Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee during a media scrum following the first round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft at the United Center in Chicago on Friday, June 23, 2017.
Nine former WHL players were selected by the newest NHL franchise, Vegas Golden Knights, at tonight's NHL Awards ceremony.
(AP Photo/John Locher). Vegas Golden Knights' Chris Thorburn poses for photographers Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in Las Vegas. They now have 13 draft picks for the upcoming draft, including three in the first and three in the second.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - The Vegas Golden Knights finally have some players to put on the desert ice this fall. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016-17, headlined the expansion draft selections.
"I didn't know that was coming", Fleury said about his new fans' enthusiasm. "The next few days I'm sure I'll understand it a little bit better".
"I don't think it's daunting, I think it's exciting", said Suzuki.
On Wednesday night, when McPhee drafted the 30 players from each team, he also made 10 official trades before the lift of the league-wide roster freeze on Thursday morning, when more players and picks could be swapped.
They also added Panthers forward Reilly Smith, Wild forward Alex Tuch, Islanders defense prospect Jake Bischoff and Lightning forward prospect Nikita Gusev as well as the contracts of David Clarkson from Columbus and Mikhail Grabovski from the Islanders. "I think that's what's important".
Foley paid a $500 million fee to join the league, and the NHL wrote its draft rules to give the Golden Knights more opportunities to compete early in their existence.
The honors capped a remarkable sophomore season for the 20-year-old center, who won the scoring title and led the Oilers back to the Stanley Cup playoffs after an 11-year absence.
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Cody Glass has been to Las Vegas once before.
"That was a warm welcome", Fleury said.
Thousands of fans braved 116-degree afternoon heat to gather on the south end of the Strip for the unique combination of the awards show and the chance to learn the identities of the home team's first National Hockey League veterans.
Fleury will have some help in that community outreach from a local.
Those three teammates - Deryk Engelland, Brayden McNabb and Jason Garrison - will inevitably look at Fleury the way those in Pittsburgh view Crosby.
"It's great to be reunited with him", Engelland said. They either might try to package them together to move up or another team might try to trade their way back into the first round. For it to finally happen, it's unbelievable.
It was a short jaunt for the 35-year-old blueliner from his off-season home in the suburbs of Summerlin - which made the decision even easier for both parties.
With the No. 15 pick, the Golden Knights chose defenseman Erik Brannstrom. The Ducks traded the promising Theodore to stop Vegas from selecting defensemen Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson - and to persuade the Golden Knights to take Clayton Stoner instead, removing his onerous contract from the five-time defending Pacific Division champions' books. The Golden Knights are Las Vegas' first franchise in a major professional sport.
But from other hockey people, like Nashville GM David Poile, who said "this is by far the best expansion team ever"?
But that was OK too because there were no real surprises (other than maybe Mike Babcock not winning the Adams) with the award winners and the news value with the expansion picks came with the attached draft picks as they added up during the evening.
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