Las Vegas wants hockey.

Is this why Alan from @totalhockeyni is in VEGAS?! @LVWantsHockey #VegasWantsHockey pic.twitter.com/wb17bjvNI3 #totalhockeyNI — total-hockey.com (@totalhockeyni) February 13, 2015

And expansion to Las Vegas is coming. Commissioner Gary Bettman attended the opening of a season ticket drive. The prospective ownership group ponied up for a Super Bowl ad. And advanced season tickets sales are coming along.

By last count, Hockey Vision Las Vegas (the prospective Las Vegas group, including Bill Foley and the Maloof Brothers) had passed the halfway mark en route to a goal of 10,000 season ticket pre-sales.

Speaking with CBC.ca, would-be Las Vegas owner Bill Foley said that he is encouraged by the early results:

We are off to a great start…It is our hope that the Las Vegas community will continue to rally around this incredible initiative. We’ve seen an outpouring of support, and we know Southern Nevadans will continue to place deposits to help us demonstrate that Las Vegas can support its first major-league sports franchise.

Foley and his group have some Canadian star power working in their favor as well. Wayne Gretzky has worked with Foley as an “advisor” and Canadian poker star Daniel Negreanu has voiced his support:

In case you missed it: Poker icon @RealKidPoker took some time to talk about why hockey is perfect for #Vegas: http://t.co/UFs6nIHNlP — Vegas Wants Hockey (@LVWantsHockey) February 18, 2015

With stable ownership, a steadily growing season ticket base, celebrity support, and a 20,000 seat arena being built by MGM right now, Vegas is coming.

Heck, the owner has even tipped his hand regarding a team name. The Black Knights (a reference to Foley’s ties to Army) is a hockey worthy team name. Even the freelance logo designs circulating online are slick. Like it or not, the NHL is poised to add another non-traditional hockey market to its ranks.

Las Vegas Black Knights: The Expansion Draft

No matter your feelings about Las Vegas in the NHL, the expansion draft to stock the new team is exciting.

As a number of analysts have speculated (here, here, and here), the next expansion draft is likely to contain higher-profile names because of the salary cap.

Specifically, players with bad contracts (Vincent Lecavalier, Alex Semin, David Clarkson, etc…) would likely be left unprotected. And, Las Vegas would be subject to meeting the salary cap floor (set at $51 million USD).

With these thoughts in mind, it’s reasonable to imagine that the NHL’s current teams could make available any players with big, cap-crowding contracts.

Though many of these players have no-movement clauses built into their deals, players like Lecavalier, Semin, Clarkson, and others may willingly waive such clauses and welcome a deal to a fresh start in a glitzy city like Las Vegas.

So, how might the inaugural roster of the Las Vegas Black Knights look?

The Rules

The last expansion draft in 2000 detailed the protection rules for current NHL teams. We’ll borrow these rules. The basics are:

1. Teams have two protection options:

Option A – protect one goalie, five defensemen, nine forwards

*at least one defenseman and two forwards must have appeared in 40 games in the previous season or 70 games in the previous two seasons combined

Option B – protect two goalies, three defensemen, seven forwards

2. Only one player per expansion team can be selected from each NHL club.

3. First/second-year players are exempt.

4. For our purposes, let’s assume that players with no-trade or no-movement clauses in their contracts must agree to being selected.

The Expansion Draft

Las Vegas Expansion Team Concept Hockey Jersey http://t.co/gcT2Gg04j2 @BarDown @MikeyD_OandBP @icethetics pic.twitter.com/HMKlRuoF0u — Shawn (@ShawnTHW) February 4, 2015

To compile this roster, player availabilities and draft projections done by other outlets will be considered.

These projects include:

– Sean Gentille and Dimitri Filipovic at Sporting News – here.

– Thomas Drance at The Score – here.

– Ryan Kennedy at The Hockey News – here.

Each are worth a look in their own right.

Without further ado…

In the 2015-2016 NHL expansion draft, the Las Vegas Black Knights select…

Line 1 Alex Semin Vincent Lecavalier Brendan Morrow As far as expansion teams go, this first line has some skill, some size, and some potential to be a reasonably productive first line. Good start for Las Vegas. L2 Alex Burrows Mike Richards Kris Versteeg With some grit and Stanley Cup experience, this second group is fairly strong, especially for an expansion club. Sure, they’re overpaid but that’s Bill Foley’s problem. L3 Tomas Fleischmann Dominic Moore Justin Abdelkader The checking line has speed, faceoff prowess, and defensive responsibility. This is a very strong checking line for an expansion team. L4 Patrick Maroon Joe Colborne Colin Greening Maroon has upside, Colborne has size, and Greening is big-bodied. It’s a fourth line on an expansion club. It’ll do. Defense Pair 1 Dimitry Orlov Rob Scuderi Orlov is young and Scuderi has been a reliable performer in the past. But this duo will struggle matching up against top lines and playing big minutes. DP 2 Jan Hejda Matt Bartkowski More of the same. This pair has limited upside and will struggle with second pairing minutes. DP 3 Mark Fraser Tom Gilbert Replacement-level players or worse. Any time this duo is on the ice, Las Vegas will be in danger of giving up a goal. Starting Goalie Brian Elliot Elliot has been among the top-ten NHL netminders during the past couple of seasons. He’s a great starting option for Las Vegas. Backup James Reimer Elliot has always worked best in a timeshare situation. With James Reimer on board, the Black Knights will have a young, cost-effective tag-team partner for Elliot. Spares Matt Martin Cam Atkinson Andre Benoit A banger, a too-small speedster, and a below-replacement-level defender. That’s life as the healthy scratches for an expansion club.

All told, the Las Vegas Black Knights could take on some bad contracts and cobble together a reasonable group of forwards. Morrow, Lecavalier, and Richards are all capable captains. There’s offense, speed, checking, and some options for a little toughness.

On defense, Las Vegas would be in trouble. None of their defensemen is close to a first-pairing type. There’s little offense, no shutdown defender and little to get excited about.

In net, the Black Knights would be strong. Elliot has registered strong numbers for the Blues during the last couple of seasons. Reimer has starter’s experience and could capably join Elliot in a timeshare. These two would be challenged to cover up for the porous defense in front of them.

First decent Las Vegas Black Knights concept jersey pic.twitter.com/oIrcS08W6g — Chirp Hockey (@ChirpHockey) January 16, 2015

Competitive or not, the Las Vegas Black Knights are a safe bet to join the NHL soon. And while hockey purists may groan, fans of expansion drafts are soon to treated to an unprecedented draft filled salary cap anchors from around the NHL.

What do you think, hockey fans? Are you excited for hockey to expand to a new market? Or is Las Vegas a poor fit for the NHL?