Vegas Golden Knights name Kelly McCrimmon GM

Big news came out of Sin City on Thursday after it was announced that the Vegas Golden Knights had named Kelly McCrimmon as their new General Manager.

McCrimmon’s new gig with the Vegas Golden Knights will commence on September 1, 2019, a month before the 2019-20 regular season gets underway.

McCrimmon will be tasked with representing the Golden Knights at the NHL’s General Managers Meetings, in addition to being the main point of contact for the other GM’s in the league.

George McPhee, meanwhile, will continue to oversee all hockey operations decisions and oversee Vegas’ hockey operations team as the franchise’s President of Hockey Operations.

This move keeps the Vegas brain trust together with McCrimmon, who previously served as McPhee’s Assistant General Manager, being courted by other organisations including the Edmonton Oilers.

It is a shrewd move by Vegas Golden Knights Chairman and CEO Bill Foley, who has now ensured that the band stays together and there should be minimal disruption to the front office, if any at all.

“This is a very exciting announcement for our club and Vegas Golden Knights fans around the world,” said Foley when speaking to www.nhl.com/goldenknights. “George and Kelly are a fantastic team.“From the mock draft exercises and preparation leading up to the Expansion Draft, building out our coaching staff, and continually improving our team through the draft, trades, signings and free agency, the work they have done over the last three years has been remarkable.“Together they have constructed a championship-caliber team in a very short time. This personnel move ensures that our hockey operations group stays intact and positions our organization for long term success.”

McCrimmon has served as McPhee’s number two since August 2016 and the pair have worked closely together on a string of key decisions that have helped shape this franchise.

That in itself should fill Golden Knights fans with confidence knowing that the new General Manager is someone who knows the organization inside out and has an in-depth knowledge of this team from the ground floor up.

Put simply, this is a two-headed monster that has worked in perfect harmony from day one and will continue to do so even with a change in job titles.

It was a move that had to be made in order to keep the influential McCrimmon in the building and you have to give McPhee a lot of praise for recognising the very real danger of losing his top lieutenant and then showing the initiative and creativity to prevent that from happening whilst keeping the franchise firmly on its current path.

As already mentioned, it seems likely that things will largely operate in the same manner and McPhee will continue to work under the General Manager title until September.

This team is on course to win at least one Stanley Cup and the blossoming relationship between McPhee and McCrimmon will have a lot to do with it should that dream one day become reality.

The pair work together in perfect harmony and they have some important decisions looming in regards to free agents and the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, in which they will enter with a boatload of picks.

McCrimmon has an interesting hockey background having represented the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings for decades prior to his move to Vegas.

From 1988-89 onwards he served as Owner, Governor, General Manager and Head Coach of the organisation, helping the franchise to five Memorial Cup appearances in total.

McCrimmon, who also served as team captain for the University of Michigan in his senior year, led the Wheat Kings as Head Coach from 2004-11 and 2013-16 and under his guidance the team captured 10 Eastern Division pennants and six Eastern Conference Championships.

He was crowned WHL Executive of the Year in 1994-95, 2009-10 and 2014-15, in addition to being awarded the Canadian Hockey League Executive of the Year award in 2009-10.

Furthermore, McCrimmon is also the Wheat Kings all-time winningest coach having won over 400 games.

McCrimmon has a wealth of hockey experience under his belt and he worked closely with McPhee to help forge the current Vegas Golden Knights roster having been an instrumental figure in the team’s scouting and player evaluation leading up to and during the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, as well as the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

“Working with the Golden Knights has been an incredibly rewarding experience and I am very grateful for this new opportunity,” said McCrimmon to www.nhl.com/goldenknights.“I would like to thank Bill, George and the entire Golden Knights organization for their support and commitment. We are proud of the foundation we have built and are excited for the future.”

“Kelly has been a tremendous addition to our hockey operations group and the entire Vegas Golden Knights organization as a whole,” added Vegas Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations, George McPhee when speaking to the official Golden Knights website.“His character, leadership, hockey acumen and player evaluation at both the pro and amateur levels is exceptional. We are confident Kelly will thrive in this new role. We will continue to build a team and a franchise that our fans are proud to support.”

And the hard work continues for McPhee and McCrimmon with a big summer and a number of key decisions awaiting the duo.