Las Vegas will soon find out who will wear those Golden Knight uniforms

By Jesse Granger

Sunday, June 11, 2017 | 2 a.m.

A whirlwind of signings, trades and draft picks will determine the early fate of the Vegas Golden Knights next week.

On the morning of June 18, Las Vegas’ first major professional sports franchise will find out which players the NHL’s other 30 teams have decided to protect in the expansion draft. That will leave the Golden Knights with hundreds of players to choose from — they must select one from each team — at the same time they become eligible to negotiate and sign free agents on the open market.

Then, after the results of the expansion draft are revealed June 21 at T-Mobile Arena, the team is off to Chicago for the entry draft on June 23-24.

It all may sound overwhelming, but general manager George McPhee and his staff have prepared exhaustively for this stretch over the past nine months.

“Everything from day one has gone far better than we expected, and we expected it to go well,” McPhee said.

Almost as soon as McPhee assembled his full front office and scouting staffs last fall, the group began conducting mock drafts. McPhee assigned a different NHL team to each scout, who would project which players the franchise would protect. The staff would then construct the best team possible with the available players.

The front office staged at least six mock drafts, and the results changed drastically over time.

“Our staff knows the players better than they did back in September, so they make changes to certain positions,” McPhee said. “Our predictions for who teams will protect has changed because of players performing better or worse, as well as managers indicating to us which way they want to go.”

Teams are given two options for the players they can protect in the expansion draft: They can either protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie, or eight total skaters and one goalie.

The Golden Knights must come out of the draft with at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies.

But it’s not as simple as selecting the best player available from each team. McPhee will make deals with other general managers, agreeing not to select certain players in exchange for entry draft picks and prospects.

McPhee wants to build a team that can contend in three or four years, and the best way to do that is by getting talented young players and developing them correctly.

Some of the players taken in the expansion draft won’t be on the Golden Knights’ roster in a year’s time, or even when the season begins in October. It’s safer to assume those taken in the seven rounds of the entry draft will stick in the organization longer.

The Golden Knights start with the sixth overall pick and the third pick in rounds 2-7, but likely will have additional selections after McPhee completes his dealing. His staff has traveled the globe to grade international prospects just as aggressively they’ve scouted the NHL.

They believe they’re as ready as possible for a week that will shape the franchise.

A TIMELINE OF THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS’ FORMATION

• June 23, 2016: NHL’s board of governors award owner Bill Foley an expansion franchise in Las Vegas.

• July 13, 2016: Foley introduces George McPhee as general manager.

• August 2016: McPhee fills out scouting and player personnel staffs.

• Oct. 8, 2016: Team conducts its first expansion mock draft.

• November 2016 through March 2017: Scouts attend games of all NHL teams and conduct three more mock drafts.

• March 2, 2017: Golden Knights make final payment of $500 million expansion fee, officially join league and are allowed to make transactions.

• March 6, 2017: Canadian major junior hockey player Reid Duke signed as first player in franchise history.

• April 13, 2017: Gerard Gallant hired as head coach.

• May 4, 2017: Russian professional star Vadim Shipachyov signed to contract.

• May 8, 2017: Front office holds final mock expansion draft.

• May 16, 2017: Team announces Chicago Wolves as American Hockey League minor-league affiliate.

• May 29-June 3, 2017: McPhee and staff attend NHL Combine in Buffalo, N.Y.

• June 1, 2017: Team announces Quad City (Moline, Ill.) Mallards as ECHL minor-league affiliate.

• June 18, 2017: Golden Knights receive protected list from the other 30 NHL teams to start expansion draft.

• June 21, 2017: Golden Knights reveal expansion draft selections at NHL Awards at T-Mobile Arena.

• June 23, 2017: NHL entry draft begins in Chicago.