Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Why Golden Knights’ expansion-draft pick Deryk Engelland will pay dividends

Former Wranglers player thrilled to join adopted hometown team

Knights Draft Night

L.E. Baskow

Deryk Engelland of Calgary is announced as a Golden Knights expansion pick during the NHL Awards show at T-Mobile Arena, Wednesday, June 21, 2017.

Golden Knights Expansion Draft

Connor Brickley of Carolina is announced as a Golden Knights expansion pick, one off of every NHL roster during the NHL Awards show on at the T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday, June 21, 2017. Launch slideshow »

The players acquired by the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the expansion draft Wednesday night were immediately thrust into a balancing act.

They had to weigh the excitement of joining a new team that valued them against the shock of a significant life change that includes uprooting to continue their careers. It was easy to see the internal tug of war in three of the four Golden Knights on hand at T-Mobile Arena for the NHL Awards and expansion draft announcement.

Defensemen Brayden McNabb, formerly of the Los Angeles Kings, and Jason Garrison, from the Tampa Bay Lightning, looked forward to future possibilities only slightly more than they reflected on leaving their old teams. Even goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, between endless smiles and gratitude for his hero’s welcome, teetered a tad when he talked about how much he’d miss the teammates he’d won three Stanley Cups alongside in Pittsburgh.

The only new Golden Knight who toed the tightrope with unwavering positivity was Deryk Engelland, a 35-year-old defenseman among the most experienced players Vegas selected. Engelland, who’s played for the Calgary Flames the last three years, has lived in Las Vegas during the offseason for more than a decade, settling locally after playing for ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers twice from 2003 to 2005.

“For my family, our roots are here and it’s been in the back of your mind since they announced the team,” Engelland said. “For it to actually happen is pretty surreal.”

The Golden Knights used their Flames’ pick — they were required to select one player off each existing team — on Engelland despite him being a free agent, a fact that he said flattered him and made him feel wanted. Engelland reportedly agreed to a one-year, $1 million deal.

He was seventh in average ice time among Flames’ defensemen last season, and only averaged 13 points per season in three years in Calgary. In other words, he’s not going to be a superstar or one of the team’s best players.

But he could emerge every bit as essential in helping the Golden Knights connect with the community, a necessity for expansion franchises especially considering they traditionally struggle early. No player on the roster is more invested in Las Vegas than Engelland.

“You defend Vegas if you live here for everything,” Engelland said. “Everyone is like, ‘Oh, you live in Vegas? Other than the Strip, what is there to do?’ But there’s a city and it’s a great place to raise kids and have a family. It’s the same thing for the hockey team. People will come here more often now and find that out.”

Engelland remembered being mesmerized by the lights when he arrived in Las Vegas as a 21-year-old after growing up in Chetwynd, British Columbia, a town with a population of less than 3,000. He met his wife, Melissa, locally and decided to take up residence in the valley even as minor-league hockey took him to outposts such as Hershey, Pa., and North Charleston, S.C.

“We liked a lot of things about this city,” Engelland said. “It’s a good place to call home.”

It wasn’t until the 2009-10 season that Engelland broke into the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he logged five years. He narrowly missed the franchise’s Stanley Cup triumphs in 2008-09 and 2015-16, but played alongside most of the players who keyed the victories.

That includes two current Golden Knights teammates in Fleury and James Neal, a winger Vegas poached from Nashville.

“That guy can score from anywhere,” Engelland said of Neal. “He’s a great guy to have around. I look forward to seeing him.”

Engelland described Fleury as “amazing, top-notch in every aspect ... a great teammate, fun to be around.” Assuming Vegas keeps Neal and Fleury — some rumors link both in trades, though that feels like a particular long shot pertaining to the latter — the former Penguins’ trio may emerge as mentors to an overall younger roster.

“For the younger guys that maybe don’t communicate as well, I’ll help them out by communicating for them and making things easier for them,” Engelland said. “I’ll do whatever I can to help get that chemistry there as soon as possible.”

Building a young team interlaced with select veterans to assist in guidance was part of the vision Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and General Manager George McPhee described from the beginning of the expansion process. Engelland fit in perfectly with the culture they sought to instill.

“I started here because of the Wranglers, so not the NHL, but back then, I wouldn’t have thought they’d get an NHL team,” Engelland said. “I’m happy to be here, put the jersey on and be a part of this organization. It’s quite the honor."

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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