First things first.



The assignment was to undertake a next-to-impossible task and project what a Seattle expansion team, selected in June of 2021, would look like today, if every NHL team had filed its protected list this week for a 2021 selection.



But then we went for advice to George McPhee, architect of the Vegas Golden Knights, and suddenly, we didn’t feel nearly as intimidated.



The primary reason: McPhee revealed that the Golden Knights began doing their own mock drafts in October 2016 and did the exercise monthly. From the time they began the process, through eight months of spirited dress rehearsals, their list changed constantly — until they got to June 2017, and actually made their 30 selections.



How many of those 30 players were on the list originally the previous October?



“About four,” McPhee estimated.



So there, a necessary – and freeing — disclaimer, as we look into that faraway...