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The dust is finally settling in the desert.

After a cloud-kicking array of post-expansion draft moves, the Vegas Golden Knights are close to resembling a regular NHL roster. And they're not done yet with construction -- with Nate Schmidt's two-year arbitration award last Saturday, Vegas is carrying 10 NHL-caliber defensemen.

But with training camp just weeks away, it seems like a decent time to evaluate George McPhee's sometimes-criticized expansion efforts.

How to evaluate? I will weigh two possibilities for each team that the Golden Knights chose from: Who was each unprotected list's best "win now" pick? And who was the best "build for the future" selection? Then, I'll pass judgment on McPhee's actual course of action.

Of course, putting together a team isn't as black or white as "win now" or "build for the future." Vegas clearly tried a mixed approach. But examining McPhee's machinations against this dichotomy should illuminate his work -- for better and for worse.

This will be a four-part series: Part One will review McPhee's selections from Anaheim to Dallas, Part Two Detroit to New York, Part Three Ottawa to Winnipeg, and Part Four will summarize our findings.

Anaheim Ducks

Exposed List: Spencer Abbott, Jared Boll, Sam Carrick, Patrick Eaves, Emerson Etem, Ryan Garbutt, Max Gortz, Nicolas Kerdiles, Andre Petersson, Logan Shaw, Nick Sorensen, Nate Thompson, Corey Tropp, Chris Wagner, Nate Guenin, Korbinian Holzer, Josh Manson, Jaycob Megna, Jeff Schultz, Clayton Stoner, Sami Vatanen, Jonathan Bernier, Jhonas Enroth, Ryan Faragher, Matt Hackett, Dustin Tokarski

Best "Win Now" Pick: 26-year-old Sami Vatanen was Anaheim's third most-used defender last season and a regular in all situations. He could've played top-pairing for the Golden Knights.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: There isn't a clear choice. Vatanen is just 26, but he would probably be leaving his prime when Vegas might hope to contend. He could be a valuable trade chip.

What McPhee Did: Anaheim wanted to keep both Vatanen and Josh Manson. To induce McPhee to take Clayton Stoner, Bob Murray also gave the Golden Knights well-regarded prospect Shea Theodore. The 22-year-old defender's light has dimmed, as he was surpassed in the system by Brandon Montour, but he still looks like, at minimum, a solid top-four defender for years to come.

Verdict: McPhee took on one year of Stoner for a swing at Theodore's potential. Given how much the Ducks wished to retain Vatanen and Manson, perhaps he could've extracted more from the Ducks. Theodore, however, is far from chump change, and has the potential to exceed both Vatanen and Manson. Grade: B.

Arizona Coyotes

Exposed List: Alexander Burmistrov, Shane Doan, Tyler Gaudet, Peter Holland, Josh Jooris, Jamie McGinn, Jeremy Morin, Mitchell Moroz, Chris Mueller, Teemu Pulkkinen, Brad Richardson, Garret Ross, Branden Troock, Radim Vrbata, Joe Whitney, Kevin Connauton, Jamie McBain, Zbynek Michalek, Jarred Tinordi, Louis Domingue

Best "Win Now" Pick: Stanley Cup winner Brad Richardson has proven to be a solid bottom-six forward over the years.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: Frankly, it's slim pickings here. 25-year-old former lottery pick Alexander Burmistrov might have been worth a flier.

What McPhee Did: Instead, McPhee took a flier on 25-year-old winger Teemu Pulkkinen. Pulkkinen has averaged half a goal a game in the AHL, but his scoring prowess hasn't translated yet to the NHL.

Verdict: I would've taken Burmistrov, who is more likely to stick in the bigs, but Pulkkinen has more "home run" potential -- "home run" being relative. Pulling a 20-goal campaign out of Pulkkinen would be an accomplishment. Admittedly, both Burmistrov and Pulkkinen are longshots to fulfill the most favorable of projections. Grade: C.

Boston Bruins

Exposed List: Matt Beleskey, Brian Ferlin, Jimmy Hayes, Alex Khokhlachev, Dominic Moore, Tyler Randell, Zac Rinaldo, Tim Schaller, Drew Stafford, Linus Arnesson, Chris Casto, Tommy Cross, Alex Grant, John-Michael Liles, Adam McQuaid, Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, Anton Khudobin, Malcolm Subban

Best "Win Now" Pick: Blueliner Adam McQuaid has provided decent bottom-pairing minutes and penalty killing for years.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: Talented 23-year-old goaltender Malcolm Subban was a former first-round pick who has yet to live up to his hype. 24-year-old defender Colin Miller's game is teeming with skill but tingling with defensive chills.

What McPhee Did: McPhee went Miller.

Verdict: Considering what was available from Boston, it's hard to argue with this selection. Miller has a chance to become a top-four blueliner who can really help a power play with his cannon. Vegas might offer the playing time necessary to unlock this potential. Grade: B.

Buffalo Sabres

Exposed List: William Carrier, Nicolas Deslauriers, Brian Gionta, Derek Grant, Justin Kea, Matt Moulson, Cal O'Reilly, Cole Schneider, Brady Austin, Mathew Bodie, Zach Bogosian, Justin Falk, Taylor Fedun, Cody Franson, Josh Gorges, Dmitry Kulikov, Anders Nilsson, Linus Ullmark

Best "Win Now" Pick: Zach Bogosian is capable of second-pairing defensive responsiblities, though he's mightily overpaid with a $5.14 million cap hit.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: 23-year-old Linus Ullmark can be an NHL starter sooner than later.

What McPhee Did: To protect Ullmark and push McPhee toward forward William Carrier, the Sabres threw in a 2017 sixth-round pick.

Verdict: The 22-year-old Carrier is a speedy forward who looks more like a long-term bottom-six fixture. Ullmark has a good chance of becoming more valuable than Carrier and a sixth-rounder someday. Grade: D.

Calgary Flames

Exposed List: Brandon Bollig, Lance Bouma, Troy Brouwer, Alex Chiasson, Freddie Hamilton, Emile Poirier, Hunter Shinkaruk, Matt Stajan, Kris Versteeg, Linden Vey, Matt Bartkowski, Ryan Culkin, Deryk Engelland, Michael Kostka, Brett Kulak, Ladislav Smid, Michael Stone, Dennis Wideman, Tyler Wotherspoon, Brian Elliott, Tom McCollum

Best "Win Now" Pick: Troy Brouwer is still a useful depth forward. The 31-year-old is just a couple years removed from an 18-goal campaign, but his $4.5 million cap hit in each of the next three seasons is not the least bit appetizing.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: It's a testament to how far 2013 first-round pick Hunter Shinkaruk's star has fallen, that he was exposed. This, after being acquired for Markus Granlund in what many pundits thought was a steal for Brad Treliving. That said, Shinkaruk is still piling up points at the AHL and is just 22.

What McPhee Did: Surprisingly, McPhee opted for a UFA: Defenseman Deryk Engelland.

Verdict: Engelland was a top-choice penalty killer for the Flames. Also, he's a Las Vegas resident -- good PR for a franchise looking for a foothold in a non-traditional market. However, whatever Shinkaruk's flaws, it's hard to figure out why McPhee didn't roll the dice on the skilled winger and ink Engelland later. Nothing against Engelland, but this looks like a missed no-cost, high-reward opportunity. Grade: F.

Carolina Hurricanes

Exposed List: Bryan Bickell, Connor Brickley, Patrick Brown, Erik Karlsson, Danny Kristo, Jay McClement, Andrew Miller, Andrej Nestrasil, Joakim Nordstrom, Lee Stempniak, Brendan Woods, Klas Dahlbeck, Dennis Robertson, Philip Samuelsson, Matt Tennyson, Daniel Altshuller, Eddie Lack, Michael Leighton, Cam Ward

Best "Win Now" Pick: Lee Stempniak potted 16 goals last season and is still a viable top-nine option.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: There isn't a lot to choose from here, so I'm going to go with the 34-year-old Stempniak, who can be flipped (once again) at the Trade Deadline.

What McPhee Did: McPhee took AHL forward Connor Brickley and a 2017 fifth-round pick to keep away from Stempniak and Joakim Nordstrom, among others. Brickley has signed elsewhere.

Verdict: You can argue that Stempniak would garner more at the Deadline than a fifth, but probably not much more. McPhee took the sure bet instead of waiting. Grade: C.

Chicago Blackhawks

Exposed List: Kyle Baun, Andrew Desjardins, Marcus Kruger, Pierre-Cedric Labrie, Michael Latta, Brandon Mashinter, Dennis Rasmussen, Jordin Tootoo, Brian Campbell, Dillon Fournier, Shawn Lalonde, Johnny Oduya, Ville Pokka, Michal Rozsival, Viktor Svedberg, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Mac Carruth, Jeff Glass

Best "Win Now" Pick: Either 27-year-old pivot Marcus Kruger and 26-year-old rearguard Trevor van Riemsdyk can help a winning team. Two-time Stanley Cup winner Kruger has handled the toughest defensive starts for Chicago for a number of years -- there figure to be a lot of those for the Golden Knights in their expansion season. van Riemsdyk is a solid, versatile #4-6 defenseman.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: While van Riemsdyk is 26, there's some belief that he would flourish in a larger role. So at the very least, he could become decent trade bait quickly.

What McPhee Did: McPhee picked van Riemsdyk, but packaged the defender with a 2018 seventh-round pick to Carolina for a 2017 second-rounder. He grabbed Kruger from Chicago for nothing, giving the Blackhawks much-needed cap space, then flipped the pivot to the Hurricanes for a 2018 fifth-round pick.

Verdict: Essentially, McPhee swapped van Riemsdyk, Kruger, and a seventh to Carolina for a second and a fifth. It's a decent haul, and clearly, the market for Kruger was soft. The Hurricanes could use players of this ilk more than an expansion team. Grade: B.

Colorado Avalanche

Exposed List: Troy Bourke, Gabriel Bourque, Rene Bourque, Joe Colborne, Turner Elson, Felix Girard, Mikhail Grigorenko, Samuel Henley, John Mitchell, Jim O'Brien, Brendan Ranford, Mike Sislo, Carl Soderberg, Mark Barberio, Mat Clark, Eric Gelinas, Cody Goloubef, Duncan Siemens, Fedor Tyutin, Patrick Wiercioch, Joe Cannata, Calvin Pickard, Jeremy Smith

Best "Win Now" Pick: 27-year-old defender Mark Barberio acquitted himself as well as can be expected, playing over his head on Colorado's top pairing last year. 25-year-old netminder Calvin Pickard still has upside and is a proven back-up.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: 2012 lottery pick Mikhail Grigorenko is a top-six talent, but maximizing his potential has been a significant challenge.

What McPhee Did: McPhee chose Pickard as his back-up. Pickard was forced into starting duties last season when Seymon Varlamov got hurt.

Verdict: Pickard is used to fighting off a lot of rubber, which might make him a perfect fit for an expansion team. Grade: B.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Exposed List: Josh Anderson, Alex Broadhurst, Matt Calvert, Zac Dalpe, Sam Gagner, Brett Gallant, William Karlsson, Lauri Korpikoski, Lukas Sedlak, T.J. Tynan, Daniel Zaar, Marc-Andre Bergeron, Scott Harrington, Jack Johnson, Kyle Quincey, John Ramage, Jaime Sifers, Ryan Stanton, Oscar Dansk, Anton Forsberg, Joonas Korpisalo

Best "Win Now" Pick: Whatever the flaws in his game, 30-year-old blueliner Jack Johnson can munch a lot of minutes in all situations.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: 23-year-old winger Josh Anderson notched 17 goals last year. While Anderson doesn't project as a regular 20-goal scorer, he should at least become a rock-solid third-liner for years to come.

What McPhee Did: Instead of Johnson, Anderson, or netminder Joonas Korpisalo, McPhee accepted a 2017 first-rounder, 2019 second-rounder, and David Clarkson's contract from the Blue Jackets.

Verdict: Clarkson's $5.25 million cap hit for the next three years is ugly, but the Golden Knights should have no issue with it in their formative years. So extracting a late first and a second for essentially Anderson, while adding the young, promising William Karlsson to boot, is excellent. Grade: A.

Dallas Stars

Exposed List: Adam Cracknell, Justin Dowling, Cody Eakin, Ales Hemsky, Jiri Hudler, Curtis McKenzie, Mark McNeill, Travis Morin, Patrick Sharp, Gemel Smith, Matej Stransky, Mattias Backman, Andrew Bodnarchuk, Ludwig Bystrom, Nick Ebert, Justin Hache, Dan Hamhuis, Patrik Nemeth, Jamie Oleksiak, Greg Pateryn, Dustin Stevenson, Henri Kiviaho, Maxime Lagace, Kari Lehtonen, Antti Niemi, Justin Peters

Best "Win Now" Pick: Center Cody Eakin suffered a dismal campaign and carries a $3.85 million cap hit for the next three years. But he's young enough to rebound and regain his status as a reliable, versatile 2C/3C.

Best "Build For The Future" Pick: For lack of better options, the 26-year-old Eakin at least promises to be solid trade bait in the near future.

What McPhee Did: McPhee selected Eakin, who he drafted for Washington in the second round of the 2009 Draft.

Verdict: Eakin's contract might become a millstone, but once again, given the Golden Knights' ability to absorb bad contracts right now and the Stars' less-than-exciting unprotected list, he's a reasonable reclamation project. Grade: C.

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