NHL Expansion Draft 2017

NHL Expansion Draft 2017
league	National Hockey League
date	June 21, 2017
Expansion franchise (s)	Vegas Golden Knights
NHL Expansion and Dispersal Drafts
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The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft was conducted on June 21, 2017 by the National Hockey League . The expansion draft was carried out because the ice hockey league was topped up with a franchise for the 2017/18 season and the roster of the newly founded team Vegas Golden Knights had to be filled with players. It was the twelfth expansion draft in league history and the first since 2000 .

background

With the restructuring of the divisions before the start of the 2013/14 season , the division of the 30 franchises resulted in a regional imbalance between the Western and Eastern Conference. While 16 teams were at home in the Eastern Conference, only 14 teams played in the Western Conference.

In the summer break of 2015, the NHL league management opened applications for a possible expansion franchise, which should start playing in the 2017/18 season . In addition to Las Vegas, the Franco-Canadian metropolis of Québec City also submitted an application. Ultimately, however, the application from Las Vegas prevailed, which the NHL announced on June 22, 2016. The basic processes for an expansion draft had already been defined in March 2016.

regulate

→ for a list of all protected players see NHL Expansion Draft 2017 / Protected Players

The first rough definition of the draft regulations took place in March 2016. These state that each team could protect either seven forwards , three defenders and one goalkeeper or eight field players regardless of their playing position and one goalkeeper from the selection process. The choice of the respective option was up to each franchise itself. Seven of the 30 franchises opted for the latter option, which thus effectively comprises two less protected players . Of these, in turn, six teams (Arizona, Florida, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Jersey and Pittsburgh) protected four defenders and four attackers, only the New York Islanders chose five defenders and only three strikers. Regardless of the official lists, however, all teams can agree on barter deals with the Golden Knights and give them additional players or draft options if certain players are selected or not selected in the Expansion Draft.

Compared to the NHL Expansion Draft 2000 , the number of protectable players is many times lower because the league wants to ensure the competitiveness of the new team. In the last expansion draft, the teams could either exclude nine forwards, five defenders and one goalkeeper or seven forwards, three defenders and two goalkeepers from the selection process.

The selection of the actors to be protected only included players who have been professionals for at least two years - regardless of whether they are in the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League . Players with less than two years of professional experience or talent who have not yet signed up from a previous NHL Entry Draft are not eligible for the Expansion Draft. Players with a no-movement clause (NMC) in their contract had to be protected by the teams, unless the player voluntarily waived the enforcement of the clause. The clause usually means that a player cannot be transferred to another franchise within the league or to a farm team via the waiver without his consent .

In addition, the 30 franchises were tied to certain criteria when nominating their players available for the new team:

1. One of the defenders, who would also be under contract with the team in the 2017/18 season , had to have played at least 40 games in the previous season or 70 games in the two previous seasons.
2. Two of the strikers who were also under contract with the team in the 2017/18 season had to have played at least 40 games in the previous season or 70 games in the two previous seasons.
3. A goalkeeper also had to be under contract with the team in the 2017/18 season or be considered a restricted free agent before the start of the 2017/18 season .

The following rules applied to player selection for the expansion franchise:

1. The franchise had to select one player from each of the 30 existing franchises. This did not include any additional players that the team would receive from possible transfers if the draft regulations were violated.
2. The franchise had to select at least 14 forwards, nine defenders and three goalkeepers.
3. The franchise had to select at least 20 players who had a valid contract for the 2017/18 season.
4. The selected players in the franchise had to have a value between 60 and 100 percent below that of the previous year, taking into account the salary cap .

Furthermore, the expansion franchise is not allowed to buy out any acquired player's contract before summer 2018 . This is to avoid teams handing over many players with inefficient contracts in order to gain a financial advantage. In addition, players transferred before the draft may only be transferred back to their former team after January 1, 2018.

Draft result

The result of the draft was announced as part of the NHL Awards 2017 in reverse order of the final table of the previous season.

Legend: G = goalkeeper; D = defender; C = center; LW = left winger; RW = right winger

#	player	Nat.	Item	Previous NHL team	additional conditions
01.	Calvin Pickard		G	Colorado Avalanche
02.	Luca Sbisa		D.	Vancouver Canucks
03.	Teemu Pulkkinen		LW	Arizona Coyotes
04th	Jon Merrill		D.	New Jersey Devils
05.	William Carrier		LW	Buffalo Sabers	Vegas also received six- round voting rights for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft for the election of William Carrier .
06th	Cody Eakin		C.	Dallas Stars
07th	Tomáš Nosek		LW	Detroit Red Wings
08th.	Jonathan Marchessault		C.	Florida panthers	Vegas also received Reilly Smith from the Panthers with the election of Jonathan Marchessault and in return sent a four-round right to vote in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft to Florida.
09.	Brayden McNabb		D.	Los Angeles Kings
10.	Connor Brickley		C.	Carolina Hurricanes	Vegas also received five-round voting rights for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft for the election of Connor Brickley .
11.	Chris Thorburn		RW	Winnipeg Jets	Vegas swapped their recently acquired first-round voting rights (originally Columbus; position 24) with the first-round voting rights of the Jets (position 13) for the election of Chris Thorburn and thus rose eleven ranks in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft . In addition, the Golden Knights received a third-round vote in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft from the Jets.
12.	Pierre-Édouard Bellemare		RW	Philadelphia Flyers
13.	Jason Garrison		D.	Tampa Bay Lightning	Vegas also received the rights to Nikita Gussew for the election of Jason Garrison , a second-round vote for the NHL Entry Draft 2017 and a four-round vote for the NHL Entry Draft 2018 .
14th	Jean-François Bérubé		G	New York Islanders	For the election of Jean-François Bérubé, Vegas also received Jake Bischoff , a first-round vote for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round vote for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft . In return, the Golden Knights took over the contract from Michail Hrabouski , who will most likely not play a game due to an injury.
15th	James Neal		LW	Nashville Predators
16.	Deryk Engelland		D.	Calgary Flames
17th	Brendan Leipsic		LW	Toronto Maple Leafs
18th	Colin Miller		D.	Boston Bruins
19th	Marc Methot		D.	Ottawa Senators
20th	David Schlemko		D.	San Jose Sharks
21st	David Perron		LW	St. Louis Blues
22nd	Oscar Lindberg		C.	New York Rangers
23.	Griffin Reinhart		D.	Edmonton Oilers
24.	Alexei Jemelin		D.	Canadiens de Montréal
25th	Clayton Stoner		D.	Anaheim Ducks	Vegas also received Shea Theodore for the choice of Clayton Stoner .
26th	Erik Haula		C.	Minnesota Wild	Vegas also received Alex Tuch for the election of Erik Haula and sent a third-round vote for the 2017 or 2018 NHL Entry Draft to Minnesota.
27.	William Karlsson		C.	Columbus Blue Jackets	Vegas also received a first-round vote for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round vote for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft for the election of William Karlsson . In return, the Golden Knights took over the contract from David Clarkson , who will most likely not play a game due to an injury.
28.	Trevor van Riemsdyk		D.	Chicago Blackhawks
29	Marc-André Fleury		G	Pittsburgh Penguins	Vegas also received second-round voting rights for the 2020 NHL Entry Draft for the election of Marc-André Fleury .
30th	Nate Schmidt		D.	Washington Capitals

Post Expansion Draft Activities

Transfers

After the draft, the Vegas Golden Knights made the following transfers with the players received in the Expansion Draft:

• Trevor van Riemsdyk was given to the Carolina Hurricanes on June 22, 2017 together with a seven-round vote in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for a second-round vote in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft .
• David Schlemko was handed over to the Canadiens de Montréal on June 22, 2017 in exchange for a five-round vote in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft .
• Marc Methot was given to the Dallas Stars on June 26, 2017 in exchange for goalkeeper Dylan Ferguson and a second-round vote in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft .
• Alexei Jemelin was given to the Nashville Predators on July 1, 2017 in exchange for a third-round vote in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft .

Free Agency

The following players became so-called free agents when their contract expired on June 30, 2017 and left the team:

• Jean-François Bérubé signed a two-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on July 1, 2017 .
• Connor Brickley signed a one-year contract with the Florida Panthers on July 1, 2017 .
• Chris Thorburn signed a two-year contract with the St. Louis Blues on July 1, 2017 .

Web links

• Rules for 2017 Expansion Draft. Las Vegas to select 30 players, one from each franchise. National Hockey League , accessed June 23, 2016 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Frank Seravalli: NHL presents potential expansion draft plans. The Sports Network , March 16, 2016, accessed June 23, 2016 . 
2. ↑ Golden Knights' William Carrier: Heading to Sin City. cbssports.com, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Golden Knights acquire forward Reilly Smith from Panthers for 2018 pick. sportsnet.ca, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
4. ↑ Terrell Williams: Vegas Selects Brickley in Expansion Draft. nhl.com, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
5. ^ Jets swap first-round picks with Golden Knights. tsn.ca, June 21, 2017, accessed on June 22, 2017 (English). 
6. ↑ Golden Knights' Jason Garrison: Moving to Vegas in expansion draft. cbssports.com, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
7. ↑ Mike Johnston: Islanders trade Grabovski, Bischoff, pair of picks to Golden Knights. sportsnet.ca, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
8. ^ Ducks Trade Theodore to Vegas Golden Knights. nhl.com, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
9. ↑ Michael Russo: Wild's Erik Haula, Alex Tuch bound for Vegas by day's end. startribune.com, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
10. ^ Columbus sends Clarkson, first rounder to Vegas. tsn.ca, June 21, 2017, accessed on June 22, 2017 (English). 
11. ^ Jason Mackey: Vegas selects Marc-Andre Fleury in NHL expansion draft. post-gazette.com, June 21, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 (English). 
12. ^ Emily Sadler: Golden Knights trade Trevor van Riemsdyk to Hurricanes. sportsnet.ca, June 22, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
13. ^ Pat Hickey: Trade alert: Canadiens acquire David Schlemko from Vegas Golden Knights. montrealgazette.com, June 22, 2017, accessed June 22, 2017 . 
14. ↑ Stars acquire defender Marc Methot from Golden Knights. sportsnet.ca, June 26, 2017, accessed June 27, 2017 . 
15. ↑ Emily Sadler: Golden Knights trade Alexei Emelin to Predators. sportsnet.ca, July 1, 2017, accessed July 2, 2017 . 
16. ↑ Dave Melton: Blackhawks sign goaltender Jean Francois Berube. econdcityhockey.com, July 1, 2017, accessed July 2, 2017 . 
17. ^ Florida Panthers Agree to Terms with Five Players. Cats ink three forwards, one defenseman and one goaltender. nhl.com, July 1, 2017, accessed July 2, 2017 . 
18. ↑ Jeremy Robertson: Blues sign Thorburn to replace Reaves. stltoday.com, July 1, 2017, accessed July 1, 2017 .