NHL Expansion Draft: Vegas Golden Knights Selection Strategy

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Buffalo Sabres defenseman Zach Bogosian (47) against the Tampa Bay Lightning (Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports) /

Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins

Bruins Protect: David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, David Backes, Riley Nash, David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner, Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, Kevan Miller, Tuukka Rask.

Best available Bruins: Matt Beleskey, Jimmy Hayes, Tim Schaller, Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, Malcolm Subban.

Vegas should take Colin Miller. To me, it seems like Boston protected the wrong Miller. Colin is on a 1 million dollar contract this year and will be a restricted free agent after.

Miller posted 13 points in 61 games, posting an extremely high Corsi in an extremely high amount of offensive zone shift starts.

Still, Miller shows potential, and I don’t really want Matt Beleskey or Jimmy Hayes.

Buffalo Sabres

Sabres Protect: Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Evander Kane, Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno, Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Nathan Beaulieu, Robin Lehner.

Best available Sabres: Matt Moulson, Nicolas Deslauriers, William Carrier, Zach Bogosian, Josh Gorges, Justin Falk, Linus Ullmark.

Vegas should take Zach Bogosian. Buffalo exposed Bogosian likely because of his contract – 5.142 million for the next three years.

Still, for an expansion team that needs consistency, Bogosian’s contract could look good. Besides, Bogosian has experience playing top 4 minutes and is just 26 years old.

And again, I’m not high on any of the forwards available.

Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Protect: Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Anthony Mantha, Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Tatar, Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Nick Jensen, Jimmy Howard.

Best available Red Wings: Darren Helm, Niklas Kronwall, Xavier Ouellet, Petr Mrazek.

At best, Petr Mrazek is a backup goaltender on the Vegas Golden Knights roster. There are cheaper options to be had, and they had better 16-17 seasons. I don’t want to pay a backup 4 million.

Kronwall is a legend, and for a while was the partner of the best defenseman of the modern era (Niklas Lidstrom). Still, Kronwall has fallen off in his older age, playing just 19 minutes a night last season.

Still, Kronwall has fallen off in his older age, playing just 19 minutes a night last season. Add to that that his contract is unsustainable, it’s not a good mix.

Which leaves Helm, an expensive defensive center, and Ouellet, a defensive prospect. I’m taking Ouellet. Ouellet played 66 games last year, totaling 17 minutes a night.

Still, there will be plenty of room for Ouellet in the AHL, and hopefully the 23-year-old can continue his development with less pressure.

Florida Panthers

Panthers Protect: Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, Mark Pysyk, Alex Petrovic, James Reimer.

Best available Panthers: Reilly Smith, Colton Sceviour, Jonathan Marchessault, Jason Demers, Roberto Luongo.

Reilly Smith. Just take Reilly Smith. Two fifty point seasons, he’s just 26, and he’s on a long-term contract. One of those fifty point seasons, by the way, came under Vegas coach Gerard Gallant.

You really gotta take Smith. I know Marchessault might seem enticing, but he has yet to prove whether he is a perennial 30-goal scorer or if it was just a fluke. If it was a fluke you miss out on Smith.

Not a risk worth taking, in my opinion.

Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens Protect: Jonathan Drouin, Max Pacioretty, Andrew Shaw, Brendan Gallagher, Paul Byron, Phillip Danault, Alex Galchenyuk, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Jordie Benn, Carey Price.

Best available Canadiens: Tomas Plekanec, Torrey Mitchell, Daniel Carr, Alexei Emelin.

The sad truth of this NHL Expansion Draft is that there is no number one center available. There’s nothing for the Vegas Golden Knights to instantly now: that’s a first liner.

Tomas Plekanec, even at 6 million, might be the closest they come to a first-line center. He’s played those minutes before in Montreal, it’s just that he’s aged.

Still, what else is there out of Montreal? Mitchell is a for-sure depth center (plenty of those), Carr can’t stay on the team, Emelin is an aging defenseman.

Ottawa Senators

Senators Protect: Mike Hoffman, Derick Brassard, Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Zack Smith, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ryan Dzingel, Dion Phaneuf, Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, Craig Anderson.

Best available Senators: Bobby Ryan, Clarke MacArthur, Alexandre Burrows, Marc Methot, Frederik Claesson.

It comes down to Ryan and MacArthur for me. One is a 30-year-old first line winger who’s contract is 7.25 million for the next 5 years.

One is a 31-year-old first pairing defenseman making 4.9 million for the next two.

It comes down to who Vegas believes is rarer. While I mentioned that there’s no first-line center available in the NHL Expansion Draft, there are some wingers.

And the Vegas defense is going to be young. They will need a leader, someone like Methot, who can step in and instantly be their #1 defenseman for the next two years.

It’s gotta be Methot.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Lightning Protect: Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Best available Lightning: J.T. Brown, Cedric Paquette, Michael Bournival, Jake Dotchin, Kristers Gudlevskis.

Jake Dotchin versus Cedric Paquette. Both are twenty-three, both are restricted free agents (Dotchin this year Paquette the next).

But one is infinitely more valuable for me: Jake Dotchin. In his 35 games this year, Dotchin posted totals of 11 points and 18 minutes a night. In his rookie season, Dotchin was playing 4th/5th defenseman minutes.

Which means his progress could lead to some pretty high places. I like what the future has in store for Dotchin more than Paquette, and Vegas should too.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Protect: Nazem Kadri, James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Matt Martin, Josh Leivo, Connor Brown, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Connor Carrick, Frederik Andersen.

Best available Leafs: Alexey Marchenko, Martin Marincin, Garret Sparks.

There’s one choice here. Martin Marincin is going to Las Vegas.

Marincin is a good young defenseman, at just 25, and played 18 minutes in the 25 games he played.

Marincin is also a defensive defenseman, which is always useful in the NHL. Despite his usual play, Marincin posted 7 points in those 25 games.

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