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Las Vegas Golden Knights Mock Expansion Draft

Building an expansion team one player at a time.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Las Vegas Golden Knights will select a roster on Wednesday which will included 22 players that they will sign and keep on their team.

I wanted to create my own Mock draft for the Las Vegas Golden Knights; however, what you see below is completely unrealistic because it doesn't account for the numerous trades with other teams and jockeying that will happen through this process. I simply went through and selected the best talent factoring in needs to build a team coupled with cost.

A few qualifiers going into the table below: For UFA's (unrestricted free agents - aka don't have an existing contract) I signed them to  a 3 year contract at 1-3 Million dollars (knowing that a swing of 1-2 million wasn't going to matter given where my cap space ended up). Those are the "Signing-UFA" players.
Some people end up slightly out of position (RW vs LW) but as a GM I'm forcing them to adapt for the sack of this mock.


Without further adieu, the Las Vegas mock Expansion Draft (2016-2017 stats):

Team

Name

GP

G

A

Pts

Pls/Mns

PIM

Contract (MM)

Year through

Action Taken

Age

Anaheim Ducks

Sami Vatanen (D)

71

3

21

24

3

30

5

2020

Signing

26

Arizona Coyotes

Shane Doan (F)

74

6

21

27

-3

48

0

2017

Not Signing

40

Boston Bruins

Jimmy Hayes (F)

58

2

3

5

-3

29

2.6

2018

Signing

27

Buffalo Sabres

Zach Bogosian (D)

56

2

9

11

-17

46

5.5

2020

Not Signing

26

Calgary Flames

Michael Stone (D)

19

2

4

6

5

20

2

2019

Signing - UFA

27

Carolina Hurricanes

Lee Stempniak (F)

82

16

24

40

2

32

2.5

2018

Signing

34

Chicago Blackhawks

Trevor van Riemsdyk (D)

58

5

11

16

17

29

0.9

2018

Signing

25

Colorado Avalanche

Mikhail Grigorenko (F)

75

10

13

23

-14

18

0

2017

Not Signing

23

Columbus Blue Jackets

Josh Anderson (F)

78

17

12

29

12

89

2

2019

Signing - UFA

23

Dallas Stars

Antti Niemi (G)

37

12

12

4

3.3

4.5

2018

Not Signing

33

Detroit Red Wings

Petr Mrazek (G)

50

18

21

9

3.04

4.1

2018

Signing

25

Edmonton Oilers

Kris Russell (D)

68

1

12

13

5

23

0

2018

Not Signing

30

Florida Panthers

Jonathan Marchessault (F)

75

30

21

51

-21

38

0.75

2018

Signing

26

Los Angeles Kings

Dustin Brown (F)

80

14

22

36

-4

22

6.5

2022

Not Signing

32

Minnesota Wild

Matt Dumba (D)

76

11

23

34

15

59

2.75

2018

Signing

22

Montreal Canadiens

Tomas Plekanec (F)

78

10

18

28

10

24

5

2018

Signing

34

Nashville Predators

James Neal (F)

70

23

18

41

-10

35

5

2018

Signing

29

New Jersey Devils

Beau Bennett (F)

65

8

11

19

-3

20

1

2019

Signing - UFA

25

New York Islanders

Brock Nelson (F)

81

20

25

45

-6

36

3.5

2018

Signing

25

New York Rangers

Tanner Glass (F)

11

1

1

2

0

17

1

2019

Signing - UFA

33

Ottawa Senators

Bobby Ryan (F)

62

13

12

25

-3

24

7.5

2022

Signing

33

Philadelphia Flyers

Andrew MacDonald (D)

73

2

16

18

-5

26

5.2

2020

Not Signing

30

Pittsburgh Penguins

Marc-Andre Fleury (G)

38

18

10

7

3.02

5.75

2019

Signing

32

San Jose Sharks

Joe Thornton (F)

79

7

43

50

7

51

3

2019

Signing - UFA

37

St. Louis Blues

David Perron (F)

82

18

28

46

-2

54

3.75

2018

Signing

29

Tampa Bay Lightning

Jake Dotchin (D)

35

0

11

11

10

35

1

2019

Signing - UFA

23

Toronto Maple Leafs

Kerby Rychel (F)

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.833

2018

Signing

22

Vancouver Canucks

Luca Sbisa (D)

82

2

11

13

-1

40

4

2018

Signing

27

Washing Capitals

T.J. Oshie (F)

68

33

23

56

28

36

3

2019

Signing - UFA

30

Winnipeg Jets

Marko Dano (F)

38

4

7

11

0

10

0.85

2018

Signing

22

Roster Size

Not Signing

7

Signing

16

Signing - UFA

7

Roster

23

Age

Signing

27.38

Signing - UFA

28.29

Salary Cost

Signing

$   54.78

Signing - UFA

$   13.00

Total

$   67.78

Roster will start as such:

Forwards Forwards Forwards
LW Center RW
Line 1 Bobby Ryan Jonathan Marchessault James Neal
Line 2 Brock Nelson Joe Thornton TJ Oshie
Line 3 David Perron Thomas Plekanec Josh Anderson
Line 4 Tanner Glass Jimmy Hayes Kerby Rychel
Extras Lee Stempniak Beau Bennett Marko Dano
Defensemen Defensemen
D-Pairing 1 Matt Dumba Sami Vatenen
D-Pairing 2 Michael Stone Trevor van Riemsdyk
D-Pairing 3 Jake Dotchen Luca Sbisa
Goalies
Starter Petr Mrazek
Backup Marc-Andre Fleury

What I like about what I've chosen:
1. Total salary = $67MM which is above the $60MM floor but well below the $100MM ceiling with some hefty contracts but ample enough room to make a big move if need be plus a lot of the contracts are done in 1-2 rooms leaving lots of wiggle room as needed. You can choose to resign those that excel and let the others go to free agency.

2. Goal scoring, the Golden Knights have four 20 goal scorers from last year and eight players who scored at least 15 goals, that's a great core to choose from. You won't have a "star" but you will have a lot of above average talent.

3. Grinders, to go with the goal scorers you have - Bobby Ryan, TJ Oshie, Josh Anderson and Jimmy Hayes who not only don't shy away from contact but play good two way hockey.

4. Prospects, so teams can't offer a player who has 2 years of experience but certain names like Marko Dano, Kerby Rychel, Matt Dumba and Jake Dotchin slip through the cracks on technicalities, I pick them to help build a young core (with minimal investment) . I would hope the aged vets I select (Joe Thornton, Lee Stempniak and, Thomas Plekanec) can help coach them.
5. Speaking of age, my average of my team is 27.7 years old which would be the 11th youngest team in the league.

6. I have 10 contracts extending beyond this year which means I can use money to resign the players making a meaningful impact and just as easily release the ones that aren't (50 games in) helping this team out.

7. Must have's in my opinion are Jonathan Marchessault, Petr Mrazek, Sami Vatenen, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Matt Dumba and Joe Thornton.