Devils on the clock with No. 1 pick in NHL draft

Indeed, Golden Knights general manager George McPhee remains a key player this weekend since he’s still got 12 defencemen on his roster and has had extensive talks with all 30 teams in recent weeks. On Wednesday morning, after submitting the final 30-name list to the National Hockey League, it finally became official.

The Golden Knights also have signed a handful of free agents.

“It’s a hard draft”, said McPhee, the franchise’s GM. He could have maybe assembled a borderline playoff team if he had taken the best available players, but expensive mediocrity is not a sustainable strategy. The Knights are an NHL hockey expansion team.

Vegas Golden Knights’ Marc-Andre Fleury, Deryk Engelland and Brayden McNabb, from left, sit on stage during an event following the National Hockey League expansion draft, Wednesday in Las Vegas.

You can bet that every week is a big sport business week in Las Vegas, but this time around, it was a particularly entertaining and bullish week for the hub of Nevada, the epicentre of the sports gambling world. Vegas had a short timeframe during which they had exclusive negotiating rights with any restricted or unrestricted players from other teams. But there’s plenty of talent here. That counted as Vegas’ selection from Calgary, so all the Flames lost was a player who may have hit the open market on July 1 anyway.

Engelland emerged on stage after Bill Foley announced his name, wearing the brand new Vegas Golden Knights jersey.

“I’ll give it everything I’ve got to win some games”, Fleury said. That was a warm welcome, and Im getting excited about it.”.

Numerous trades between teams are expected to be announced starting Thursday after a trade/waiver freeze expires at 8 a.m. ET.

Garrison was in Las Vegas Wednesday night, and took part in the expansion team’s roster announcement.

Nashville had no choice when it came down to whom to protect. As a result, these are not “a bunch of misfits nobody wanted”, as then-winger Jody Shelley once described the 1992-93 Senators. One player in particular is hoping to add to his already impressive trophy haul. “I’m so proud to be an Oiler, and so proud to play with the guys”.

“I feel like we have created a great team and we can grow from here. tonight is the culmination of five mock drafts. They’re going to be pleasantly surprised”. 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. After that, the team needs to find a captain, needs to find a home for its surplus of defencemen and needs to find someone to centre the top line.

Marchessault led the Panthers in goals this season.

Poile was recognized after the Predators’ first Western Conference title and Stanley Cup Final appearance. Perron had 18 goals in a depth role with the St. Louis Blues.

“I think this still will be proven to be a good draft”, Shero said. I’ve spent a lot of time there but this year is going to be a lot of fun. “We thought that when that happened, he’d be an outstanding goaltender. It should be fun”. He went 21-25-11 in his first season in Florida, helping the Panthers complete their inaugural season with a respectable 33-34-17 record.

SURE BET: Assuming Anaheim has already worked out a trade to keep Vegas away from Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson – perhaps at the cost of a first-round pick – there are still plenty of young, affordable defensemen to choose from along with some veterans.

The team is literally in the building phase of its development.

But the one to watch could be a player who was not even selected in the expansion draft. Vegas fans have waited long enough to have a major professional sports team; waiting a few more years until that team contends should be a breeze, by comparison. And it’s pretty exciting. Or maybe the franchise will look towards Deryk Engelland, who played two years for the Las Vegas Wranglers and is the closest thing to being a homegrown player. “I think it will go well”.