Leafs have pre-draft talks with Knights
Lamoriello would love to convince Vegas to absorb Lupul’s salary cap hit
LAS VEGAS— With 30 players to take and at least six trades confirmed — and a number of draft picks coming his way — Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee is ready to pick his expansion team.
Players like Pittsburgh goalie MarcAndre Fleury, Florida centre Jonathan Marchessault and Ottawa defenceman Marc Methot could find themselves member of the Golden Knights when the roster is revealed Wednesday night as part of the NHL awards ceremony.
“I think we’ve done pretty well in all the positions,” McPhee said Tuesday. “We have lots of defencemen lined up, we have lots of centres and we have scoring on the wings, a little more scoring than we anticipated.
“The goaltending is going to be pretty solid. It’s looking pretty good. It’s what we’ve been trying to accomplish and that is have a competitive club that people are going to enjoy watching play, and then having the draft picks to be able to draft our way to a contending team, a championship team.”
The league is under a roster freeze while McPhee peruses the unprotected lists for the 30 other teams. McPhee was free to make trades, but put his own trade deadline of Tuesday in place so he could start putting his team together.
He acknowledged he spoke with Maple Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello twice in the hours leading up to his final decision.
“I was talking to Lou Lamoriello last (Monday) night at11:30 and again this morning at about 4:45,” said McPhee, who did not reveal the nature of the conversation.
The Maple Leafs would like to unload Joffrey Lupul’s $5.25-million contract to clear up some cap space. They would likely have to send a high-end prospect or draft pick to Vegas to convince the Golden Knights to take Lupul.
McPhee has until 10 a.m. Wednesday morning to finalize his roster. He must take one player from each of the 30 franchises, but said some of his picks would be “throwaway” picks.
“We knew that from the start we are going to claim 30 players,” said McPhee. “But your roster can only be 23, and you can only dress 18 (skaters) and two (goalies). We understand there are some teams where there isn’t a whole lot to do. You’ll take a throwaway pick rather than taking on a contract you don’t like. There will be some of those claims.”
HART TO HART: Connor McDavid is the favourite for the Hart Trophy, up against Sidney Crosby and Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. McDavid, who won the scoring title at 19, is frequently compared to Crosby. "I don’t know if I measure myself against Crosby,” said McDavid. “I’m doing my thing. He’s doing his thing. The media does that for us . . . you try not to buy into it.”
ALL BETS OFF: Edmonton’s Todd McLellan worked for three years as an assistant with Leafs coach Mike Babcock when both were in Detroit. He said there is no bet between the two as they go for their first Jack Adams Award for coach of the year. “He can afford to buy whether he wins or loses,” McLellan said.
OTHER AWARDS: The Maple Leafs, led by media relations director Steve Keogh, received the Dick Dillman award as the Eastern Conference’s outstanding public relations team. The Minnesota Wild was named tops in the West . . . Nick Foligno of the Columbus Blue Jackets was named winner of the King Clancy Award for humanitarian service. He also won the Mark Messier Leadership Award . . . Islanders defenceman Travis Hamonic accepted the NHL Foundation Player Award for community service.