Las Vegas ready to strut its stuff to NHL officials with expansion buzz in the air

LAS VEGAS — This week, Las Vegas hopes to shine bright as the centre of the hockey universe. With expansion buzz impossible to ignore, Sin City welcomes the NHL this week for yet another awards show. But most importantly. general managers and the board of governors meet to determine the league’s short and long-term future. For the first time, GMs will meet in Las Vegas and at an opportune time for trade talk leading up to this weekend’s draft in Sunrise, Fla. Previously they met at the Stanley Cup Final. With the Chicago Blackhawks and other teams up against the salary cap, the landscape is primed for movement. “Everybody’s sort of trying to get a real good solid view of the landscape ahead of each and every one of us heading into the draft,” Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney said last week. “I think everybody is sort of in the same boat and taking inventory.” The GMs find out Tuesday the salary cap for next season, which commissioner Gary Bettman projected to be somewhere in the $70-71 million US range. Even that small a range “can make a difference” for cap-strapped teams, Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall said Friday. No matter where the cap is, players will be on the move. The Blackhawks could look to shed the contracts of Patrick Sharp and Bryan Bickell, the Toronto Maple Leafs are expected to try to deal Phil Kessel, and the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks are among teams with goaltenders to trade. At the board of governors meet- ing Wednesday, rule changes like three-on-three overtime and a coach’s challenge system need to get the final stamp of approval. But the biggest deal is the discussion of possible expansion. The board in December allowed prospective Las Vegas owner Bill Foley to go ahead with a seasonticket drive. With Foley’s Hockey Vision Las Vegas reporting more than 11,500 commitments and more for suites, Bettman will take those results to the board of governors.