Vegas Golden Knights have potential thanks to shrewd moves in NHL expansion draft

The NHL’s bet that hockey will sell in Las Vegas may have improved odds after the Vegas Golden Knights hit the jackpot in the expansion draft.

General manager George McPhee turned his 30 picks into an impressive haul that includes a 30-goal scorer (Jonathan Marchessault), a former 40-goal scorer (James Neal), a top-pairing physical defenseman in Marc Methot, a three-time Stanley Cup winning goalie (Marc-Andre Fleury), plus two extra first-round picks in Friday’s NHL draft and multiple picks over the next three drafts.

The NHL’s announced objective was to help the Golden Knights become competitive more quickly than expansion teams of the past.

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New protected list rules were engineered to allow existing teams to protect only seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie or eight defensemen/forwards, plus a goalie.

McPhee used the new rules to his advantage by extracting draft picks, prospects and other NHL players from teams looking to protect players on their roster.

He picked up 10 draft picks from 2017 to 2020 to stay away from players teams wanted to keep.

McPhee added prized Minnesota Wild prospect Alex Tuch by agreeing to take restricted free agent Erik Haula instead of selecting defensemen Matt Dumba or Marco Scandella or forward Eric Staal.

The Golden Knights also pick up promising young defenseman Shea Theodore by staying away from Josh Manson and Sami Vatanen.

Expansion teams traditionally lack scorers, and this year protected lists didn’t show many scorers available.

But McPhee’s draft selections of Marchessault (30 goals in 2016-17), Neal (23) and David Perron (18), plus an accompanying trade with the Florida Panthers for Reilly Smith (15) assures that the team will have players with a proven scoring touch.

Earlier this offseason, the Golden Knights signed Russian free agent Vadim Shipachyov, one of the top centers in the Kontinental Hockey League. 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. He played with Shipachyov in Russia, and the hope is he will eventually come to Las Vegas to play with him again.

McPhee’s ability to create a collection of credible scorers qualifies as pulling a rabbit out of his hat.

The Golden Knights even added local flavor by drafting and signing rugged defenseman Deryk Engelland, who has lived in Las Vegas ever since he played minor-league hockey there from 2003-05.

The selection of Methot is a major coup for the Golden Knights. He can match up against the league’s best offensive players. McPhee could trade Methot. But if the Golden Knights want to be competitive quickly, Methot will help them do that. McPhee wanted a physical team and Methot plays a heavy-hitting style, as does Alexei Emelin, who came to the Golden Knights from the Montreal Canadiens.

It’s not as if the Golden Knights were able to draft a team that would be able to compete against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

But this team has more potential than any expansion team in NHL history. By taking a hardline approach, McPhee was able to generate enough side deals to create a pipeline of prospects that should fuel this team over the next three or four seasons.

The Golden Knights’ best acquisition may have come 11 months ago when owner Bill Foley hired McPhee. He had the proper temperament to make the expansion draft a sure bet.

Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft picks

Forwards: Teemu Pulkkinen (Arizona Coyotes), William Carrier (Buffalo Sabres), Tomas Nosek (Detroit Red Wings), Cody Eakin (Dallas Stars), Jonathan Marchessault (Florida Panthers), Reilly Smith (via trade, Florida Panthers), Connor Brickley (Carolina Hurricanes), Chris Thorburn (Winnipeg Jets), Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Philadelphia Flyers), Nikita Gusev (via trade, Tampa Bay Lightning), Mikhail Grabovski (via trade, New York Islanders), James Neal (Nashville Predators), Brendan Leipsic (Toronto Maple Leafs), David Perron (St. Louis Blues), Oscar Lindberg (New York Rangers), Erik Haula (Minnesota Wild), Alex Tuch (via trade, Minnesota Wild), William Karlsson (Columbus Blue Jackets), David Clarkson (via trade, Columbus Blue Jackets).

Defensemen: Luca Sbisa (Vancouver Canucks), Jon Merrill (New Jersey Devils), Brayden McNabb (Los Angeles Kings), Jason Garrison (Tampa Bay Lightning), Jake Bischoff (via trade, New York Islanders), Deryk Engelland (Calgary Flames), Colin Miller (Boston Bruins), Marc Methot (Ottawa Senators), David Schlemko (San Jose Sharks), Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton Oilers), Alexei Emelin (Montreal Canadiens), Clayton Stoner (Anaheim Ducks), Shea Theodore (via trade, Anaheim Ducks), Trevor van Riemsdyk (Chicago Blackhawks), Nate Schmidt (Washington Capitals).

Goalies: Calvin Pickard (Colorado Avalanche), J-F Berube (New York Islanders), Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins).