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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 5, 2017; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Charlie Coyle (3) at the faceoff in the third period against the San Jose Sharks at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota Wild beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports /

Detroit Red Wings:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Andreas Athanasiou.

Protected Players: Petr Mrazek, Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Niklas Kronwall, Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Anthony Mantha.

Best Exposed Players: Darren Helm, Drew Miller, Martin Frk, Andreas Athanasiou, Jonathan Ericsson, Dylan McIlrath, Xavier Ouellet, Nick Jensen, Jimmy Howard, Jared Coreau.

Detroit is in a tough position moving into this expansion draft, they have amazing talent exposed but will most likely protect their vets who can score as well as their budding youth. But this also has the team leaving four skilled players. And if Vegas made the smart decision and tackled one of these younger guys, their best bet would be someone like Andreas Athanasiou.

Edmonton Oilers:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Mark Letestu.

Protected Players: Cam Talbot, Andrej Sekera, Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, Jordan Eberle, Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Benoit Pouliot, David Desharnais, Patrick Maroon, Leon Draisaitl.

Best Exposed Players: Matt Hendricks, Mark Letestu, Zack Kassian, Anton Lander, Tyler Pitlick, Mark Fayne, Kris Russell, Eric Gryba, Griffin Reinhart, David Musil.

Luckily for the Oilers, they don’t have a lot of top tier talent exposed up front or on defense, this leaves the team with a perfect 7-3-1 plan. This way they can protect their three solid defenseman as well as the good forwards who are exposed. The rest are just depth players that can be filled through free agency. But the best pick for the Knights since he has a contract past this season is center Mark Letestu.

Florida Panthers:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Colton Sceviour.

Protected Players: Roberto Luongo, Keith Yandle, Alex Petrovic, Aaron Ekblad, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Jussi Jokinen, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Huberdeau, Jonathan Marchessault.

Best Exposed Players: Reilly Smith, Thomas Vanek, Colton Sceviour, Tim Bozon, Jason Demers, Jakub Kindl, Mark Pysyk, James Reimer, Reto Berra.

Florida, unfortunately, has a lot of top talent exposed up front, but their key players need to be protected over someone who is having a good season or some aging vets. And since they don’t have a lot of serious players on the back end exposed. The team sits perfectly with a 7-3-1 plan. And since the majority of the best-exposed players who are left over have expiring contracts this season, depth scorer Colton Sceviour is a great pick.

Los Angeles Kings:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Brayden McNabb.

Protected Players: Jonathan Quick, Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Kyle Clifford, Tanner Pearson, Jordan Nolan.

Best Exposed Players: Marian Gaborik, Jarome Iginla, Teddy Purcell, Nic Dowd, Nick Shore, Andy Andreoff, Matt Greene, Brayden McNabb, Zach Trotman, Derek Forbort, Ben Bishop, Jack Campbell.

Thankfully for Los Angeles, their best-exposed players left over from the ones they have protected are aging players who can be replaced via free agency or rookies in the system. The biggest player up for grabs though would be Derek Forbort, but the Kings will most likely protect him with a pick leaving the second best option for Vegas available in Brayden McNabb.

Minnesota Wild:
Protection Plan: 7-3-1.
Vegas Draft Pick: Charlie Coyle.

Protected Players: Devan Dubnyk, Ryan Suter, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Eric Staal, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker.

Best Exposed Players: Charlie Coyle, Martin Hanzal, Erik Haula, Tyler Graovac, Jared Spurgeon, Marco Scandella, Gustav Olofsson, Darcy Kuemper.

Minnesota is another team who is in a tough spot come the expansion draft, they have a plethora of offensive and defensive talent exposed. So the plan of 7-3-1 is quite simple, protect the best of the best and hope for the best. With so many top players left over for the exposure, it’s not hard to imagine Vegas taking someone like Charlie Coyle to help the team down the middle and on the wing when need be.

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