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Las Vegas Hockey: Expansion Draft and Lockout Politics

By Richard Evans

LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 13: George McPhee speaks after being introduced as the general manager of the Las Vegas NHL franchise during a news conference at T-Mobile Arena on July 13, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JULY 13: George McPhee speaks after being introduced as the general manager of the Las Vegas NHL franchise during a news conference at T-Mobile Arena on July 13, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Bill Foley’s NAMELESS Las Vegas Hockey Franchise still has the new

car

arena smell. It is months away from even signing its first player. Still Foley and General Manager George McPhee need to keep an eye on the future. After the 2017 Expansion Draft, it won’t be long before the NFL Players Association and the teams may be squaring off on another CBA lockout.

TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 21: Jacob Gauthier poses for a photo before the NHL game between the Toronto MapleLeafs and the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Centreon January 21. 2012. This is the the home opener forthe leafs during the shortened NHL season due to thelockout.Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star (Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 21: Jacob Gauthier poses for a photo before the NHL game between the Toronto MapleLeafs and the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Centreon January 21. 2012. This is the the home opener forthe leafs during the shortened NHL season due to thelockout.Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star (Carlos Osorio/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /

I’ve noted in prior articles that McPhee is operating under a tasking to start a team under conditions never before seen in the NHL. A lot of the rules for the Expansion Draft seem like raging opportunities for Las Vegas Hockey. Including:

  1. Las Vegas does not have to compete with other expansion franchises for players.
  2. The existing franchises can protect fewer players then past expansion drafts
  3. Some of the Expansion Draft rules (such as franchises are required to protect players with no trade clauses) increase the likelihood that some high level players will be left unprotected.
  4. Las Vegas hockey will start with loads of cap room, and will likely have loads of deals offered to them from cap constricted teams.

There are also some important elements that will make McPhee’s job tougher during the Expansion Draft, including:

  1. The Las Vegas Hockey franchise must draft enough salaried players so that their roster at the end of the Expansion Draft is 60% of the 2016-2017 cap limit. This is many times higher than any previous expansion team has ever had to spend in salaries their first year. This is not even counting additional wages the team will take on from the 2017 Entry Draft as well as players brought in through free agency.
  2. Las Vegas Hockey cannot buy out the contracts of players for the entire first season of existence.
  3. The CBA that controls players contracts for the Las Vegas Hockey franchise will probably be opted out after the second season, with a lockout almost certainly hitting before Las Vegas’ second season.

And that third one could be cruel. A lot of people, myself included, think that the rules making up this expansion means that Las Vegas Hockey has a chance to compete for a playoff spot in their very first year. A second draft, a few trades and a wise free agency could mean the team could build some important momentum going forward. But more likely a lockout happens and crushes any positive momentum in its tracks.

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The history of labor relations between the NHL and the NHLPA is pretty abysmal. Basically the two sides can’t seem talk to each other without a strike or a lockout. Labor disputes ended in lost games in 1994-1995,  2004-2005 and the last one in 2012-2013. The last one was particularly bitter, losing four months of the season.

So now reports are circulating that NFLPA reps, and in some cases player agents, are advising players to save their money in preparation for a potential lockout. Las Vegas may get their hockey franchise up and running, fans finally ending their wait for professional sports to take off, only to see owner-player squabbles spoil it all.

For McPhee, it complicates an already over-complicated task to building his team. The Las Vegas Hockey GM needs to build a roster for the first season. Through trades and the 2017 Entry Draft he needs to stock the franchise’s minor league affiliates for building towards the future. On top of that, McPhee needs to keep enough roster flexibility to be able to adjust to the fresh realities of a lockout and a new CBA.

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