I don't pay attention to what the NHL says about announcing player availability or trades surrounding the expansion draft. 99 percent of what happens regarding player movement will never come to light. As I wrote earlier, there will be more back room deals than when Congress passes a spending bill.
Keep in mind the Golden Knights may have a minor league affiliate, but they have no prospects to fill it with. It's in their best interest to fill their system with players that they can develop into meaningful members of the main roster. Vegas GM George McPhee will be wheeling and dealing to get additional prospects and draft picks. It would be interesting to be a fly on McPhee's wall when the phone rings. These shadow deals will come in three varieties, don't, do, and get.
Don't Trades
Existing NHL teams are required at a minimum to make a goalie, a defenseman, and two forwards available for the expansion draft. In order to protect a younger player, a team leaves a key veteran exposed (or vice versa); someone that team would rather not lose. At this point, maybe that team gives McPhee an incentive to take a different player. For instance a GM might tell McPhee, if you take player Y instead of player X, we will trade you minor league player Z and a draft pick for the undrafted free agent you just signed.
Do Trades
This is the opposite of the don't trade. You know the story, a player gets to be too expensive for, or wears out his welcome with his team. This is when a GM calls the Vegas front office and asks McPhee to take the player off his roster. For example, Ek reported the other day that McPhee would take on the Remainder of Bobby Ryan's contract (5yrs, $37.35M) from Ottawa if his team also got a first round pick. Whether its via draft or trade or a combination of both.
Get Trades
I think these types of trade negotiations are the most intriguing. In the Golden Knights eyes, many of the players available will be like commodities and disposable. Other GMs may like an exposed player better than McPhee does. Maybe a GM even tried to swing a deal with the exposed player's team earlier in the year but didn't want to pay the price. Las Vegas' asking price to act as a bridge between clubs maybe a bit lower than the originating team, so McPhee drafts the player and subsequently moves him in a prearranged trade.
Some of these deals are probably done already. Others are being negotiated now. The period between the final game of the Stanley Cup and the expansion draft will be the wild west of gamesmanship. The icing on the cake is, much like a duck on a pond who looks calm, but whose feet are churning under the surface, we won't the majority of what happened on those trade calls.
Blogger •Ed Stein • 
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