Las Vegas has begun to take its first steps in its NHL franchise history with the hiring of general manager George McPhee and the installation of the ice surface at T-Mobile Arena. Over the next year, the organization will continue to fill it’s management positions in anticipation of the 2017 Expansion Draft.

Las Vegas will be able to select one skater per team from a list of unprotected players. Gary Bettman and the NHL have organized this version of the Expansion Draft in a slightly different way which will result in a better overall roster being selected, giving Vegas the opportunity to find immediate success in the league.

In the protection stage of the Expansion Draft, each team is able to protect either seven forwards, three defencemen, and one goaltender, or eight skaters and one goaltender.

An interesting topic will be the protection of pending UFA’s. Will team’s feel the need to protect them in order to possibly re-sign them? Or would they be fine losing them for nothing anyway? On the other side, would Las Vegas want to gamble on selecting a UFA, with the hopes of signing them with just a couple weeks before July 1st?

Using General Fanager’s excellent NHL Expansion Mock Draft Tool, the user is able to go through all 30 NHL teams to select which players they believe should be protected. Once that is done, a list for each team is created that shows every player which has been left unprotected and is, therefore, eligible to be selected by Las Vegas. After selecting one skater from each team, the tool previews Vegas’ salary cap information, as well as every player’s contract. If your team is over the salary cap or has some extra cap space, you can always go back to the selection process and make the changes to perfect your Las Vegas roster.

Here is our best shot at the 2017 Las Vegas Expansion Draft, using General Fanager’s NHL Expansion Mock Draft Tool.

Protected Players

Anaheim Ducks:

Forwards

Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Jakob Silfverberg, Andrew Cogliano, Nicolas Kerdiles, Rickard Rakell

Defence

Sami Vatanen, Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm

Goaltender

John Gibson

Anaheim is able to maintain their core as well as a few younger depth players. They are forced to leave a few solid defencemen unprotected.

Arizona Coyotes:

Forwards

Jamie McGinn, Henrik Samuelsson, Tobias Rieder, Anthony Duclair

Defence

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, Connor Murphy, Michael Stone

Goaltender

Mike Smith

Arizona doesn’t have a whole lot to protect. They choose to protect eight skaters in order to keep four strong defencemen. All their top prospects will be protected.

Boston Bruins:

Forwards

David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, David Backes, Brad Marchand, Jimmy Hayes, Ryan Spooner, David Pasternak

Defence

Torey Krug, Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller

Goaltender

Tuukka Rask

Boston is able to protect their top-six, but choose to protect some young forwards with potential over others with tough contracts. They keep their best three defencemen, with not a lot to protect on the blue-line.

Buffalo Sabres:

Forwards

Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson, Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno, Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons

Defence

Zach Bogosian, Jake McCabe, Rasmus Ristolainen

Goaltender

Robin Lehner

As a rebuilding team, Buffalo keeps its core of prospects locked up. With Kane causing more trouble than good, the team leaves him available. They also protect their top defensive prospects.

Calgary Flames:

Forwards

Michael Frolik, Mikael Backlund, Sam Bennett, Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, Hunter Shinkaruk, Emile Poirier

Defence

Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Dougie Hamilton

Goaltender

Brian Elliott

Calgary is able to maintain their top-three defencemen as well as their young forwards with superstar potential. As a result, a few large contracts are left on the table.

Carolina Hurricanes:

Forwards

Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Viktor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Joakim Nordstrom, Teuvo Teravainen, Brock McGinn

Defence

Justin Faulk, Ryan Murphy, Trevor Carrick

Goaltender

Eddie Lack

Carolina will be protecting their future more than the present. They lock up some prospects over current NHL calibre players while maintaining a vision of the future. They protect Eddie Lack over aging UFA Cam Ward.

Chicago Blackhawks:

Forwards

Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Marcus Kruger, Ryan Hartman, Mark McNeill

Defence

Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson

Goaltender

Corey Crawford

Chicago is able to protect all of their core up front and on the blue-line, as well as a couple promising prospects. This draft will not hurt them.

Colorado Avalanche:

Forwards

Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Carl Soderberg, Joe Colborne, Mikhail Grigorenko, Rocco Grimaldi

Defence

Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov

Goaltender

Semyon Varlamov

Colorado maintains it’s core players and a few secondary prospects as well. They are forced to leave a couple solid defencemen unprotected, and a promising young goaltender as well.

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Forwards

Brandon Saad, Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, Cam Atkinson, Boone Jenner, William Karlsson, Alexander Wennberg

Defence

Seth Jones, Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray

Goaltender

Sergei Bobrovsky

Columbus can protect all of its assets for the future, but will leave a large contract on the table in hopes of the expansion draft being an additional ‘buyout period’.

Dallas Stars:

Forwards

Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Patrik Sharp, Cody Eakin, Valeri Nickushkin, Radek Faksa

Defence

John Klingberg, Jamie Oleksiak, Esa Lindell

Goaltender

Kari Lehtonen

Dallas will face a few tough decisions, and may be forced to leave a couple solid prospects and NHL calibre defencemen unprotected. The big decision will be between Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi.

Detroit Red Wings:

Forwards

Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Tomas Tatar, Tomas Jurco, Anthony Mantha

Defence

Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, Niklas Kronwall

Goaltender

Petr Mrazek

Detroit has the space to protect all the forwards they want, but will have to leave a few solid defencemen unprotected. They will likely choose youngster Petr Mrazek, leaving Jimmy Howard available for Las Vegas.

Edmonton Oilers:

Forwards

Jordan Eberle, Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Benoit Pouliot, Nail Yakupov, Patrick Maroon, Leon Draisaitl

Defence

Oscar Klefbom, Adam Larsson, Jordan Oesterle

Goaltender

Cam Talbot

Edmonton can protect every decent asset they have without a problem, only leaving a couple ‘B’ prospects on the table.

Florida Panthers:

Forwards

Aleksander Barkov, Vincent Trochek, Nick Bjugstad, Jussi Jokinen, Reilly Smith, Jonathan Huberdeau, Colton Sceviour

Defence

Keith Yandle, Jason Demers, Aaron Ekblad

Goaltender

Roberto Luongo

Florida will be able to maintain it’s core group of forwards, as well as their newly signed defencemen, but they will be forced to leave a few young, solid d-men unprotected for which Las Vegas will choose from.

Los Angeles Kings:

Forwards

Anne Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, Tyler Toffoli, Trevor Lewis, Tanner Pearson

Defence

Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin

Goaltender

Jonathan Quick

Los Angeles has just enough space to protect all of their valuable assets at each position. Some of their young defensive prospects may be left available, but nothing too serious.

Minnesota Wild:

Forwards

Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal, Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker

Defence

Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba

Goaltender

Devan Dubnyk

Minnesota has the leverage to protect its depth players up front but will be forced to leave two good defencemen, Jonas Brodin and Marco Scandella, unprotected.

Montreal Canadiens:

Forwards

Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Andrew Shaw, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, Jacob de la Rose, Phillip Danault

Defence

Shea Weber, Andrei Markov, Nathan Beaulieu

Goaltender

Carey Price

Montreal doesn’t have the strongest depth in the league, and will be able to protect all valuable skaters they have, leaving just a few AHL’ers available for Vegas to choose from.

Nashville Predators:

Forwards

Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Ryan Johansen, Craig Smith

Defence

P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis

Goaltender

Pekka Rinne

Nashville will choose to protect eight skaters in order to keep their top-four defencemen together. As a result, they will need to leave one solid top-six forwards unprotected, likely either Colin Wilson or Craig Smith.

New Jersey Devils:

Forwards

Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac, Mike Cammalleri, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Beau Bennett, Reid Boucher

Defence

Andy Greene, Jon Merrill, Damon Severson

Goaltender

Cory Schneider

New Jersey can protect their top-six and then some up front, and really don’t have much on the blue-line to worry about. They will likely only lose a fourth-line forward to the expansion.

New York Islanders:

Forwards

John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson

Defence

Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic, Ryan Pulock

Goaltender

Jaroslav Halak

The Islanders choose the route of eight skaters so to protect four defencemen. They are fine with losing Mikhail Grabovski or Nikolai Kulemin, but Anders Lee or Thomas Greiss will be a tough pill to swallow.

New York Rangers:

Forwards

Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes

Defence

Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Dylan McIlrath

Goaltender

Henrik Lundqvist

The Rangers are able to protect their valuable forwards, but choose to leave some bad contracted defacement available for the picking. They will likely lose a top-six defenceman.

Ottawa Senators:

Forwards

Bobby Ryan, Derick Brassard, Kyle Turris, Mark Stone, Mike Hoffman, Jean Gabriel-Pageau, Curtis Lazar

Defence

Erik Karlsson, Dion Phaneuf, Cody Ceci

Goaltender

Craig Anderson

Ottawa can lock up all their top NHL calibre players while leaving a few below average defencemen and bottom-six forwards available. Vegas may opt for a prospect from the Sens.

Philadelphia Flyers:

Forwards

Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Read, Scott Laughton

Defence

Michael Del Zotto, Radko Gudas, Shayne Gostisbehere

Goaltender

Anthony Stolarz

Philadelphia doesn’t have much defence to protect, but they may be forced to leave some third-line forwards out there. In goal, the Flyers will have a tough decision, but Las Vegas should have better options to choose from anyhow.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Forwards

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Carl Hagelin, Eric Fehr, Scott Wilson

Defence

Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, Derrick Pouliot

Goaltender

Matthew Murray

Pittsburgh can protect everyone they need to, except in the crease. They must choose between Matthew Murray and Marc-Andre Fleury, with Vegas to surely pick up which ever one is left unprotected.

San Jose Sharks:

Forwards

Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl, Melker Karlsson, Matt Nieto

Defence

Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Mirco Mueller

Goaltender

Martin Jones

San Jose can protect all of its forward depth with Thornton and Marleau both UFA’s, but may lose a top-six defenceman. In the end, it won’t be a major difference maker.

St. Louis Blues:

Forwards

Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny, Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Jori Lehtera, David Perron, Dmitrij Jaskin

Defence

Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Kevin Shattenkirk

Goaltender

Jake Allen

St. Louis will leave a couple decent NHL players available up front and along the blue line. Patrik Berglund and Carl Gunnarsson will likely both be available.

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Forwards

Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan, Valtteri Filppula, Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Jonathan Drouin, Nikita Kucherov

Defence

Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Slater Koekkoek

Goaltender

Andrei Vasilevski

Tampa Bay is just able to protect its main forward group, as well as it’s core along the blue line. In goal, the Lightning will likely opt to protect Vasilevski over Ben Bishop, with Bishop being a UFA.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Forwards

Name Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov, Peter Holland, Kerby Rychel, Connor Brown

Defence

Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Connor Carrick

Goaltender

Frederik Andersen

Toronto has it’s choice of which prospects to protect, as they certainly will not be losing a star NHL’er or a top prospect. Vegas won’t have much to be excited about with this selection.

Vancouver Canucks:

Forwards

Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Loui Eriksson, Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, Bo Horvat, Markus Granlund

Defence

Alexander Edler, Chris Tanev, Erik Gudbranson

Goaltender

Jacob Markstrom

Vancouver is in an interesting position and do not have a ton of valuable players to protect. With Ryan Miller set to be a UFA, they should protect Markstrom. Vegas may look for an average prospect from the Canucks.

Washington Capitals:

Forwards

Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson, T.J. Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, Andre Burakovsky

Defence

Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, John Carlson

Goaltender

Braden Holtby

Washington certainly has a plethora of talent of their team, but should be able to keep most of it in check. UFA Karl Alzner may be left unprotected, along with some bottom-six forwards.

Winnipeg Jets:

Forwards

Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, Adam Lowry, Marko Dano, Scott Kosmachuk

Defence

Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba

Goaltender

Connor Hellebuyck

Winnipeg will have a tough choice to either protect several decent prospects, or four defencemen. As a continually rebuilding organization, the prospects seem more important than a 32-year-old Tobias Enstrom will be.

2017 Las Vegas Expansion Mock Draft

Simon Despres (D) – Anaheim Ducks – $3.7M Luke Schenn (D) – Arizona Coyotes – $31.25M Matt Beleskey (LW) – Boston Bruins – $3.8M Evander Kane (LW) – Buffalo Sabres – $5.25M Linden Vey (RW) – Calgary Flames – $700K – RFA Lee Stempniak (RW) – Carolina Hurricanes – $2.5M Ville Pokka (D) – Chicago Blackhawks – $925K – RFA Calvin Pickard (G) – Colorado Avalanche – $1.0M Scott Hartnell (LW) – Columbus Blue Jackets – $4.75M Brett Ritchie (RW) – Dallas Stars – $875K – RFA Jimmy Howard (G) – Detroit Red Wings – $5.292M Griffin Reinhart (D) – Edmonton Oilers – $863K – RFA Alex Petrovic (D) – Florida Panthers – $1.05M – RFA Brayden McNabb (D) – Los Angeles Kings – $1.7M Jonas Brodin (D) – Minnesota Wild – $4.17M Charles Hudon (LW) – Montreal Canadiens – $625K – RFA Colin Wilson (C) – Nashville Predators – $3.938M Devante Smith-Pelley (RW) – New Jersey Devils – $1.3M Anders Lee (C) – New York Islanders – $3.75M Kevin Klein (D) – New York Rangers – $2.9M Matt Puempel (LW) – Ottawa Senators – $900K – RFA Dale Weise (RW) – Philadelphia Flyers – $2.395M Marc-Andre Fleury (G) – Pittsburgh Penguins – $5.75M Brenden Dillon (D) – San Jose Sharks – $3.27M Carl Gunnarsson (D) – St. Louis Blues – $2.9M Vladislav Namestnikov (C) – Tampa Bay Lightning – $1.938M Matt Martin (LW) – Toronto Maple Leafs – $2.5M Brendan Gaunce (C) – Vancouver Canucks – 863K – RFA Karl Alzner (D) – Washington Capitals – $2.8M – UFA Tobias Enstrom (D) – Winnipeg Jets – $5.75M

Las Vegas Projected Depth Chart

Forwards:

Kane – Wilson – Hartnell

Beleskey – Lee – Weise

Smith-Pelley – Namestnikov – Stempniak

Martin – Gaunce – Vey

Puempel – Hudon – Ritchie

Defence:

Enstrom – Alzner

Brodin – Dillon

Despres – Gunnarsson

Petrovic – McNabb

Klein – Schenn

Pokka – Reinhart

Goaltenders:

Fleury

Howard

Pickard

Las Vegas Lineup Information

Las Vegas’ roster features 29 players under contract, eight of which will be restricted free agents. One player, Karl Alzner, is an unrestricted free agent. The team’s projected cap hit comes to $69.753M, leaving them a little over $3M in cap space.

The roster combined for 170 goals during 2015-16, 14 less than the 30th ranked New Jersey Devils, who totalled 184. The team certainly lacks that superstar scoring threat but is a young lineup with plenty of potential. The team’s strength, without a doubt, will come from the defensive end. There will be a plethora of solid NHL defencemen to choose from, giving Vegas a promising top-six on the back-end.

Goaltending will win Las Vegas games. With more than a few current NHL teams holding two goalies with the ability to be starters, Vegas will have a few tremendous choices for their goaltending tandem. A duo of Fleury and Howard would do wonders for the team’s immediate success. With solid goaltending and depth along the blueline, limited goals against could push Las Vegas to be a brink playoff team.