Time is running out for the other 30 general managers to get their way in the expansion draft process.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee indicated he has put a deadline on discussions with his colleagues as they pertain to making deals to ensure exposed players are or are not selected, depending on the situation.
"Today will be the last day that we are going to have those discussions," he said. "We are going to pick our team (Tuesday)."
The Golden Knights must select one player from each team, including at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders. A minimum of 20 of those players must be under contract for 2017-18, and McPhee is free to speak to unprotected free agents to gauge their interest in joining the team.
McPhee must submit his selections by 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, while the roster will be announced that night at the NHL Awards.
Although he's known more for his love of basketball, Drake is also a big hockey fan and played the sport growing up.
In the clip above, the Toronto rapper, who was 10 years old at the time, shows off his table hockey skills in a satirical commercial based around goaltenders Martin Brodeur and Ron Hextall that aired at the 1997 NHL Awards.
The NHL and NHLPA have agreed on a salary cap for 2017-18, leaving the Chicago Blackhawks as the lone team with some shedding to do.
The cap ceiling for the upcoming season has officially been set at $75 million, and the Blackhawks are the only team currently above that mark with an overage projected at $2.52M, per Cap Friendly.
In fact, no other team comes within $4 million of the new limit:
Team
Projected Cap Space
Blackhawks
-$2.52M
Blue Jackets
$4.04M
Islanders
$4.04M
Ducks
$5.45M
Blues
$6.46M
Part of that extra salary could be gone as early as Wednesday, though, courtesy of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Kruger is set to carry a cap hit of $3,083,333 for the next two seasons, while Van Riemsdyk's deal is valued at $825,000 against the cap. The savings there amount to $3,908,333, enough to get the Blackhawks under the ceiling.
On the flip side, there are now two roster spots that need to be filled, leaving almost $1.4 million (and zero flexibility) to work with.
The expansion draft, then, is just the beginning of general manager Stan Bowman's efforts to become cap compliant without sacrificing too much talent.
Spin the trade wheel
The next (and bigger) step likely involves trading a more core piece of the roster. Assuming Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith and Corey Crawford are safe, here are a few other candidates to be moved:
Player
Position
2017-18 Cap Hit
Brent Seabrook
D
$6.875M (NMC)
Artemi Panarin
F
$6M
Marian Hossa
F
$5.275M (NMC)
Artem Anisimov
F
$4.55M (NMC)
Niklas Hjalmarsson
D
$4.1M (M-NTC NMC)
As we can see, the challenge here lies in the fact almost all these players can't be moved without giving consent, which is why Panarin cracks the list, as unfathomable as that may seem.
We all know Bowman has proven to have a knack for filling roster holes with veteran players on the cheap, or with talented young prospects on entry-level deals. That challenge is greater than ever, with an aging core still stinging from the embarrassment of scoring three goals in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Nashville Predators.
Chicago, then, will be a team to watch closely this summer, and the Blackhawks could be active hosts of this weekend's NHL Entry Draft by giving commissioner Gary Bettman a trade or two to announce.
While the Vegas Golden Knights are set to put together their inaugural roster in just a few days, it has been 25 years since the Tampa Bay Lightning conducted their expansion draft prior to the 1992-93 season.
The Lightning and Ottawa Senators, who joined the league the same year, each chose 21 players - two goaltenders, seven defensemen, and 12 forwards. The pickings were slim, as teams were allowed to protect two netminders and 14 skaters each (the second-year San Jose Sharks were exempt from the expansion draft).
The Lightning made out considerably better than their Canadian brethren, winning 23 games while compiling 53 points in their inaugural season. Brian Bradley was the offensive catalyst, scoring an incredible 42 goals while finishing with 86 points en route to a spot in the NHL All-Star Game - his first of two consecutive All-Star appearances.
Here are the 21 players the Lightning selected in the expansion draft:
Goaltenders
Wendell Young (selected from Pittsburgh)
GP
W
L
T
GAA
SV%
31
7
19
2
3.66
.872
Young went from backup duty in Pittsburgh to a similar role with the expansion Lighting, playing behind Pat Jablonski. He actually posted slightly better numbers, but it wasn't enough to earn him more playing time the following season. He was dealt back to the Penguins in 1995, and played his final seven years with Chicago of the International Hockey League.
Frederic Chabot (selected from Montreal)
GP*
W
L
T
GAA
SV%
45
22
17
4
3.33
.901
*Played with AHL's Fredericton Canadiens
Montreal wasn't thrilled with losing Chabot, so it made a deal with Tampa the day after the expansion draft and sent fellow netminder Jean-Claude Bergeron to the Lightning. Bergeron actually asserted himself well in Tampa - recording a 3.65 goals-against average in 53 career games - while Chabot appeared in just two more games with Montreal and 32 for his NHL career.
Defensemen
Joe Reekie (selected from N.Y. Islanders)
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
42
2
11
13
+2
Reekie was a dependable defense-first blue-liner that had one of the best seasons of any Lightning player in their inaugural season. He was so good, in fact, that Tampa Bay was able to deal him to Washington for bruiser Enrico Ciccone and a pair of draft picks in a March 1994 trade. Reekie went on to play parts of nine seasons with the Capitals.
Shawn Chambers (selected from Washington)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
55
10
29
39
-21
Chambers was a revelation for Tampa Bay - at least on the offensive end. Despite finishing with the fourth-worst plus-minus on the team, he established career bests in goals and assists while leading the team in scoring among defensemen. He played parts of three seasons with the Lightning before being traded to New Jersey in March 1995.
Peter Taglianetti (selected from Pittsburgh)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
61
1
8
9
+8
Taglianetti's bruising style complemented the Lightning's skill players well. He not only led the team in plus-minus, but was also second in penalty minutes. But Tampa Bay decided against holding onto him, swapping him back to the Penguins in exchange for a third-round pick. Taglianetti would remain with the Pens until 1995 before wrapping up his career with Providence of the AHL.
Bob McGill (selected from Detroit)
GP*
G
A
P
+/-
19
1
0
1
+5
*Played with Toronto Maple Leafs
McGill didn't even appear in a game with the Lightning, who placed him on waivers in early September. He was subsequently claimed by the Maple Leafs, reuniting him with the team that selected him 26th overall in the 1980 draft. McGill retired as a player in 1996 with an odd statistical anomaly to his credit: He played in 49 NHL playoff games without registering a single point.
Jeff Bloemberg (selected from N.Y. Rangers)
GP*
G
A
P
+/-
76
6
45
51
-6
*Played with AHL's Cape Breton Oilers
Bloemberg was another player selected by the Lightning in the expansion draft and subsequently moved without playing a game with the team. He was sent to Edmonton for future considerations, and had a solid season with the Oilers' AHL affiliate. But despite stints with the Hartford and Detroit organizations, Bloemberg never played in the NHL again.
Doug Crossman (selected from Quebec)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
40
8
21
29
-4
Crossman brought a veteran pedigree to Tampa, and was the team's top blue-line point producer on a per-game basis. In January 1993, the Lightning made him the centerpiece of a deal with St. Louis that landed them promising forward Jason Ruff. But Ruff did nothing with the Lightning, while Crossman's offense fell off a cliff in 1993-94 (nine points in 50 games played).
Rob Ramage (selected from Minnesota)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
66
5
12
17
-21
Ramage in his prime was one of the top dual-threat defensemen in hockey, capable of racking up points and rearranging opponents' dental work. But as a 34-year-old whose best days were clearly behind him, he didn't offer much of anything on the offensive end. Tampa dealt him to Montreal for Eric Charron, Alain Cote, and Donald Dufresne in March.
Forwards
Michel Mongeau (selected from St. Louis)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
4
1
1
2
-2
Mongeau has an interesting HockeyDB page, even without much NHL content on there. He played just four games with the Lightning, spending the majority of that season in the IHL (65 points in 45 games with Peoria). That was his last NHL action, as he closed out his playing career with stints in the AHL, the Italian League, and the Quebec Senior Professional Hockey League.
Anatoli Semenov (selected from Edmonton)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
13
2
3
5
-5
Semenov came to the Lightning with plenty of promise after racking up 73 points over two seasons with the Oilers following a 10-year run with Moscow Dynamo. But he played in just 13 games with Tampa before being traded to Vancouver, and was claimed by Anaheim in its 1993 expansion draft - just over one year after being nabbed by the Lightning.
Mike Hartman (selected from Winnipeg)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
58
4
4
8
-7
Hartman provided a big part of the muscle for the expansion Lightning, collecting 154 penalty minutes over just 58 games with the team. After Tampa Bay traded him to the New York Rangers for Randy Gilhen, Hartman finished his NHL career on Broadway before spending the majority of his non-NHL time from there with the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL.
Basil McRae (selected from Minnesota)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
14
2
3
5
-3
Coming off a five-season stint with the Minnesota North Stars in which he averaged more than 313 penalty minutes per season, McRae wasn't coming in to score 30 goals. But his time in Tampa Bay was short, as he was shipped to St. Louis as part of the transaction to acquire Ruff. Even so, he still managed 71 PIMs in just 14 games with the Lightning.
Rob DiMaio (selected from N.Y. Islanders)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
54
9
15
24
0
DiMaio provided a nice boost in Tampa Bay's first season. His point total jumped by 17 compared to his final year with the Islanders, though it wasn't enough to keep him with the Lightning, as he was traded to Philadelphia the following season for Jim Cummins and a fourth-round pick. DiMaio would play 10 more NHL seasons, including a return to Tampa for his final campaign.
Dan Vincelette (selected from Chicago)
GP*
G
A
P
+/-
36
5
5
10
0
*Played with IHL's Atlanta Knights and San Diego Gulls
Tabbed as a future power forward, Vincelette had no trouble racking up the PIMs as a pro but couldn't match his offensive production from junior hockey. He never appeared in a game with Tampa Bay, as he was dealt to the Flyers for Steve Kasper in December 1992. Vincelette finished his career with 22 points and 155 PIMs in 27 games with Acton Vale of the QSPHL in 1996-97.
Steve Maltais (selected from Quebec)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
63
7
13
20
-20
Maltais' NHL footprint is small - he had just nine goals and 18 assists in 120 games with five teams. But his lone season with the Lightning stands out, as it was his only NHL campaign with more than 26 games played. He was shipped out of Tampa Bay the following summer, sent to Detroit for Dennis Vial. He returned to the NHL seven years later with Columbus.
Tim Bergland (selected from Washington)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
27
3
3
6
-5
Bergland had bounced between the NHL and AHL with the Capitals organization since 1989-90 prior to being selected by the Lightning. That pattern continued in his Tampa Bay tenure, as he played 78 games with the Lightning and another 68 with the Atlanta Vipers of the IHL before being reacquired by Washington via waivers in March 1994. He retired in 1999.
Brian Bradley (selected from Toronto)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
80
42
44
86
-24
No one could have seen this coming - particularly not the Maple Leafs, for whom Bradley had scored just 10 goals in 85 games over parts of two season. Bradley's sensational 1992-93 campaign propelled him to the first of two All-Star berths, and he finished with 300 points over 328 games as a member of the Lightning. His 42 goals stood as the team record until 2007.
Keith Osborne (selected from Toronto)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
11
1
1
2
-1
Osborne was an elite player for North Bay and Niagara Falls of the Ontario Hockey League but couldn't match that success in the NHL, finishing with just four points in 16 games. Following several successful seasons in the IHL and UHL, he ended his playing career with the hilariously-named Macon Whoopee of the Central Hockey League in 2000-01.
Shayne Stevenson (selected from Boston)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
8
0
1
1
-5
Stevenson will go down as one of the biggest first-round busts of the 1980s. The 17th overall pick in 1989 had a promising junior career but managed just two assists in 27 career NHL games. He toiled in a variety of minor leagues until the end of his playing days in 2000-01, including a two-season stint with Port Huron and Toronto of Major League Roller Hockey.
Tim Hunter (selected from Calgary)
GP*
G
A
P
+/-
48
5
3
8
-4
*Played with Quebec Nordiques
Hunter's tenure with the expansion Lightning lasted exactly one day. He was dealt to Quebec on June 19 for future considerations that wound up being forward Martin Simard, who finished with the same number of points in a Tampa Bay uniform as Hunter did. Meanwhile, Hunter played five more NHL seasons with the Nordiques, Canucks, and Sharks.
With one year remaining on his contract with the Buffalo Sabres, winger Evander Kane hears his name mentioned in trade rumors.
He seems quite used to it, in fact.
"My name seems to create a buzz with some reporters and radio stations. I wonder if I have some thank-you cards coming," Kane said to Steve Ewen of The Province at a reunion for the Vancouver Giants' 2007 Memorial Cup champions.
The chatter isn't something he seems to be losing sleep over.
"Do I worry about the rumours? No. The funny part about rumours is that if you don't know something is going on, then nobody else does," he said. "I have an agent (Don Meehan) who is knowledgeable and tapped in. He gives me updates when I need updates. I'd like to think I'm well informed when I need to be."
The rumors aren't entirely out of place, though, seeing as Kane's deal expires next summer and he's set to command a hefty raise, especially if he can replicate his 28 goals in 70 games from this past season.
Sabres general manager Jason Botterill is new on the job and will no doubt assess the roster from top to bottom, and Kane's off-ice issues may play a role in any decision to jettison him out of Buffalo.
For his part, Kane has expressed a desire to remain a Sabre, and believes he was able to bring his all to the team in 2016-17 despite facing charges of disorderly conduct and harassment - which were eventually dismissed - stemming from an incident last summer.
"I thought I did a pretty good job of that last season," Kane said of staying focused on his game. "I'm just going to continue to let my play on the ice do all the negotiating and talking and answering for me.
"I'm getting prepared to start another NHL season," he added. "Hopefully it's in Buffalo."
While the Vegas Golden Knights are set to put together their inaugural roster in just a few days, it has been 25 years since the Ottawa Senators conducted their expansion draft prior to the 1992-93 season.
The Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning, who joined the league the same year, each chose 21 players - two goaltenders, seven defensemen, and 12 forwards. The pickings were quite slim, as non-expansion teams were allowed to protect two netminders and 14 skaters each. (The second-year San Jose Sharks were exempt from the expansion draft.)
Ottawa didn't get much from the players it selected; only Sylvain Turgeon (pictured above) finished in the top three in team scoring, and was the only expansion pick to record more than 15 goals. That might explain why the Senators went an abysmal 10-70-4 in their first year, setting an NHL record for fewest road wins in a season (one).
Here are the 21 players the Senators selected in the expansion draft:
Goaltenders
Peter Sidorkiewicz (selected from Hartford)
GP
W
L
T
GAA
SV%
64
8
46
3
4.43
.856
Sidorkiewicz, a one-time Calder Trophy finalist, had a dreadful season in the Canadian capital, winning just eight of his 64 appearances while leading the NHL in goals against. He was dealt to New Jersey the following summer in a five-player deal that netted the Senators netminder Craig Billington, among others, and played just four more NHL games after that.
Mark Laforest (selected from N.Y. Rangers)
GP*
W
L
T
GAA
SV%
30
10
18
1
4.30
.878
* played for AHL's New Haven Senators
Laforest was solid in back-to-back seasons for the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate before being plucked by the Senators; he made just two appearances for Ottawa, both during the 1993-94 season, before bolting for the International Hockey League during the 1994-95 lockout. He wrapped up his playing career in 1997 with Utica of the Colonial Hockey League.
Defensemen
Brad Shaw (selected from New Jersey)
GP
G
A
PTS
+/-
81
7
34
41
-47
It was a rough two years in Ottawa for Shaw, who finished with the league's fourth-worst plus-minus in the Senators' inaugural campaign. Shaw was made team captain in 1993-94, posted a 4-19-23 line with a -41 rating in 66 games, and spent the majority of the next four seasons in the IHL. He retired in 1999 and has been an NHL assistant/associate coach since 2006.
Darren Rumble (selected from Philadelphia)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
69
3
13
16
-24
Like Shaw, Rumble spent just two seasons with the Senators - and like Shaw, they were difficult campaigns. Rumble posted nine goals, 31 points, and a -74 rating in 139 games with the Senators before rediscovering his offensive touch in the AHL, recording three straight 50-point seasons. It never did translate to the NHL, however, as he had just 36 points in 193 career games.
Dominic Lavoie (selected from St. Louis)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
2
0
1
1
0
Lavoie's playing days in North America were nearly spent by the time he arrived in Ottawa; he spent most of his only season with the Sens in the AHL, recording 43 points in 53 games. Stints with Boston and Los Angeles preceded a move overseas, where Lavoie split the final 10 years of his career between Felkirch VEU of the Austrian League and the Hannover Scorpions of the German League.
Brad Miller (selected from Buffalo)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
11
0
0
0
-5
Many sports fans know about former NBA center Brad Miller, and current Tampa Bay Rays infielder Brad Miller - but they may not know there was an NHL version, too. He made more of an impact with his fists, recording just one goal, five assists, and 321 penalty minutes in 82 career NHL games; he spent his final six seasons in the IHL, where he also punched faces.
Ken Hammond (selected from Vancouver)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
62
4
4
8
-42
Hammond, an eighth-round pick of the Kings in 1983, had played for the expansion Sharks the year before being plucked by the Senators, so being on a first-year team had kind of become his thing. Ottawa represented his final taste of NHL action; he played with Providence of the AHL in 1993-94 before wrapping up his career with the IHL's Kansas City Blades.
Kent Paynter (selected from Winnipeg)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
6
0
0
0
-7
Paynter didn't make much of an impact in his NHL career, recording one goal and adding three assists in 37 games. His Senators tenure was equally drab - one assist and a -13 rating in 15 games before he fled for the IHL for the final four years of his career. His only NHL goal came against Daniel Berthiaume, who also played for the Sens during their inaugural season.
John Van Kessel (selected from Los Angeles)
GP*
G
A
P
+/-
17
2
3
5
-6
* played for AHL's New Haven Senators
Never heard of Van Kessel? It's okay; most hockey fans haven't. He never played in an NHL game, spending 1992-93 between the AHL and IHL and kicking around the minors for a few more seasons before wrapping up his career in Germany. Fun fact: Van Kessel was selected 49th overall in 1988, ahead of Mark Recchi, Rob Blake, and Alex Mogilny, among others. Oops!
Forwards
Sylvain Turgeon (selected from Montreal)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
72
25
18
43
-29
Turgeon was expected to be the centerpiece of Ottawa's offense; the former No. 2 overall pick had two 40-goal seasons in Hartford to his credit, and was still in his prime when the Senators selected him. But he topped out at a high of 25 goals in three seasons with Ottawa, then left the NHL in 1995-96 for stings in the IHL, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany.
Mike Peluso (selected from Chicago)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
81
15
10
25
-35
It's fair to say the Senators knew what they were getting from a guy who had led the entire NHL with 408 penalty minutes the season before. But even though Peluso pretty much did as expected - racking up 318 PIMs in 81 games - he also showed some scoring touch, finishing fifth on the team in goals. He would net just 13 more tallies over his final five campaigns.
Rob Murphy (selected from Vancouver)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
44
3
7
10
-23
A second-round pick of the Canucks in 1987, Murphy never did reach his full potential following four impressive campaigns in the QMJHL. The Senators couldn't get much out of him, either, and cut him loose after one season. He spent the next four seasons in the IHL before a six-year stint in Germany and one year in the Quebec Senior Men's Hockey League.
Mark Lamb (selected from Edmonton)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
71
7
19
26
-40
Lamb was by no means flashy, but he was a serviceable depth option for a Senators team that was woefully short on experience. Lamb finished with 18 goals and 55 points in parts of two seasons with Ottawa before being traded to Philadelphia for Claude Boivin in March 1994. He finished playing in 2000, then spent time as an assistant coach with the Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars.
Jim Thomson (selected from Los Angeles)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
15
0
1
1
-11
Thomson was another bruising forward with a penchant for dropping the gloves; the 6-foot-1 winger had racked up 162 penalty minutes in just 45 games with the Kings the season before. But he was a pivotal piece for the Sens, who sent him back to L.A. in December in a four-player deal that allowed them to acquire perennial 20-goal scorer Bob Kudelski.
Lonnie Loach (selected from Detroit)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
3
0
0
0
0
Loach had turned heads in 1991, racking up 131 points in 81 games with Fort Wayne to win the International Hockey League scoring title by 11 points over linemate and future NHL head coach Bruce Boudreau. But Loach couldn't duplicate his success in the NHL, posting just 23 points in 56 games before plying his trade in the AHL, Switzerland, the Alpenligue, and the UHL.
Laurie Boschman (selected from New Jersey)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
70
9
7
16
-26
Boschman was one of the Senators' most established players; the former first-round pick had nearly 1,000 NHL games on his resume with the Maple Leafs, Oilers, Jets, and Devils. He reached the 1,000-game plateau in an Ottawa uniform but called it quits at season's end, returning for a seven-game stint with the British Hockey League's Fife Flyers in 1994-95.
Mark Freer (selected from Philadelphia)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
63
10
14
24
-35
Freer wasn't much of an offensive threat, but still managed an NHL personal-best 10 goals despite a -35 rating with the Senators. He signed with the Calgary Flames the following offseason but spent the majority of 1993-94 in the AHL, averaging better than a point per game. He played the next five seasons in the IHL before returning to the Philadelphia organization with the Phantoms.
Chris Lindberg (selected from Calgary)
GP*
G
A
P
+/-
62
9
12
21
-3
* played for Calgary Flames
The Flames really didn't want to part with Lindberg, whom they had signed as a free agent in 1991. So, they dealt defenseman Mark Osiecki to the Senators in order to reacquire their prized forward. The deal didn't really work out for either side; Lindberg departed for Quebec as a free agent the following offseason, while Ottawa placed Oseicki on waivers in February 1993.
Jeff Lazaro (selected from Boston)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
26
6
4
10
-8
The Waltham, Mass., native was nothing more than a depth forward with the Bruins, but Lazaro showed decent offensive promise between Ottawa and New Haven (12 goals, 13 assists in 27 games). Yet, his Senators stint represented the last of his NHL playing experience, as he spent his final nine seasons between the AHL, ECHL, Germany, and Austria.
Darcy Loewen (selected from Buffalo)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
79
4
5
9
-26
Power forwards were all the rage in the late 80s and early 90s, which explains how Loewen was a third-round pick; he averaged a point per game over his final two WHL seasons while racking up 425 penalty minutes in that span. But he was all fists, no hands in the NHL, registering 12 points and 211 PIMs in 135 games. He finished his playing career in the West Coast Hockey League.
Blair Atcheynum (selected from Hartford)
GP
G
A
P
+/-
4
0
1
1
-3
Atcheynum, a third-round pick of the Whalers in 1989, had 138 points in his final junior season but never saw the ice with Hartford and barely featured for Ottawa. He rejuvenated his career in 1997-98, playing 61 games with the St. Louis Blues before being claimed by Nashville in the Predators' expansion draft. he was later dealt back to St. Louis before finishing his career with Chicago.
The protected and available players lists for the expansion draft are public, which means it's time to finally take our best shot at filling out the Vegas Golden Knights' roster.
We've listed the roster by position, and broken down each selection by team, including the player's age, salary cap hit, and contract status.
All signs point to an agreement between the Ducks and Vegas that ensures the Golden Knights don't select Sami Vatanen or Josh Manson, and beyond those two, it's slim pickings. Like, super slim.
It's either Pulkkinen or Alex Burmistrov, and Pulkkinen's 2014-15, when he had 34 goals and 61 points in 46 games in the AHL, remains too impressive to pass up, even two years later.
There are veteran and more expensive options - like Troy Brouwer - but Shinkaruk, a former first-round pick, had 15 goals and 35 points in 52 games in the A last season, and our Vegas roster is being built with youth in mind.
Another no-brainer. The kid averaged 18:25 on the Blackhawks' blue line last season and chipped in with 16 points. This could be a great move for his career, which already includes a Stanley Cup ring.
While Grigorenko hasn't lived up to his 12th overall selection in 2012, he's had back-to-back 20-point seasons and has played over 200 games at only 23 years old. That counts for something.
A reported deal is in place that will see Vegas not select Josh Anderson, Joonas Korpisalo, Jack Johnson, or David Savard, but all is not lost. Karlsson's a decent consolation prize, especially considering a first-round pick is reportedly headed the Golden Knights' way. It'll be interesting to see what the kid can do given more of an opportunity.
Mrazek being left exposed is a surprise, especially considering Jimmy Howard's contract. Vegas must take advantage. It gives the Golden Knights a large salary to help get to the cap floor, and he can be used as a potential trade chip.
A reported trade has Vegas banking another first-round pick for not plucking exposed Brock Nelson or Ryan Strome. While Bailey could also be included in that agreement, we're going to assume that he's not. He had 56 points last season.
There are some interesting names on the Pens' available list, including Carl Hagelin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Bryan Rust, and Scott Wilson, but Fleury to Vegas has to happen. It's been discussed far too much for it not to.
Leipsic has nothing left to prove in the AHL, he's ripped it up, and is a casualty of too much young talent in Toronto (when was the last time you could say that?).
It was only a matter of time before Roberto Luongo chimed in.
The Florida Panthers' 38-year-old goalie was left exposed by the club ahead of the expansion draft, and took to Twitter to sympathize with the Vegas Golden Knights' tough decision ahead:
Vegas must select one player from each team, and Luongo crossed himself off the list.
Considering the 'tender's $4,533,333 salary-cap hit through 2021-22, it's a safe bet Luongo will be in Florida next season and beyond. But you can't fault the guy for making sure. Or trying to, at least.
