Kevin Allen

USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday night's unveiling of the Las Vegas NHL expansion team’s name (Golden Knights) and logo wasn't a beginning as much as it is a reminder that the team’s first training camp is just over nine months away.

Las Vegas general manager George McPhee and his scouts have already started projecting which players will be available for the June 20 NHL expansion draft and prioritizing who they want. They can take one player from each team.

Here is what you should know about the Las Vegas team as it prepares to play in 2017-18 as the NHL’s first expansion team since the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered in 2000:

Las Vegas NHL expansion team will be named the 'Golden Knights'

Coach search: McPhee hasn’t provided a specific timetable for hiring the team’s first coach, and he could wait until after this season. No hints about his candidate list have emerged.

Coaches with NHL experience who could be in the mix include Bob Hartley and Kevin Dineen. Hot prospects include Phil Housley and Trent Green. One intriguing possibility: former Edmonton Oilers Ralph Krueger. He was the media darling at the World Cup of Hockey because of the job he did with Team Europe. His entertaining personality, coupled with his thorough coaching style, would make him an ideal choice for an expansion team.

Goalie watch: Incumbent teams only can protect one goalie, meaning Las Vegas is going to be able to land three quality goalies in the expansion draft.

Based on this season’s rosters, the potential expansion draft goalie pool could include Marc-Andre Fleury, Semyon Varlamov, Thomas Greiss, Jimmy Howard, and perhaps Roberto Luongo, although his age and contract make him less attractive to an expansion team.

Changing NHL shootout rules would rob us of Marek Malik-like moments

Future Las Vegas players?: According to the expansion draft rules, teams can protect either seven forwards and three defensemen or eight combined forwards and defensemen. Players with no-trade or no-movement clauses must be protected. First- and second-year pros are exempt. Based on that, here are some players who might be available:

Jakob Silfverberg, Ryan Dzingel, Dmitri Orlov, Jonas Brodin, Tomas Plekanic, Mikkel Boedker, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Mikhail Grigorenko, Mathieu Perreault, Marian Gaborik and Ryan Sproul. Although the NHL is providing Las Vegas with more attractive players than previous expansion teams have received, it’s not as if Las Vegas will compete for the playoffs in its first season.

McPhee is expected to concentrate on younger players or veterans who can be moved to other teams for draft picks.

Free agent head-start: Las Vegas has a 48-hour period before the expansion draft to negotiate with and sign potential unrestricted free agents.

The unrestricted list this summer includes goalie Ben Bishop, defenseman Brent Burns. Kevin Shattenkirk, T.J. Oshie, Karl Alzner, etc.

If Las Vegas signs a potential unrestricted free agent in that period, the team can’t take another player from the player’s former team in the expansion draft.

The 2017 regular draft: The Las Vegas team will be treated as a lottery team, receiving the same odds of winning as the team with the third-fewest points. The latest the Las Vegas team would pick in the first round would be No. 6.

There’s no Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews or Jack Eichel available in this draft.

The best prospect is 6-3 Canadian center Nolan Patrick who plays in the Western Hockey League. The best defenseman is Swede Timothy Lijegren who projects to be a dynamic, fast puck mover.



