Vegas Golden Knights will be impacted by new-look 2020 NHL Entry Draft

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Jake Sanderson of the U.S. Nationals follows the play against the Slovakia Nationals during game two of day one of the 2018 Under-17 Four Nations Tournament game at USA Hockey Arena on December 11, 2018 in Plymouth, Michigan. /

Vegas and the 2020 Draft

The Vegas Golden Knights have accumulated a rich pool of talent despite the fact that they are a third-year expansion team.

What makes their current pipeline even more impressive is the fact that they have mortgaged a lot of their future in order to win now, sending high-end prospects Nick Suzuki and Erik Brannstrom to the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators respectively as part of the blockbuster trades that brought Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone to Sin City.

Of course, after going big-game hunting for a couple of years in the pursuit of the Stanley Cup, coupled with their now yearly battle with the salary cap, the 2020 NHL Entry Draft was going to be an important one.

Now, in a post-coronavirus world, it has taken on even more significance.

Because, with the salary cap for 2020-21 set to be frozen at $81.5 million, the Golden Knights won’t have much cap space in order to fill certain holes on the roster.

As a result, they will need to lean more and more on their farm system in the coming years with the majority of their cap locked up in a core that has been built to win now.

With depth a huge problem this year, the Golden Knights now have the opportunity to add some impact players while addressing their long-term future at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

These are the picks the Golden Knights will have at their disposal barring any trades between now and then or on the night:

2020 First Round Pick x1
2020 Third Round Pick x2
2020 Six Round Pick x1
2020 Seven Round Pick x1

Peyton Krebs reacts after being selected seventeenth overall by the Vegas Golden Knights during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. /

Now, according to Vegas Golden Knights Prospects expert Jack Manning, the Knights are projected to pick somewhere between 21st and 31st in the First Round.

Given how the Draft works, there is every chance that the Golden Knights could unearth an unpolished gem late in the First Round who could be on the cusp of making a potential impact.

For the Golden Knights, who boast some high-end offensive talent in Peyton Krebs, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Morozov, along with Cody Glass and Lucas Elvenes, the temptation could be to add a high-end defenseman in the First Round.

Jake Sanderson, who is currently attracting a lot of Draft buzz, is projected to go with the 22nd overall pick in the latest rankings by HockeyProspect.com.

Sanderson is a 6’1″ 185 lbs left-shot blueliner who boasts elite skating ability and high-end puck-handling skills, while the Golden Knights could also look to take their goalie of the future by drafting highly-rated Russian goalie Artur Akhtyamov who has a 1.80 Goals Against Average and a .931 Save Percentage in 46 games in the MHL with Irbis Kazan this year.

Although it is worth keeping in mind that Sanderson is turning a lot of heads and could easily end up going inside the top 10.

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