VEGAS NEEDS TO DEFINE REAL TEAM.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS FACE BUSY OFF-SEASON OF ROSTER-BUILDING
The first sign that the expansion draft had been a success came at the end of the night, when Marc- Andre Fleury walked onto the stage at T- Mobile Arena to a standing ovation. Wearing a Vegas Golden Knights jersey and a 100- watt smile, he couldn’t believe what was happening.
Fleury had helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win their second straight Stanley Cup. Now, the newest fan-base in the NHL was chanting his name. One person even shouted that he loved the newest member of the team.
Fleury’s response: “I love you, too!”
Yes, t he Golden Knights seemed to get this right. But the expansion draft was just the start. On Thursday, the team traded Trevor van Riemsdyk (acquired from Chicago) and a 2018 seventh- round pick to Carolina in exchange for a second- round pick in this year’s draft, and then sent David Schlemko ( acquired from San Jose) to Montreal for a fifth-round pick in 2019. More moves are coming. But the main order of business will come Friday, when Vegas, which has three first- round se- lections, picks what could be a future franchise player. After that, the team needs to find a captain, needs to find a home for its surplus of defencemen and needs to find someone to centre the top line.
It should be a busy summer. Here are five questions that should get answered before the season starts on Oct. 6:
❚ Who will be their first draft pick?
The Golden Knights acquired the 13th overall pick ( from Winnipeg) and the 15th overall pick ( from the Islanders), as well as two in the second and one in the fifth and sixth rounds, giving the team 11 picks in this year’s draft. But the big one is the first one. Vegas picks sixth overall, and hopes to acquire a franchise player. The options should come down to centre Casey Mittelstadt and winger Owen Tippett, but it could be just about anyone in a draft that has no defined order. Don’t be surprised if the Golden Knights try to make a splash and use their bevy of picks to climb into the top spot. Nolan Patrick, who played for assistant GM Kelly McCrimmon’s Brandon Wheat Kings, is an NHL- ready centre who could drum up excitement.
❚ Where are they the strongest?
Vegas’s strength is in net. Fleury might have lost the starting job in Pittsburgh to Matt Murray, but he’s still a No. 1 goalie who showed in the playoffs he could win games. If he stumbles, Calvin Pickard is a pretty decent backup. With Semyon Varlamov injured, the 25- year- old Pickard played 50 games this season in Colorado, where he had a .904 save percentage on a very bad Avalanche team. He also won a silver medal for Canada at the world championship, where he went 5-2- 0 with a 1.49 goalsagainst average.
❚ Where are they the weakest?
The Golden Knights don’t have a No. 1 centre. They might not even have a No. 2 centre. Their options down the middle are Cody Eakin, Erik Haula, Oscar Lindberg and William Karlsson, who had been third- or fourthline centres on previous teams. There is a chance that increased ice time and opportunity will allow them to shine. Or that Vadim Shipachyov, a free- agent pickup from Russia, will be able to jump right into the league and centre the top line. But that’s asking a lot.
❚ Which defencemen will they keep?
The Golden Knights had to take at least nine defencemen, but ended up choosing 13 and added another two through trades, since defencemen are the NHL’s hottest commodity at the moment. They’ve already traded two: Trevor van Riemsdyk and David Schlemko. Prospects Jake Bischoff, Griffin Reinhart and Shea Theodore, as well as veteran Clayton Stoner, can be sent to the minors, but that still leaves Vegas with five defensive pairings. Garrison, Engelland and Brayden McNabb were invited to Vegas for the draft, and they put on jerseys and met with fans, so it’s unlikely they’d be flipped a day or two later. That leaves Methot, Alexei Emelin, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller, Luca Sbisa and Nate Schmidt. Whoever stays, one thing is for certain: Vegas will have a solid back-end.
❚ Who will be captain?
The most obvious choice is Marc Methot, who was arguably the best player selected in the expansion draft. The 32- yearold has played 579 games with Columbus and most recently Ottawa, where he was a top-pairing defenceman. He’s an easy choice if he doesn’t get moved between now and the start of the season. If that happens, Jason Garrison and David Perron as possibilities, while Deryk Engelland — who spent two years with the Las Vegas Wranglers — is the closest thing they have to a homegrown player.
❚ Who will lead the offence?
James Neal’s production has dropped in recent years, but he did once score 40 goals. For more recent success, look for Jonathan Marchessault to build on the career- best 30 goals he scored in Florida last season. One to watch is a player who wasn’t even selected in the expansion draft: Shipachyov. The “Russian Sidney Crosby” had 26 goals and 76 points for SKA Saint Petersburg in the KHL last season. If he adjusts quickly to the NHL, the 30-year-old could be the next Alexander Radulov or Artemi Panarin.