SteemSports Presenter: Matthew Biamonte, 
SteemSports Editor: Nolan Jacobson, 
, STEEM Witness & PeerPlays Witness.
Tonight, is an exciting night for hockey fans everywhere; The NHL has planned a double-header event that is sure to be action packed. Starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT you can tune in to the 2017 NHL awards show and expansion draft. While many have some idea as to how the Awards will pan out (read: favoring Pittsburgh), the expansion draft is sure to have most of us on our seats!
For the first time in almost 17 years, the NHL will be adding a team (the Vegas Golden Knights), bringing the NHL total to 31 teams. Vegas will play in the Pacific division in the Western conference, bringing the total number of teams to 8 and 15 respectively.
How Does It Work?
For starters, every team in the NHL has been put on a trade/waiver freeze that will stay in effect until 8 AM ET on Thursday. This is to ensure that Vegas’ initial roster selection is not hindered.
Expansion drafts work a lot differently than your standard entry draft, and tonight we’ll see Vegas pick 30 players from around the league to field their first NHL roster. One player from each team will be selected by Vegas, and the total salary hit must be within the $43.8-73 million range. It’s important to note that the following required total only adds up to 26, and Vegas will have an additional 4 picks to fill out their roster as they please:
14 Forwards
9 Defensemen
3 Goalies
20 of the players selected must be under contract for the 2017-2018 season, meaning Vegas can’t load up on free agents. This isn’t the only restriction, however; each of the 30 other teams in the NHL has the right to protect players that will not be available for Vegas to select. Teams can choose to either protect 7 forwards, 3 defensemen and 1 goalie, or a total of 8 skaters and a goalie. In addition to those players chosen to be protected, all first/second year players and unsigned draft selections, as well as players with no movement clauses, will be protected. The former will not count to their protected total, the latter will.
What to Expect?
Vegas GM George McPhee has stated that his intentions are to build this team through the entry draft, not the expansion draft. Take this to mean that Vegas will likely stay away from big name players with high price tags and unfavorable contracts. This team needs to plan for 4 or 5 years down the line, not 2 or 3.
While the team may pick up some veteran leads like Brian Boyle or James Neal, expect them to build this initial roster around players who have some combination of the following traits: young, cheap, proven. A few players (Jonathon Marchessault, Matt Dumba) come to mind here, and could potentially be building blocks for the future of the Golden Knights. It’s almost certain that Vegas will select Marc-Andre Fleury as their starting goaltender, and hockey insiders all seem to agree that Antti Raanta would be the ideal back up for Vegas.
Vegas also has the option to make side deals with teams in order to select who they want for their teams. The potential for agreements is very real, and with Vegas selecting players, they have made it very clear that they will allow all 30 teams to keep their core roster intact should the choose to (ie. Trading picks to Vegas in exchange for not taking players).
My Predictions
Vegas holds the 6th overall pick in this year’s entry draft, and the 3rd pick in each round thereafter. They are a new team who plans to build a roster through the draft. I expect them to acquire as many picks as they can, both for this year and years to come. The potential for trading down from that 6th pick is there, although I don’t see it happening. This roster will be a combination of a couple of older players to provide some leader ship, and young guys with upside.
Tonight, is sure to be a wild show and it will be interesting to see how the first new NHL team in over a decade has planned to attack this opportunity. What are your predictions for the event?
