Entry Draft is on June 23–24 and the Golden Knights season begins on October 5.
Side note: This article was written at 4:20 PM EST and all known trades involving the Golden Knights are in this article.
