Las Vegas GM McPhee ready for a wild 72 hours
Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee encouraged his staff to get plenty of rest this week because sleep might not be in the plans for this weekend leading up to the expansion draft.
“We may have to go around the clock because we will only have 72 hours to put our team together,” McPhee told USA TODAY Sports. “And there is going to be a lot of negotiating with teams and players and a lot of debate and discussion among ourselves about who is the right fit.”
The 30 other NHL teams must submit their protected lists by 5 p.m. ET Saturday and NHL Central Registry will work overnight to ensure teams have followed the rules.
The Golden Knights will receive the official protected lists at 10 a.m. Sunday and must submit their list of picks — one from each team — to the NHL by 10 a.m. Wednesday.
“We don’t anticipate many surprises,” McPhee said. “A lot of the clubs have been pretty straight in telling us what they want to do. And when they have told us, it’s usually been what we predicted they were going to do.”
McPhee says he has talked to every team in the league.
“It does feel like a trade deadline, but it’s a trade deadline that doesn’t end,” he said.
The Golden Knights won’t reveal which deals they have made until the expansion roster is announced Wednesday night during the NHL awards show.
But it’s likely that McPhee already has deals in place to receive players and draft picks in exchange for not selecting certain players
For example, the Anaheim Ducks have protection issues and might have to expose forward Jakob Silfverberg or defenseman Josh Manson.
It’s anticipated that they would give Vegas a talented younger player and a draft pick to keep both of those players.
Once the Golden Knights receive the protected list, they know they are on the clock when it comes to final decisions.
“Once we get to the expansion window, the (calls) will be from teams identifying players on other team’s rosters and asking if we could acquire that player for them,” McPhee said.
For example, Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has waived his no-movement clause to allow himself to be exposed. Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard could be on that list. The Golden Knights could draft them and have a deal in place to send each to another team.
The Nashville Predators are thought to be considering exposing James Neal, and several teams would be interested if he is available.
McPhee said he has promised every team that the Knights would go back to them once they decide which player they are taking to see if there is another deal that could be worked out.
NHL teams can protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie or eight forwards and defensemen of any combination, plus a goalie. The rules also demand that teams make available a defenseman and two forwards who have played 40 or more games last season or 70 games over the past two seasons.
McPhee said the Golden Knights’ objective is to find the right balance between putting a competitive team on the ice quickly and acquiring enough draft picks to expedite their building process.
“You usually have seven draft picks, but if we could have two or three drafts where we have 10 or 12 picks, it would accelerate our process,” McPhee said.
McPhee said he is also listening to offers from teams looking to dump contracts. He said he would proceed cautiously in that direction.
“We’re keeping an eye on the money, because it adds up in a hurry,” he said.
The Golden Knights’ future is in McPhee’s hands, but he says he feels no pressure.
“We want to do a really good job, and that’s important,” McPhee said. “But it’s been a fantastic experience from Day 1. We hired intelligent, experienced people, and it’s been a pleasure to work with them. We are very well-prepared. So the process has been enjoyable.
“There’s an intensity to it, but we have great chemistry in the room, so it’s been fun.”