Of all the moves the Vegas Golden Knights made during June’s NHL Expansion Draft, the team’s eagerness to load up on defencemen stood out.
The Golden Knights came away from the draft with 15 blueliners (13 picked, two acquired via trade), and promptly traded away four of them.
The team also signed Brad Hunt and Chris Casto in free agency, leaving a bevy of NHL-capable – or close to it – defencemen competing for roster spots ahead of the 2017-18 season.
While many had predicted the expansion franchise to trade its surplus of back-end talent for futures, Golden Knights general manager has held on to most his assets so far, creating a log jam that he’s not all concerned about with training camp about to begin.
“It’s wide open here,” McPhee told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Again, I want to emphasize, that’s a good thing. That’s OK.”
Vegas isn’t considered a threat to compete for a Stanley Cup in its inaugural season, and McPhee admitted that there are other factors besides level of play that will determine who remains with the big club. The talented Shea Theodore, 22, is the only defenceman signed with any NHL experience that doesn’t need to be put on waivers to be sent to the AHL, for example.
“To be fair, you’d like to say it’s going to be the best six guys, but we’ll see,” said McPhee. “Sometimes you have to think short term and long term in this job and do what’s best for the organization from that standpoint.”
There’s still time for a trade to be made before players report for camp on Thursday, though it appears as though the Knights will enter the pre-season with their overload of D-men. McPhee said he’ll consult with head coach Gerard Gallant before making his cuts, but that it’ll be ultimately his own decision as GM.
“The neat thing about this process, and I’ve tried to explain this to a number of people, it’s still a blank canvas,” he said. “We’re completely open minded about what might develop.
“I’m open for some unknown surprises. It’s wide open, and it should be.”
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