"We've had a lot of people reach out to us, and we've got some people we're interested in who we've yet to speak to," Foley said before leaving for a staff meeting in Montana. "We hope to identify who we want to speak to from these meetings."

The Las Vegas NHL franchise wants to "have our general manager on board no later than Aug. 1," owner Bill Foley told the Review-Journal this week.

The expansion team will begin play in the 2017-18 NHL season. Foley said he would like to have three to five candidates to become its first GM.

"We talked to the NHL last week and we were explained how the protocol works when it comes to contacting other teams," Foley said. "We want to play by the rules and not make any mistakes. The NHL told us what we have to do, and we're good with that."

Video: Discussing the NHL's new expansion team in Las Vegas

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the NHL's 31st team on June 22. It will be the first expansion since 2000, when the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets were formed.

Las Vegas is without a nickname and logo but is working with the NHL to develop both, along with a color scheme. Foley said he hopes to reveal all this information at a public event at T-Mobile Arena in September or October.

"It's a very long process," he said. "You really can't rush it."

He also said season-ticket holders will be able to choose their seats in late summer or early fall.

"We have to have individual game tickets available," Foley said. "But the response has been overwhelming, and we're going to have to look at capping sales once we clear 16,000."