Las Vegas Expansion Mock Draft

[oldnews]

10 hours ago, swizzey said:

So many people are crying over Gaunce, Boucher, and Sbisa being exposed. When you look at the quality of names that Las Vegas has to choose from, there is no way any of these players are going to be taken. 

Who will be taken then?

You and 8+ posters don't seem to realize that we will lose a player/asset regardless.  Whether you consider them comparable to other team's losses is another matter, but LV isn't simply selecting an active roster - they're taking 30 assets minimum, one from each team.  We may get away with sending a pick or prospect to steer them to a lesser selection, considering they'll need assets for their system in addition to their NHL roster, but if that does not happen, we are very likely to lose on of those players.

[Kurt Nirvanagut]

14 minutes ago, Heretic said:

Demko says hi!

 

I believe you.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

3 hours ago, ajhockey said:

My brother and I did an actual mock draft (in which Vegas had to take one from every team) and we had trouble staying under the cap, so anyone who thinks they'll have to do work reaching the floor best take a second look at the expensive contracts that will be exposed.

I did a mock today and didn't have to much of a problem staying into the limits

Ended up with:

Namestnikov Eller Ward

Fast Laughton Yakupov

Ferklund Richardson Armia

Roussel Danault Clutterbuck

Comeau, Sheahan,

 

Spurgeon Methot

Murray Ellis

Despres Demers

McNabb

 

Fluery

Lack

 

T.Van Reimsdyk, Josefson, Gaunce, Rychel, G.Reinhart, Kulikov, M.Subban

 

58.108 cap. 

 

Their D will be stacked but will really be hurting for some top end talent upfront. 

[IBatch]

2 hours ago, Provost said:

I heartily disagree.

It is really important to keep in mind that the players Vegas select are not necessarily the players who will be on their rosters.  They will select the best/most valuable assets available from each team and then make trades for players they don't need to keep.

 

The value of Sbisa and ridiculously higher than the value of Boucher/Gaunce.  Even if they didn't want him on their team, they would have no problem flipping him for something they wanted. 

 

The only limiting factor will be the salary cap.  The rules "seem" to indicate that Vegas needs to pick 30 players and still have the total salaries still fit under the salary cap (normally you only need to fit your 22-23 man roster under that cap).  That means Vegas can't take a bunch of bloated contracts and will need to select a cheaper guy from some teams.

There are much better young/cheap guys on other teams than our forwards for them to take.  I can't imagine them passing on Sbisa if he is available (meaning we weren't able to trade Tanev or Edler before expansion).

I honestly believe that McPhee will take all the D he can fit under the cap (allowed up to 13) and then make a ton of trades.  Two #4 D packaged in a trade are worth a top line forward, and Vegas will have a lack of scoring as they will be filled with 3rd liners up front.  Anyone doubt that Landeskog or Duchene wouldn't be on the block if Colorado could fix their defence in one fell swoop?

Your probably right.  All I meant to say it's not a foregone conclusion that Sbisa is who they pick.  This Biega transfer to forward smells a little funny it's possible Benning has a deal in place for Vegas to pick him to avoid losing Sbisa.  Funny how things change, a year ago the CDC was rampantly throwing outrage at Sbisa and his " bloated" contract...How things change.

Earlier mock drafts had Pedan going...

Kudos to Benning for freeing up a space with the Hansen trade.

Also most mock drafts have Vegas using UFAs as a way to get to the salary floor.  Selecting third string defenseman and third liners makes it hard for them to get to the cap minimum.

So I guess I am agreeing with you but I am also cautiously optimistic Sbisa will be with us as it start of camp next year.

[mll]

1 hour ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

I did a mock today and didn't have to much of a problem staying into the limits

Ended up with:

Namestnikov Eller Ward

Fast Laughton Yakupov

Ferklund Richardson Armia

Roussel Danault Clutterbuck

Comeau, Sheahan,

 

Spurgeon Methot

Murray Ellis

Despres Demers

McNabb

 

Fluery

Lack

 

T.Van Reimsdyk, Josefson, Gaunce, Rychel, G.Reinhart, Kulikov, M.Subban

 

58.108 cap. 

 

Their D will be stacked but will really be hurting for some top end talent upfront. 

 

The Wild are not exposing Spurgeon - Boudreau is absolutely in awe with him.  The final protection spot is between Dumba and Brodin. 

Nashville will be protecting Ellis - every indication is that they are going 4Ds.
Would Florida really expose Demers or CBJ Murray.

Despres has been sidelined with a concussion all season.

 

I don't see Montreal exposing Danault - he's been playing C1 for them.  They don't really trust Galchenyuk at C

 

 

[IBatch]

5 hours ago, ajhockey said:

I'm not 100% sure on this, but others who are claiming we need to do all we can to keep our players haven't realized how good we actually have it compared to other teams.

 

Amen to that.  It makes me chuckle how Sbisa went from overpaid whipping boy to coveted veteran in less than year.  It is a grim reminder of the status of our club when you look at the overall picture.  PIT stands to lose either their first overall pick decade young Stanley Cup winner Fluery in a trade to protect their Roy impressionist future of the franchise Murray.  If the tables were turned that would be a difficult pill to swallow..

.Then again if the tables were turned we'd of had our parade already and licking our chops at a repeat.   I like Sbisa Hutton and Guddy, each brings a different game that together is a good thing.   Maybe Bennings apparent draft folly will turn into a master stroke if Juolevi can walk right in and play a true first pairing game next year... Hockey sense is off the charts which bodes well for us and he is considered the 15 th best prospect in the world right now, ahead of Boesser (19) Demko (64and Virtanen (86).  

If he makes an impact like he's supposed to, losing our third or fourth best defender won't  as sting as much.

 

If we lose a forward no worries at all especially with Dahlen and Goldobin in the periphery now.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

1 hour ago, mll said:

 

The Wild are not exposing Spurgeon - Boudreau is absolutely in awe with him.  The final protection spot is between Dumba and Brodin. 

Nashville will be protecting Ellis - every indication is that they are going 4Ds.
Would Florida really expose Demers or CBJ Murray.

Despres has been sidelined with a concussion all season.

 

I don't see Montreal exposing Danault - he's been playing C1 for them.  They don't really trust Galchenyuk at C

 

 

Wild consider dumba star in the making . Nsh going with 4 d leaves means a really good forward is getting exposed. Cbj would rather keep savard Johnson and jones. Murrays been playing in the #5 spot all year and werenski makes him 3rd pairing lhd. Florida is keeping ekblad yandle with nmc and id said the younger petrovic.   Danault isn't staying over the other forwards. 

[mll]

36 minutes ago, ForsbergTheGreat said:

Wild consider dumba star in the making . Nsh going with 4 d leaves means a really good forward is getting exposed. Cbj would rather keep savard Johnson and jones. Murrays been playing in the #5 spot all year and werenski makes him 3rd pairing lhd. Florida is keeping ekblad yandle with nmc and id said the younger petrovic.   Danault isn't staying over the other forwards. 

So Brodin is exposed and they protect Suter, Spurgeon and Dumba. 

The Predators are protecting Johansen, Neal, Forsberg and Arvidsson.  Smith and Wilson have not lived up to their contracts and Jarnkrok is a complementary player. 

Murray is 23 - Johnson is 30 and one year from UFA.   

Montreal: Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Shaw, Byron, Danault and possibly Radulov if they manage to get him signed.  I don't see them protecting Plekanec. 

[Pears]

7 hours ago, ajhockey said:

My brother and I did an actual mock draft (in which Vegas had to take one from every team) and we had trouble staying under the cap, so anyone who thinks they'll have to do work reaching the floor best take a second look at the expensive contracts that will be exposed.

I didn't. I did two seperate mock drafts and each time I finished with plenty of cap space to work with. 

[BLU3GR33NBL00D]

14 hours ago, swizzey said:

So many people are crying over Gaunce, Boucher, and Sbisa being exposed. When you look at the quality of names that Las Vegas has to choose from, there is no way any of these players are going to be taken. 

They may be taken but certainly not worth crying over 

[Quantum]

The thing is that the Canucks will be losing somebody, that's a certainty.

 

The more telling sign is that whoever we do end up losing will most likely not be *that* significant. I mean, I hope the Canucks don't lose either Gaunce or Boucher but either of those players may end up on waivers by the beginning of the season, anyways, at which point the Canucks will have either moved on from them or can claim them again.

 

I personally hope for Sbisa to be selected because his removal from the Canucks will open up cap space and a roster spot for Oli Juolevi. I know people like him but he's okay at best. I wouldn't cry if he was selected.

 

Chances are that the Golden Knights will be picking players they can flip to other teams for prospects and picks too, don't forget.

[J.I.A.H.N]

Here is what I believe is happening from now until the Expansion draft

 

Team will phone LV and say they are looking for a LHD or a RHD, and they are will to pay X for that type of player........LV will collect all the offers and wait for the  Expansion list are revealed......they will then, draft accordingly......

 

I suspect that the poster that suggested a 2XD for a prospect or pick will be right! I predict, this will done, with some trades happening right at the Expansion draft, when the player has been picked which will give  LV the best opportunity to draft and move players, and keep their cap under 72 million. Especially if they can say, look don't take this player and we will give you a equal prospect and a pick, or conversely take a player only to be moved to keep their roster under....

 

Think of the players as money, and watch the money move back and forth.....

 

Question? Does the regulation say pick 30 players and have a cap under 72 Million, or does it say at the end, it should be 72 million, but not necessarily by the end or middle of the draft? Again whose is to say a trade doesn't happen while in the middle of the draft, which then allows them more cap room....basically flipping them after picking them?

 

I could see LV with alot of 2nd and 3rd picks in the next 2 drafts

 

Also, didn't the little troll Bettman say that if a team, intentionally attempted to avoid loosing a player, there may be a penalty....wonder what that means?

[-AJ-]

1 hour ago, Pears said:

I didn't. I did two seperate mock drafts and each time I finished with plenty of cap space to work with. 

I guess we were just very liberal with the contracts we took. We realized that we were over the cap with several players yet to take. That said, we took on big contracts like Rick Nash and Marc-Andre Fleury. Perhaps we didn't take enough young and cheap contracts.

[Googlie]

12 minutes ago, janisahockeynut said:

 

 

Question? Does the regulation say pick 30 players and have a cap under 72 Million, or does it say at the end, it should be 72 million, but not necessarily by the end or middle of the draft? Again whose is to say a trade doesn't happen while in the middle of the draft, which then allows them more cap room....basically flipping them after picking them?

 

Its not going to be a draft in the conventional sense.

30 teams provide LV with a list of available players.

2 days later , LV gives Bettman a list of 30 players, one from each team.

There is no "middle of the draft"

[GB5]

10 hours ago, Provost said:

These have to be just mock rosters.  Vegas MUST pick 30 players, so each team loses exactly one player.

 

We will lose Sbisa 100%.  If for no other reason than Vegas can simply trade him away right after they pick him.  Top 6 D will have lots of trade value, especially after the expansion.  Already a dozen teams are looking to pick up another D... another bunch of teams will lose a D to Vegas so most teams will be in the market for another NHL calibre D.

 

McPhee will be smart to pick up a dozen defencemen and then trade away the surplus for top 6 forwards and draft picks/prospects.

Absolutely. I'm sure we'll see some players get picked and then traded back to the original team immediately after for a pick(s) or maybe another player who was not eligible for the expansion draft. McFee will be very busy.

[ForsbergTheGreat]

13 hours ago, mll said:

So Brodin is exposed and they protect Suter, Spurgeon and Dumba. 

The Predators are protecting Johansen, Neal, Forsberg and Arvidsson.  Smith and Wilson have not lived up to their contracts and Jarnkrok is a complementary player. 

Murray is 23 - Johnson is 30 and one year from UFA.   

Montreal: Pacioretty, Galchenyuk, Gallagher, Shaw, Byron, Danault and possibly Radulov if they manage to get him signed.  I don't see them protecting Plekanec. 

You're probable right about the Predators

I still think Wild expose Spurgeon,  Him and Dumba are too similar in players, Where spurgeon is also 27 and Brodin is only 23 and saves them a million in cap.    Money they are going to need to reup Granlund, Niederreittier in the next year.

 

Johnson provides leadership, Murray was on the trade block this year.  Maybe the habs keep Danault over Plekanec, I think they keep Plekanec

 

[J.I.A.H.N]

12 hours ago, Googlie said:

Its not going to be a draft in the conventional sense.

30 teams provide LV with a list of available players.

2 days later , LV gives Bettman a list of 30 players, one from each team.

There is no "middle of the draft"

If that is the case, it still gives LV time to make deals with the players offered to teams that have given LV their shopping lists.......It should be interesting!

Thanks!

[Provost]

12 hours ago, GarthButcher5 said:

Absolutely. I'm sure we'll see some players get picked and then traded back to the original team immediately after for a pick(s) or maybe another player who was not eligible for the expansion draft. McFee will be very busy.

That is actually against the rules apparently... player can't be traded back to their original team.  They can be traded anywhere else though, so a bunch of shuffling will happen.

I should have also been more specific, I don't think it is necessarily 100% Sbisa goes.  It is pretty much 100% that a D goes in expansion barring us trading one of Sbisa/Edler/Tanev/Gudbranson, there are small percentage chances that it is another D instead who is exposed instead of Sbisa.  

Maybe they go full tilt on rebuild and tell Edler they are exposing him (whether to force waiving NTC or to actually expose him).  Maybe Gudbranson has unrealistic contract demands in either money or term and it makes it a bad value to keep him, or there is a big worry about just a qualifying offer and him walking for nothing in a year.

Neither of those things is "likely" to happen, but not impossible.  Safe money is either a trade before expansion or Sbisa going.

[GB5]

4 hours ago, Provost said:

That is actually against the rules apparently... player can't be traded back to their original team.  They can be traded anywhere else though, so a bunch of shuffling will happen.

I should have also been more specific, I don't think it is necessarily 100% Sbisa goes.  It is pretty much 100% that a D goes in expansion barring us trading one of Sbisa/Edler/Tanev/Gudbranson, there are small percentage chances that it is another D instead who is exposed instead of Sbisa.  

Maybe they go full tilt on rebuild and tell Edler they are exposing him (whether to force waiving NTC or to actually expose him).  Maybe Gudbranson has unrealistic contract demands in either money or term and it makes it a bad value to keep him, or there is a big worry about just a qualifying offer and him walking for nothing in a year.

Neither of those things is "likely" to happen, but not impossible.  Safe money is either a trade before expansion or Sbisa going.

That is an interesting twist, thanks for the update.

I always thought Sbisa would go because Vegas needs to get to the cap floor and his 3.5 million would help with that but then again, if they intend to flip him it may be a hinderance.

 

btw, I appreciate your polite explanation, many others would unfortunately take the opportunity to flame a fellow poster if they see an error.