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Vegas Golden Knights: Expansion Draft Chicago Blackhawks

By Michael Joubran

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Trevor Van Riemsdyk is selected by the Las Vegas Golden Knights during the 2017 NHL Awards and Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Trevor Van Riemsdyk is selected by the Las Vegas Golden Knights during the 2017 NHL Awards and Expansion Draft at T-Mobile Arena on June 21, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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The Vegas Golden Knights are the newest NHL team. Over the next month I will take a look at why they took who they did from each NHL franchise.

The Vegas Golden Knights are the 31st NHL franchise. As an expansion team they were allowed to take one player (who was eligible to be drafted) from the other 30 NHL teams. Each team was able to protect either seven forwards, three defenceman and one goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender. The full rules can be found here. The seventh team we are going to look at is the Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago had a couple of good options for the Knights to choose from. Some of those players are Ville Pokka and Dennis Rasmussen. Pokka is a 23-year-old, right-handed defenceman with no NHL experience. He could have added to Vegas’ defensive core and played on the bottom pairing until he had more experience. Rasmussen is a bit older, at 27 years old. He is a bottom six player, who plays a more defensive game. As a center, he could have added to Vegas’ fourth line and play on the PK if needed.

The Knights ended up deciding that Trevor van Riemdsyk was the best option for them and I have to agree to an extent. While van Riemsdyk is capable of playing top four minutes and could have been a key piece to Vegas’ backend, the Knights decided to trade him.

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On June 22nd, a day after the expansion draft, Vegas traded TVR and an eighth round pick in the 2018 draft to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2017 second round pick (Jake Leschyshyn). I do not believe that this way a good move, I think that Vegas would have been better off keeping TVR instead of trading him.

What Other Options Did They Have?

As I stated above, the Knights chose TVR. Two other options were Pokka and Rasmussen, but TVR was the better choice because of his experience. Couple of other options could have been Michael Latta and Viktor Svedberg.

Latta is an AHL player who can play on the fourth line if needed. He plays a very aggressive game, which could hurt his team if he draws a bad penalty. Latta has NHL experience but TVR was the better choice.

Svedberg is like Latta, he is an AHL player who could be called upon if a spot opens up. He could play on the bottom pair and has a defence first mentality, meaning that he could play on the PK.

Overview

Vegas had a couple of good options, from the Hawks, to choose from. Rasmussen is a fourth line center who can play on the PK if needed. Two other options were Latta and Svedberg but, they are not as good as TVR. The only player that could have been a good choice, besides TVR, is Pokka. He is still young and could have been a core piece to Vegas’ backend.

Next: Vegas' Possible Line Combinations Part 4

TVR was a great choice but trading him was not a smart move. Vegas does not have many right handed defenceman and TVR is in the prime of his career. The best choice, for Vegas, would have been to keep him.

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