STL fan in MN
Registered User
- Aug 16, 2007
- 7,100
- 3,955
Help me out here.
Vegas is going to take 30 players and all of them will be guys who can't be sent to the minors without waivers (because of the expansion draft rules).
An NHL roster is 23 players.
So Vegas is going to have to take 7 guys who will be put on waivers in training camp. Possibly more after free agency.
That should make waivers very interesting in September. It puts Colorado in a good spot to grab some good players.
Are there any special Vegas waiver rules for those extra guys? Can their old teams reclaim them first?
Or maybe Vegas drafts 7 guys and then trades them straight away for picks? That would make the most sense for them, right? But they would still have to draft the guys before trading them back or elsewhere and that's gotta shake things up.
Yes, Vegas will have to comply with the same 23-man roster as all other teams but they can solve their problem without losing a bunch of players to waivers in camp in two ways.
1. Trade a few of their draftees for picks or prospects. This is what I see them doing the most. I suspect a few of these deals may already be worked out before the expansion draft even takes place.
2. Draft some players that aren't waiver eligible. There aren't a ton but there are a few decent players that fall into the category of being eligible for the expansion draft but also waiver exempt. However, I don't see too many of these guys that would be the best asset to take from his respective team. IMO, Vegas would likely be able to get more bang for their buck by drafting a better established NHLer and trading that player to another team for picks/prospects.