GM MCPHEE: NHL SEASON IS STILL YOUNG
running that team to build what you have with the Vegas Golden Knights?
There were some similarities. When we took over the team in Washington we were approaching the new collective bargaining agreement and felt there was going to be a work stoppage that might last as long as a year, and it did. We decided to tear the team down and rebuild it to get ready for the salary cap that was coming. So we did that, and three years later we were in the playoffs, and it’s been a very good team ever since. So that experience of rebuilding a team has helped a lot with building this team out here.
As you’ve molded this franchise from the bottom up, and now you’re getting to watch them on the ice, is there anything that has gone a lot better than you expected it would going in?
It’s hard to say at this point because it’s still early. We aren’t even at the midway point of the season. So while we’re delighted with the players we have, their personalities and the way they compete, we’re still underdogs in this league and have a lot to do going forward.
When you watch the Golden Knights analytically, are there things you see that lead you to believe this play is sustainable, and not just a flash in the pan?
When we review our postaction reports, there are things we like about the numbers and things we need to improve on. Again, there’s a reason we play the games. Things can look fine on paper, but that doesn’t matter once the puck is dropped. We’re not interested in getting ahead of ourselves. We stay focused on trying to win the next game. There will be lots of time to talk about how well we did or how well we didn’t do.
When you claimed goaltender Malcolm Subban off waivers you said the expansion draft gave you some advantages but the one thing it didn’t lend to was acquiring future goaltenders. With Marc-andre Fleury missing time, you’ve had the chance to see Subban, Oscar Dansk and Maxime Lagace thrive. Does it change your outlook going forward knowing that maybe the team is a little bit deeper and younger at goalie than we thought we would be coming in?
We’re certainly more comfortable than we were, having watched the goalies perform. Dave Prior did a really good job. Until people play, and show you they can play, they’re just prospects. They were thrown into the fire and they demonstrated they are capable of competing hard and giving us some goaltending. That would definitely be an area that we are happier now than we were before.
One of the players that stood out to me, both on the ice and in the locker room, is Alex Tuch. What are your thoughts on how Tuch has progressed, and what do you think his ceiling is as a player?
He’s playing very well. We have a lot of players that are playing very well. Tuch was not a secret. He was a first-round pick who had size, speed and touch around the net. We just thought that it would be a matter of time before he could be an effective player. We didn’t know that would be this year, next year or the following year, but he came to camp ready to play in the league this year and forced us to keep him. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
It’s obviously still early, but there are players performing much better than most people thought, much earlier than most people thought. Has the internal timeline for you changed, and will it affect any moves going forward?
I’m not sure about that. We certainly have a blueprint, but as we all know in this business, the plan changes every day. You have to make adjustments every day, and we are delighted with the way a lot of the players have performed. What we tried to do coming out of both the expansion draft and the entry draft was have a team on the ice that could be really competitive, while at the same time have a stockpile of surplus draft picks to be able to draft our way to a championship. So far we are doing OK, but there’s a long way to go. We are 32 games in and it might be premature to talk about what we will do three months from now.
The team has a surplus of draft picks going forward, but you already have three first-round picks that are developing in their respective leagues (Cody Glass, Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom). How pleased have you been with what you’ve seen from those guys?
They’ve been very good, and they are developing the way we expected them too. Cody Glass is a leading scorer in his league, Suzuki is a leading scorer in his league, and Brannstrom has played well in his professional league. We are going to take our time with them. We have a development plan in place for them. We drafted well, and now we have to develop well with these players. If we do the right things, and they do the right things, they are going to be very good players. jesse.granger@lasvegassun. com / 702-259-8814 / @ Jessegranger_