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Vegas Golden Knights: Mock Draft, Analysis, and Depth Chart Part Two

By Matt Duscharme

Vegas Golden Knights: General view of Oakland Raiders helmet at the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on the Las Vegas strip on Las Vegas Blvd. Raiders owner Mark Davis (not pictured) has pledged $500 million toward building a 65,000-seat domed stadium in Las Vegas at a total cost of $1.4 billion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (not pictured) said Davis can explore his options in Las Vegas but would require 24 of 32 owners to approve the move. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Vegas Golden Knights: General view of Oakland Raiders helmet at the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign on the Las Vegas strip on Las Vegas Blvd. Raiders owner Mark Davis (not pictured) has pledged $500 million toward building a 65,000-seat domed stadium in Las Vegas at a total cost of $1.4 billion. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (not pictured) said Davis can explore his options in Las Vegas but would require 24 of 32 owners to approve the move. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 16, 2017; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling (33) takes a break during the second period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. The Blackhawks defeated the Senators 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports /

Carolina Hurricanes:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Eddie Lack.

Protected Players: Cam Ward, Justin Faulk, Ryan Murphy, Klas Dahlbeck, Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Joakim Nordstrom, Teuvo Teravainen, Phillip Di Giuseppe.

Best Exposed Players: Eddie Lack, Lee Stempniak, Andrej Nestrasil, Connor Brickley,

Carolina is much like Calgary, they don’t have a lot of experienced vets worth keeping, and since their team is fairly young they will most likely keep it that way. The best-exposed player for the team would obviously be Connor Brickley who can be saved with a pick, this leaves the second best option in Eddie Lack.

Chicago Blackhawks:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Scott Darling.

Protected Players: Corey Crawford, Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Marcus Kruger, Tomas Jurco, Ryan Hartman.

Best Exposed Players: Scott Darling, Johnny Oduya, Brian Campbell, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Richard Panik, Andrew Desjardins, Michael Latta, Dennis Rasmussen.

Due to Chicago having so many key players with NMC’s it’s hard for the club to protect so many talented players. Thus leaving Scott Darling, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Michael Latta, and Dennis Rasmussen exposed. If the Hawks wish to protect Darling with a pick they always can, but this is a mock draft, and I see the team protecting the likes of either van Riemsdyk or Rasmussen first, leaving Vegas with another solid option in net.

Colorado Avalanche:
Protection Plan: 4-4-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Sven Andrighetto.

Protected Players: Calvin Pickard, Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Eric Gelinas, Nikita Zadorov, Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikhail Grigorenko.

Best Exposed Players: Semyon Varlamov, Francois Beauchemin (NMC Waived), Fedor Tyutin, Patrick Wiercioch, Carl Soderberg, Blake Comeau, Rocco Grimaldi, Matt Nieto, Sven Andrighetto.

Colorado has a lot of talent on the backend that needs to be protected, so their best option is to go with a 4-4-1 plan. And in order to protect an extra defenseman who isn’t so close to retirement, I got Francois Beauchemin waiving his NMC. But due to the 4-4-1 plan Colorado has a couple solid young players left exposed, but like every situation so far the Aves could protect one with a pick.

Columbus Blue Jackets:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: William Karlsson.

Protected Players: Sergei Bobrovsky, Seth Jones, Jack Johnson, David Savard, Brandon Saad, Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, Matt Calvert, Alexander Wennberg.

Best Exposed Players: Oscar Dansk, Joonas Korpisalo, Anton Forsberg, Ryan Murray, Kyle Quincey, Scott Harrington, Scott Hartnell (NMC Waived), Lauri Korpikoski, William Karlsson, Josh Anderson, Sam Gagner, Lukas Sedlak.

Columbus doesn’t have a lot of solid defensemen that needs to be protected so the best option for the team is a 7-3-1 plan. And with the rise of the youth this season it’s expected that they will keep some key players and in order to do so, Scott Hartnell has his NMC waived. This leaves the door open to protect Alexander Wennberg, easily the club’s best center behind Brandon Dubinsky. But in doing so also leaves William Karlsson, Lukas Sedlak, and Josh Anderson exposed, and since it’s likely one is going to go either Sedlak or Anderson will be protected with a pick, this leaves Vegas with William Karlsson.

Dallas Stars:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Antoine Roussel.

Protected Players: Kari Lehtonen, John Klingberg, Jamie Oleksiak, Esa Lindell, Stephen Johns, Jason Spezza, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Cody Eakin.

Best Exposed Players: Antti Niemi, Dan Hamhuis, Greg Pateryn, Patrick Sharp, Ales Hemsky, Antoine Roussel, Jiri Hudler, Brett Ritchie, Radek Faksa, Curtis McKenzie, Mark McNeill, Valeri Nichushkin.

Dallas has a lot of skilled talent of up front that will be up for grabs and in order to protect them, they need to do a 7-3-1 protection plan. This plan is fine as the team also doesn’t have a lot of skilled defensemen that are exposed, the only one’s being Greg Pateryn and Dan Hamhuis, but Hamhuis is nearing retirement while Pateryn can be protected with a pick. But this leaves the team with a conundrum, Mark McNeill, Brett Ritchie, and Curtis McKenzie are exposed now, but with expansion, someone or two someones have to go, so who the Stars are going to protect is a mystery. But in this mock I got the Knights taking grinder scorer Antoine Roussel.

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