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Vegas Golden Knights: Expansion Draft Tampa Bay Lightning

By Michael Joubran |
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Jason Garrison speaks onstage during the Vegas Golden Knights Round Table Rally after the 2017 NHL Awards
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 21: Jason Garrison speaks onstage during the Vegas Golden Knights Round Table Rally after the 2017 NHL Awards

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 26th team we are going to look at is the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Despite missing the playoffs by one point, the Lightning have one of the deepest teams in the NHL. That was great news for Vegas because they had a couple of really good options to choose from. The Knights could have went with Cedric Paquette or Jake Dotchin.

Paquette is a bottom six forward who showed he can play in a top six role last season. After the injuries to Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson, Paquette had to move up in the lineup. He is a good skater and has a strong defensive game. Also, he can play on the penalty kill while adding depth to the bottom six core. He would have been a good pick for Vegas.

Dotchin played in 35 games last season, producing 11 points in that time. He has shown over that time span that he can play in the NHL and in a top four role. As a 23-year-old, right-handed defenceman, he holds a lot of value. I was surprised when Vegas decided not to take him.

The Knights decided to draft Jason Garrison, which I initially was not a big fan of. I say initially because I was not aware of the trade that came with it. For drafting Garrison, VGK received Nikita Gusev, a second round pick in 2017 – which they traded for Keegan Kolesar – and a fourth round pick in 2018. While I am not totally against the move, I do not believe this was the best choice for Vegas. Gusev does not look like he will be coming to North America and Kolesar looks like he will become a bottom six player at most. The fourth round pick could turn into somebody valuable, though most likely not. In my opinion, Dotchin was the best option available.

What Other Options Did They Have?

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The Golden Knights could have gone with Paquette or Dotchin, but they decided to take Garrison and some minor assets. Other options they could have went with are Andrej Sustr and J.T. Brown.

Sustr does not produce much offensively, but his defensive game makes up for the lack of offence. The 6’7 defenceman has great penalty killing abilities, adding value to his game. His height causes him to be a slow skater, but his reach makes it hard to get around him. While he would have been a solid option, Garrison and the trade is more valuable.

Brown is a bottom six forward, who is a very strong skater. He is a very good penalty killer, with his speed he is able to clear the puck out of the defensively zone effectively. His speed also leads to him getting multiple breakaways a season. If he can improve on his deking, those breakaways could turn into goals, helping his team win. Considering he scored only three goals in 64 games last season, those chances could improve that number to 15+.

Overview

The Golden Knights decided to draft Garrison, causing them to receive a trade as well. Despite the trade, I believe Vegas would have been better off choosing Dotchin. While he does not have much NHL experience, he has shown what he is capable of. Plus, with him being 23 years old, he fits in with Vegas long-term plans.

Next: Expansion Draft St. Louis Blues (25/30)

Overall, while the choice they made is good, drafting Dotchin could have been better for the future of their team.

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