BUILDING A FOUNDATION
McPhee to pick Vegas roster
As he drove into work Sunday, George McPhee was as giddy as a kid eagerly racing to find out what gifts might be waiting for him under the tree on Christmas morning.
Only in this case, he had his pick of the presents, which ended up including big-ticket items like James Neal, Eric Staal, Sami Vatanen, Marc-Andre Fleury, Tomas Plekanec, Josh Manson, Matt Dumba, Bobby Ryan and Petr Mrazek.
Those were some of the more well-known names exposed by teams for the highly anticipated expansion draft, which will see the Las Vegas Golden Knights select one player from each of the other 30 NHL rosters.
McPhee was excited to discover the cache of quality players to choose from.
“I’m really pleased with what’s available,” McPhee said Sunday. “This has worked out very well for the Vegas Golden Knights, and we expect to put a good, entertaining club on the ice. We really like what we’re looking at right now.”
Added McPhee: “The issue for us isn’t going to be, ‘Can we fill out the roster?’ It would be, ‘Do we have too many players?’ There are lots of good players there.”
When the protected lists from the 30 franchises were made public Sunday, there were plenty of surprises and shocks, including the availability of a proven goal scorer such as Neal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean McPhee and his staff be drawn toward such prominent players, especially since the Knights GM has said his team will be built through the draft.
Meanwhile, the salary cap is going up after all in the NHL. The NHL and NHLPA announced an upper limit of US$75 million for the 2017-18 season — up from US$73 million last season.
With the Knights having until Wednesday to submit their picks, here is a breakdown of the upcoming expansion draft including who’s available and why the Knights will or won’t take a player.
LET’S MAKE A DEAL:
Keep in mind that just because a player has been left unprotected doesn’t mean he’s necessarily going to be snapped up by Vegas. There already has been plenty of chatter between McPhee and his peers concerning side deals that would see the Knights pick up draft picks in exchange for passing over certain players their original teams left exposed, but still want to keep.
The Knights acknowledged as much when they released the following press release late Saturday.
“Vegas has indicated they will give all 30 clubs every opportunity to keep their rosters intact if they’d like,” read the press release. “This means that before the Golden Knights claim a player off a team’s unprotected list, McPhee and his staff are willing to negotiate deals so the other clubs do not lose a player they would otherwise like to keep.”
The Islanders for one, reportedly have a deal in place that would send Vegas a first-round pick in order to pass on exposed forwards like Josh Bailey, Shane Prince, Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome.
Meanwhile the Columbus Dispatch reported the Blue Jackets are believed to be trading this year’s first-round draft pick (No. 24 overall) and a prospect (not Pierre-Luc Dubois or Sonny Milano) to Vegas for assurances that the Golden Knights will pluck either left wing Matt Calvert, centre William Karlsson or defenceman Ryan Murray, thereby allowing Columbus to retain some of their more coveted exposed players. Vegas may take on injured David Clarkson (US$5.25 million salary cap hit) as part of the deal.
The Anaheim Ducks are also a strong candidate to pull the trigger on a deal after failing to protect Vatanen and Manson, two coveted defencemen they’d love to retain.
TALK ISN’T CHEAP
McPhee is free to negotiate contracts with any free agents left unprotected during the next several days, players like Joe Thornton, T.J. Oshie, Alex Radulov, Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk, just to name a few.
As a result, teams interested in a particular pending UFA could ask Vegas to sign that player, then trade him to them at a later date. Teams could also ask Vegas to pick an exposed player they’re interested in, then get the Knights to subsequently flip him. In both cases, it’s expected the Knights are looking for picks or/ and prospects in return.
This much is certain: With plenty of teams talking, McPhee is definitely listening.
Asked about teams calling asking Vegas to pick players for them, McPhee said Sunday that “it’s already started to happen. People have identified people on other clubs that they’d like to have. We have to establish the value for that, and whatever you want to give us has to be better than what we can claim from that club. And then we’re going to go that club and say: ‘We have interest in this player, there’s another club that has interest in this player, how do we want to do this, how can we protect your roster? You can negotiate your way out of this if you wish.’
“Every team in this league has a chance to protect their roster. We will not make a claim with any club before we talk to the club.”
TIP O’ THE CAP
While most of the focus of the hockey world was on the unveiling of the protected lists, NHL teams were informed by the league that the 2017-18 salary cap will escalate to US$75 million. Meanwhile the cap floor — in other words, the minimum — will be US$55.4 million.
The new cap ceiling will be about a 2.5 per cent increase from the US$73-million figure used in 2016-17.
Now that teams are aware of the $2 million bump, it could affect what deals they end up making with Vegas, or anyone else.
“We were preparing as if the cap would remain flat, so the additional wiggle room might allow teams to retain a guy or get a guy they might normally not have been able to afford,” a Western Conference executive said on Sunday.
POSTMEDIA’S 10 NAMES TO WATCH
Unprotected players who piqued our interest. 1. G Marc-Andre Fleury (Penguins):
A veteran goalie with an omnipresent smile that is a PR dream. His US$5.75 million deal runs through 2019. He’s been linked to Vegas for a long time but there are no guarantees he’ll be taken. 2. F James Neal (Predators):
Yes, you want to build through the draft. But you also have to provide your fans on The Strip with some sort of entertainment in the first year. On the final year of his deal with a digestible US$5 million cap hit, an established 20-plus goal scorer like Neal, 29, would fit the bill.
3. D Matt Dumba (Wild): He’s 22. He’s a former first round pick. He’s a long-term foundation piece. With one year remaining on a deal that has a reasonable US$2.55 cap hit, what’s not to like?
4. D Sami Vatanen (Ducks): Every team — even expansion ones — need a horse on the blue-line and he could be it. Still just 26, he would be a great mentor for some of the younger d-men. His US$4.875 million cap hit is reasonable for a man of his talents.
5. D Josh Manson (Ducks): Just 25, a cap hit of just US$875,000 through 2018 and a guy who plays with a physical edge and is good in his own end. Little wonder the Ducks would like to work out a deal with the Knights to keep him.
6. F Bryan Rust (Penguins): If Vegas passes on Fleury, Rust is the most enticing option of the available Penguins. At 25, he could be a top-six forward with the Knights, carrying a team friendly cap hit of just US$640,000 before his deal runs out in 2018. 7. D Calvin DeHaan (Islanders):
The Isles were the only team to keep five defencemen and just three forwards. And while a deal might be in place that deters the Knights from taking the likes of Strome or Nelson, leaving DeHaan exposed while protecting unproven Adam Pelech is a head scratcher. DeHaan is a restricted free agent who would add stability to the blue-line. 8. F Jonathan Marchessault (Panthers): Coming off a 30-goal season, Marchessault, 26, should be an appealing option, especially with a modest US$750,000 cap hit entering the final year of his deal. 9. D Trevor van Riemsdyk (Blackhawks): Defence seems to be the most lucrative position for available talent, and TVR is yet another example of that. 10. G Antti Raanta (Rangers):
Fleury notwithstanding, the Knights could do far worse than having the 28-year-old Raanta starting 50 games for them next season. He’s got one year left on his deal with a modest US$1 million cap hit.
FOUR PRESSING QUESTIONS
1. How many additional firstround picks will McPhee pick up as part of his wheeling and dealing? In an informal poll of NHL executives conducted by Postmedia, four was the most common answer.
2. Do the Knights take a shot at a veteran like Eric Staal? At 32, he could be the ideal captain for a young team like this. He has a reasonable cap hit of US$3.5 million for each of the next two seasons and registered 65 points in 2016-17.
3. Which available goalies aside from Fleury and Raanta are intriguing? Philipp Grubauer (Capitals) might be ready for prime time after serving as Braden Holtby’s backup. Petr Mrazek (Red Wings) had an off year but is still just 25. And a change of scenery — and opportunity — might be the best thing for the career of Malcolm Subban (Bruins).
4. Which veteran from a Canadian team is more likely to be lost: Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec or Ottawa’s Bobby Ryan? Odds are that neither will be taken. Plekanec is on the downside of his career while Ryan’s US$7.25 million cap hit is likely too rich for McPhee’s blood.