Senior adviser ready to dig in
The NHL’s decision in June to expand to 31 teams gave David Conte a new lease on life.
Synonymous with the New Jersey Devils for decades, Conte accepted a job in August with the incoming Las Vegas club. He had fallen out with the Devils last summer after Lou Lamoriello, his boss for several years, fled for Toronto to run the Maple Leafs.
“It’s refreshing to have this challenge,” said Conte, senior adviser to hockey operations in Vegas. “I wasn’t really thrilled with the way things ended (in New Jersey). I invested a lot of time there — and I’m not judging anybody on it — but it’s just not how I wanted it to end. So I’m really grateful for this opportunity to contribute again. I’ll do whatever’s necessary.”
Conte, whose core duties for the Sun Belt team mirror that of a typical pro scout, has been tasked with juggling the needs of three future events as he watches plenty of hockey this season: the 2017 amateur draft, expansion draft and free agency period, which go down bang-bang-bang next June and July.
The expansion draft poses the stiffest challenge. The strict parameters placed on which players teams can and cannot protect from Vegas — and specific conditions to which Vegas must adhere — are always on the minds of Conte and his colleagues.
“Clearly I’m aware of it,” Conte said when asked if his focus has already shifted to scouting players likely to be exposed for the expansion draft. “But it’s like opening your presents before Christmas — I don’t think you need to do that.”