Did a bunch teams get better from the expansion draft without bribing Vegas?

[Revelation]

Off the top of my head it would seem Calgary, Dallas (losing Eakin let them get Hanzal), Edmonton, Vancouver, Arizona, lost players that they're better off without and didn't have to pay McPhee anything.

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[Pens x]

McPhee is a joke. I feel bad for the guy that takes over for McPhee when he is fired.

 

[Aceboogie]

Edmonton had not much of value to lose

But yeah McPhee blew the ED hard. Such an embarrassment

 

[Man Bear Pig]

McPhee is a joke. I feel bad for the guy that takes over for McPhee when he is fired.

He really didnt do a very good job.

 

[Panda Bear]

He would have been better off taking the best players available and royally pissing off some betrayed GMs.

de Haan, one of Manson or Vatanen, and one of Dumba or Staal should have been picked.

The Methot trade was embarrassing too.

 

[Silver Tuna]

He would have been better off taking the best players available and royally pissing off some betrayed GMs.

de Haan, one of Manson or Vatanen, and one of Dumba or Staal should have been picked.

The Methot trade was embarrassing too.

All this to go with the fact GMGM is brutal.

 

[LaFan1967]

LA , losing McNabb isn't a loss ( actually makes room for younger Dmen
with better upside )

 

[Jumptheshark]

I look at the draft picks over the players. He built a war chest of picks

 

[Street Hawk]

He would have been better off taking the best players available and royally pissing off some betrayed GMs.

de Haan, one of Manson or Vatanen, and one of Dumba or Staal should have been picked.

The Methot trade was embarrassing too.

Word would get out that GM reneged on a "handshake" agreement, which in a 31 team league is a major no no in doing business in the future where your word means everything.

So, if Anaheim couldn't cut a deal with GM, then they proceed with buying out or asking Bieksa to waive his NMC. Then they have to trade a Dman.

Same with Minny, NYI, Win, etc.

 

[Street Hawk]

I look at the draft picks over the players. He built a war chest of picks

He opted for picks, which is fine, but I would have expected for him to have targeted players drafted between 2012 to 2016. Allows the Knights to slowly integrate young players into the lineup.

Plus, with the Raiders coming to town by 2020, would have thought that the Knights would try to get competitive in the coming years to build a strong loyal fanbase before the Raiders arrive.

Now, when the Raiders come in, the Knights will be in the process of bringing in their drafted players, so who knows how they fare in their ELC years.

 

[Rebels57]

GMGM did a great job at the Entry Draft but some of his Expansion picks/decisions were bad.

 

[Finnish your Czech]

His Expansion Draft makes so little sense to me that I think there must have been some handshake deals involved that weren't reported. e.g. Prior to the expansion trade deadline: "I'll trade Vatanen to Toronto and buyout Bieksa if you don't accept Theodore to take Stoner"

 

[Devils820]

Tampa dumping Garrison for a 2nd and a player who's staying in Russia is pretty good

 

[blankall]

The Flames really liked what Engelland brought. Not a huge loss, but we could still use him. He's exactly what you need in a bottom pairing d-man.

 

[Mr Positive]

He really didnt do a very good job.

What really may have gummed things up was that there was no trading freeze.

After the expansion draft lists were released, a lot of hockey fans and pundits made mock drafts, but that assumed the lists were static, and they weren't. Trades and the threat of trades loomed over this whole process.

Like for instance, Anaheim and Vatanen. He was not protected, but it was rumored that Anaheim had a deal in place to trade Vatanen to Toronto. There were probably many teams out there willing to pony up to get a great player like that, and this principle applies to any major player who could have been exposed.

The only major flaw with McPhee's approach imo, was that he should have picked a couple extra goalies. I can say as an Oilers fan that I was very worried Vegas would take Brossoit. I wanted Chia to make some deal to send Pouliot there though, but it looks like that would have taken us sending picks to Vegas. No go

 

[The Thin White Duke]

Vegas should have brought on a no-name dummy GM to do the dirty work at the ED for them and then replace him with a more respected vet like GMGM after the reputation damage had already been done.

 

[MikeyMike01]

He would have been better off taking the best players available and royally pissing off some betrayed GMs.

de Haan, one of Manson or Vatanen, and one of Dumba or Staal should have been picked.

The Methot trade was embarrassing too.

What, so Vegas can be a bubble team for the next 5 years, have no franchise players, and exist in perpetual mediocrity before blowing it all up anyway? All while pissing off many GMs who McPhee will have to work with on a regular basis? Sounds brilliant to me!

 

[Pens x]

Taking Fleury with his $5.75 cap hit was helpful for the Pens.

 

[Pens x]

What, so Vegas can be a bubble team for the next 5 years, have no franchise players, and exist in perpetual mediocrity before blowing it all up anyway? All while pissing off many GMs who McPhee will have to work with on a regular basis? Sounds brilliant to me!

McPhee will be fired within 2-3 years anyways. I guess he wants to be friendly to other teams so that maybe he can land a job as a scout for a team after he's canned.

 

[TaLoN]

What really may have gummed things up was that there was no trading freeze.

After the expansion draft lists were released, a lot of hockey fans and pundits made mock drafts, but that assumed the lists were static, and they weren't. Trades and the threat of trades loomed over this whole process.

Like for instance, Anaheim and Vatanen. He was not protected, but it was rumored that Anaheim had a deal in place to trade Vatanen to Toronto. There were probably many teams out there willing to pony up to get a great player like that, and this principle applies to any major player who could have been exposed.

The only major flaw with McPhee's approach imo, was that he should have picked a couple extra goalies. I can say as an Oilers fan that I was very worried Vegas would take Brossoit. I wanted Chia to make some deal to send Pouliot there though, but it looks like that would have taken us sending picks to Vegas. No go

Exactly, the Wild had two deals said the team was ready to pull the trigger on if Vegas wasn't willing to deal.

Many of those protection lists were nothing but a formality, as deals were in place with Vegas before they were submitted. Vegas doesn't deal, the Wild make their trades and change their whole protection list situation leaving Vegas with much less to choose from.

 

[Satastic]

I was disappointed (and expecting) the Schlemko pick but the fact that he just got traded right away, especially for the return he got, made me even more disappointed we couldn't hold onto him or just trade for him back
He was definitely worth more than just a 5th
Oh well

 

[Rebels57]

What, so Vegas can be a bubble team for the next 5 years, have no franchise players, and exist in perpetual mediocrity before blowing it all up anyway? All while pissing off many GMs who McPhee will have to work with on a regular basis? Sounds brilliant to me!

This is a good point.

Even if Vegas picked all BPA, they would not be a playoff team and would end up with worse draft picks.

They need to build through the Draft if they want to be Contenders, just like every other team nowadays has to.

An argument that can be made though is that they could have taken BPA all the way and then traded them for better returns than what teams (like Minnesota for instance) gave them to NOT take the BPA.

A guy like Methot should have gotten a way better return and might have even returned a first closer to the trade deadline.

 

[Street Hawk]

This is a good point.

Even if Vegas picked all BPA, they would not be a playoff team and would end up with worse draft picks.

They need to build through the Draft if they want to be Contenders, just like every other team nowadays has to.

An argument that can be made though is that they could have taken BPA all the way and then traded them for better returns than what teams (like Minnesota for instance) gave them to NOT take the BPA.

A guy like Methot should have gotten a way better return and might have even returned a first closer to the trade deadline.

Building through the draft is important, but if Vegas was able to acquire more drafted players like they did in Theodore, Tuch who were exempt, but were dealt as side deals, that IMO would have been the better approach, rather than pile so many draft picks. It's just a timing of having to mix in so many drafted players in the future rather than slowly integrate a couple per year in 2-3 years.

Time will tell how good LV's scouting staff is and how good a developmental system they have.

As for Methot, he had a M-NTC and I agree that I was surprised that he only returned a 2nd rounder.

If Vegas has to park Stoner, Garrison, Scisa in the AHL and eat their cap space and salary so be it. It was the cost of acquiring the 2nd rounder from TB and Theodore from Ana. Plus, Vegas could have opted for Gaunce or someone cheaper. Guess, their thinking was flipping Scisa at the TDL for a 3rd/4th rounder.

Theodore, Schmidt, Reinhart, McCabe, Miller, appear to be the main core of the D. Then there's Merrill, England, Hunt along with the 3 vets in Stoner, Garrison, Scisa.

Barring a trade, 3 of them will be sent to the AHL. Not like Vegas can't afford financially to eat the contracts, given what Foley said about ticket sales. Cost of doing business. Plus, Garrison, Stoner, Scisa, are in the final year of their contracts. And Vegas can alway retain salary

 

[hairylikebear]

Dallas didn't expose anyone worth taking. They also managed to use Vegas to land Methot at a discount. The entire situation was very cleverly leveraged by Nill.

 

[Revelation]

I look at the draft picks over the players. He built a war chest of picks

It's a very underwhelming war chest considering that he had 30 shots at getting picks/swapping assets for picks.

Managed only 2 extra first rounders, trade the best defenseman he got for a 2nd rounder 3 years from now, traded a #4 in Emelin for a 3rd, traded a #4 Schlemko for a 5th.

Methot would have brought more value just sheltering the young D and leaving for free in FA