This year’s expansion process is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Prior expansion teams were selected without worrying about a salary cap. They didn’t have Cap Friendly to run through hundreds of mock scenarios. They didn’t have Twitter from which they could gather feedback and opinions. They also didn’t have 30 teams from which to choose players from (the last expansion teams, Minnesota and Columbus, had 28 from which to choose from…and honestly I can’t remember nor could dig up if they were allowed to choose an Atlanta player at that time or not). Furthermore, Vegas GM George McPhee could draw upon what he witnessed through the last round of NHL expansion. He knew his options – and he knew how desperate other teams would get. And between that and the ease of access in today’s technology-based world, he had a pile of deals lined up before even making his selections.

Many will say that McPhee did a fantastic job optimizing his situation to not only draft a good team, but also to stockpile some good draft picks. I say it’s debatable. If you were one of millions of people who did a mock expansion draft on Cap Friendly, then you probably think your team was better. I know mine was. Of course, mine included six goaltenders and 10 defensemen. My plan would have been to take whoever I damn well wanted and then trade them back to the team if they want them so badly. My plan was to trade the best trade assets. With six goaltenders, I’d hold the hammer. At last count, the Golden Knights acquired 10 draft picks over the next four years – seven of them in the first three rounds. Could they have landed those from trading Philippe Grubauer, Petr Mrazek and Antti Raanta, plus a couple of defensemen?

And on the other side of the coin – what are the other GMs thinking? Most of them were in full panic mode. Don’t take this guy (!), don’t take that guy (!). I witnessed it a couple of times in my fantasy league when we expanded. GMs scrambled, making bad trades, just so that the new team would be stuck taking a “bad” player. Meanwhile, the bad trades made the team far worse. So if Anaheim let Vegas take Sami Vatanen, would they be worse off? They would get to keep Shea Theodore, who frankly looks like he could be even better than Vatanen and is most certainly cheaper. And Vatanen is showing signs of being a Band-Aid Boy. Or if the lost Josh Manson? Again – they keep Theodore. I wouldn’t have given Vegas Jack, nor Squat.

Anyway, I could go on and on about that. But I won’t.

This year’s drafted team is going to go through quite a few changes before the puck drops, but I’ll take what is there now and break down what I can.

Forwards

Marchessault – Shipachyov – Neal

Pulkkinen/Leipsic – Haula – Tuch

Perron – Eakin – Smith

Carrier – Karlsson – Lindberg

Bellemare – Thorburn

Trades are going to happen, so may as well throw all this out the window. Actually…bah let’s have fun with it anyway. The following is based on the roster “as is”. I guess we can use this as a baseline and tweak as each trade gets consummated. Assume that zero players reach 60 points, but a few may get 50 or even 55. But 60 will be a reach, if our experience with expansion and NHL goal scoring in general gives any indication.

Vadim Shipachyov (Free Agent) – Shipachyov’s cap hit ($9 million over two years) will see to it that he gets first-line minutes and top PP time. I expect him to top the 50-point mark, but not much higher.

Teemu Pulkkinen (Coyotes) –There will be a scoring-line roster spot available for a bubble player. And I think this will be between Pulkkinen and Leipsic. I give the battle 60-40 to Leipsic. So Pulkkinen’s odds of making the roster are less than even and his odds of helping a fantasy team this year are decidedly lower. If he does win, however, there is some potential here depending on linemates.

William Carrier (Sabres) – A power forward with a bit of upside, but more for the longer-term. He’s only 22 so I would expect several 30-point or 40-point seasons to happen before reaching his upside (mid-50s).

Cody Eakin (Stars) – A versatile and important forward, Eakin can play any forward position and he can play on any forward line. Prior to last year, which was hampered recovering from injury, Eakin was a lock for the low 40s for points. I expect him to get back there.

Tomas Nosek (Red Wings) – Nosek is still only 24 (25 in the fall) and is very close to NHL-ready. His future is likely on the third line but he will require a trade or an injury to the current roster to have any kind of meaningful impact. Still, the Knights passed on Petr Mrazek to take him so they must see something. If Tuch isn’t ready then perhaps Nosek sneaks into the lineup. More on Nosek here.

Jonathan Marchessault (Panthers) – My early pick for the top scorer on Vegas this year. This is the perfect team for Marchessault – even better than if he stayed with Florida. While another 30 goals is pushing it, he could certainly get up in that 55- to 57-point range. He’ll get the best linemates and highest quality ice time.

Reilly Smith (Panthers) – I felt that Smith had declined in his second year with Boston and I got the impression that he overachieved and was overrated before that. I got the feeling that Boston dumped him on Florida. But then he had a great year in Florida so I questioned my own judgment – though I still thought his five-year contract extension was crazy. However, last season he slipped again and I got that “I told you so” feeling. Florida just paid Vegas to take Smith’s contract. On one hand I’m utterly convinced that he is a fringe player on most teams. On the other hand…this is an expansion team and they’ll need him. When a bubble player is needed, they tend to flourish. So look for Smith to flirt with 50 points. But in Season 2 I fully expect another bad year. Call it the Vinny Prospal Syndrome.

Connor Brickley (Hurricanes) – In my opinion this is a depth addition to help the farm system. The Knights needed to take Eddie Lack here and then trade him for four Connor Brickleys. A post-expansion trade Thursday involving Trevor van Riemsdyk to the Hurricanes helps explain this one a little.

Chris Thorburn (Jets) – A solid fourth liner and the Knights were paid to not take Toby Enstrom.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (Flyers) – Another solid fourth liner as the Knights fill out their role players. I would have taken Matt Read, if only to bring in his work ethic and off-ice health and workout regimen. But Bellemare saves cap space too.

Nikita Gusev (Lightning) – This is a great flier to take because Gusev has tremendous upside and may come over thanks to Shipachyov. If he comes over it will be Gusev who bumps up Shipachyov’s points and not the other way around. Put a big asterisk beside Gusev’s name this summer. More on Gusev here.

James Neal (Predators) – On a great team, Neal was pretty much down to a 70-game and 45-point player. On Vegas it will be more of the same. Without a great setup man and without health that takes him beyond 70 games (it does happen, though), Neal will find it difficult to get more than 42 or 43 points in 2017-18. But he won’t get much less than that, either.

Mikhail Grabovski (Islanders) – Grabovski missed last season with concussion issues and there is little reason to believe he won’t miss this year too. Vegas took on his cap hit.

Brendan Leipsic (Maple Leafs) – As noted above with Pulkkinen, there is an opportunity here. But only for one of them. I can see the hard-working and industrious Leipsic surprising in the year ahead and topping 40 points. More on Leipsic here.

David Perron (Blues) – Perron struggled the last three years to get back to his 50-point ways. Last year saw a bit of a rebound for him and he did it without seeing any time with Vladimir Tarasenko. In fact, just two of his 46 points last year came with Tarasenko on the ice. So he should be a safe bet for 40- to 45 points.

Oscar Lindberg (Rangers) – Lindberg has a bit of scoring-line upside, but the Knights have several players already slotted for that role, plus a couple of one-dimensional players who can only play that role. Meanwhile, Lindberg has shown the ability to play on a checking line, so that’s what he’ll do. I’d pencil him in to reach 30 points.

Erik Haula (Wild) – Haula has shown in the past that he can post great numbers over two or three months. But he’s also shown a tendency to get injured. He’ll get a chance to put points on the board, but if he falters early or gets injured, he could be a 20-point player. If healthy and with a bit of luck, Haula could flirt with 50. His sizable three-year contract ($2.75 million per) will see him get a longer leash.

Alex Tuch (Wild) – I had imagined a Legion of Doom line in Minnesota that saw Haula centering big giants Tuch and Jordan Greenway. And now both Haula and Tuch are with Vegas. Tuch is ready to make the jump, though nothing is in stone. And I expect his offensive ascension to be rather slow. Temper expectations to 30 points this year. Read more on Tuch here.

William Karlsson (Blue Jackets) – Just like Lindberg and to a lesser extent Nosek, Karlsson can hold his own on a checking line and maybe under perfect circumstances has second-line upside. This means he could get 25 or 30 points, with a Hail Mary shot at 40-plus with the right linemates and a great early start. But really, you know what you’re getting here.

David Clarkson (Blue Jackets) – Another salary-cap addition.

Back with a look at D and goaltending later today…