Ryan Wilson: Drafting Las Vegas: Part Two Drafting Las Vegas: Part Two

Fist

While I agree that the team compiled so far in this exercise is decidedly mediocre. it isn't a horrible start. Depending on how the next 10 players shake out, this team can honestly be a fringe playoff contender with 2-3 solid FA signings. Obviously way to early to know what will be available in the 2017 FA market but I wouldn't be surprised to see LV be a big time player looker to round out their roster.

One potential problem I see with the 1st 20 players selected is position flexibility, so far 5 of the 11 forwards selected and most of the better players are listed as centers(Grigorenko, Granlund, Jenner, Nelson, Plekanec), without some positional flexibility it's going to make lineup construction very difficult. I don't know enough about many of the players but it will be crucial for 2-3 of those 5 to be capable of playing wing as well.

Edit: Doing some research Granlund played LW so that's a strong start but Grigorenko, Jenner, Nelson and Plekanec were primarily used as centers last season.

In almost all cases I am going to prefer the guy that can generate shot volume and show more tangible offense even if he bleeds shots in his own end.
- Ryan_Wilson

So looking forward to your Vancouver selection.

The more I actually look at it the more I'm actually starting to like the forward group.

Granlund-Jenner-Stempniak
Wilson-Plekanec-Rakell
Nelson-Grigorenko-Grabner

Makes for a solid start and top 9 for a forward grouping that I originally thought was going to be really weak. I'm not sure I'm as excited about the D corp but I guess it isn't horrible, again there's a few positional flexibility issues with someone in the top 6 likely having to play on their off side

Hamhuis-Green
Schenn-Gorges
Lovejoy-Pysyk/Reinhart

So looking forward to your Vancouver selection.
- jmatchett383

I was thinking the exact same thing. Especially when considering the tangible production between Coyle(21g-21s-42pts) & Granlund(13g-31a-44pts) wasn't overwhelming.

This is what I drafted for LV based on the previous assumptions made on who will be available. (I really don't think Matt Murray will be available, so I factored that into my decision.)

Line 1
A. Killorn T. Plekanec B. Jenner
Line 2
C. Wilson M. Granlund R. Rakell
Line 3
M. Raffl C. Soderberg L. Stempniak
Line 4
M. Paajarvi J. Beagle M. Dano
Depth
R. Panik P. Holland B. Bennett
E. Poirier E. Etem

1st Pairing
D. Hamhuis M. Green
2nd Pairing
A. Martinez K. Klein
3rd Pairing
M. Pysyk D. Schlemko
Depth
R. Pulock D. Pouliot
G. Reinhart J. Gorges

G
Starter
M. Smith
Back-up
A. Hammond
Depth
M. Subban

Seems like LVS is going to be loaded with 4D. Probably ends up flipping a ton of them at the tdl.

Seems like LVS is going to be loaded with 4D. Probably ends up flipping a ton of them at the tdl.
- sditulli

I don't think they're allowed to. Any player they take in the draft must remain with them for the entire season. Helps negate any funny business with trading back players for picks and such.

Thank you for helping me kill time at work with the mock draft tool Ryan. I find it interesting how many different approaches there are towards building the foundation for a fledgling franchise.

Trades in the nhl this season will be fascinating as teams try to maximize assets that are hard to protect in the draft. There is going to be a lot of young plays being flipped that would otherwise be aloud to develop in there current systems. That being said as it stands there are so many promising and otherwise valuable young assets available that I find the selections in these articles underwhelming and extremely short sighted. It's pretty obvious from Ryan's current list that it is difficult to create a competitive team with high end skill. So why waste picks on anyone over 30, I have to say the pysyk pick was Ryan's best demenstration of foresight. You have to be aware of the cap floor so an aging superstar on a terrible contract is probably necessary but lovejoy, hamhuis, green, gorges, stempniak, (frank)ing grabner and I hate to say it plekanic. This is just lazy name recognition. Do people think that Vegas would be better off starting with what can be considered young vets with an upwards ceiling instead of aging players with declining value?

If part of your reasoning for taking Clifford over Martinez is that you consider Clifford a "middle-six" winger, I'd reconsider. He's the definition of a fourth-liner, with no offense.

There is zero chance Boone Jenner is exposed to an expansion draft. Not even worth discussing.

There is zero chance Boone Jenner is exposed to an expansion draft. Not even worth discussing.
- bjacket

You can repeat this statement for about 5 or 6 other players on this list

There is zero chance Boone Jenner is exposed to an expansion draft. Not even worth discussing.
- bjacket

Yes, Ryan Wilson has said as much for certain players. However, for this exercise, he is exposed.

Thank you for helping me kill time at work with the mock draft tool Ryan. I find it interesting how many different approaches there are towards building the foundation for a fledgling franchise.

Trades in the nhl this season will be fascinating as teams try to maximize assets that are hard to protect in the draft. There is going to be a lot of young plays being flipped that would otherwise be aloud to develop in there current systems. That being said as it stands there are so many promising and otherwise valuable young assets available that I find the selections in these articles underwhelming and extremely short sighted. It's pretty obvious from Ryan's current list that it is difficult to create a competitive team with high end skill. So why waste picks on anyone over 30, I have to say the pysyk pick was Ryan's best demenstration of foresight. You have to be aware of the cap floor so an aging superstar on a terrible contract is probably necessary but lovejoy, hamhuis, green, gorges, stempniak, (frank)ing grabner and I hate to say it plekanic. This is just lazy name recognition. Do people think that Vegas would be better off starting with what can be considered young vets with an upwards ceiling instead of aging players with declining value?
- BrainSap

The problem is that we really don't know what LV's overall direction is going to be, it appears that like many others RW believes they are going to try to compete from day 1 as opposed to only worrying about building for the future, which seems to be what you're suggesting. Building a team around young players with upside and a few aging vets on bad contracts to hit the cap floor will definitely set them up to potentially have future success but it won't make them very competitive now which may hurt the overall fanbase growth of the team. Personally I think the best approach from a long term viable standpoint it to try to compete as quickly as possible to lock the fanbase in, the longer it takes for them to be a competitive team the harder it will be for them to build a long term fanbase.

Yea, but i think the reality is that younger vets with a high ceiling just aren't going to be available. Those are the guys teams will want to protect first, beyond the obvious "keepers" and then players that they are required to protect with NMCs. LV is going to have to be somewhat competitive in their first year, they can't go 20-62 in their first season, the NHL won't allow that to happen. Unfortunately, I think they need to bite the bullet on some of these older guys with 1-2 years left on their current deals just to get some wins in the standings. They can trade and draft their way into the future, and sign some UFAs along the way. Don't forget too, they are REQUIRED to select a minimum of 14 F, 9D, and 3G. It's not like they can just stock up on talented young forwards - they are going to have to eat 3 goalie contracts and a couple extra Dmen no matter what.

Thank you for helping me kill time at work with the mock draft tool Ryan. I find it interesting how many different approaches there are towards building the foundation for a fledgling franchise.

Trades in the nhl this season will be fascinating as teams try to maximize assets that are hard to protect in the draft. There is going to be a lot of young plays being flipped that would otherwise be aloud to develop in there current systems. That being said as it stands there are so many promising and otherwise valuable young assets available that I find the selections in these articles underwhelming and extremely short sighted. It's pretty obvious from Ryan's current list that it is difficult to create a competitive team with high end skill. So why waste picks on anyone over 30, I have to say the pysyk pick was Ryan's best demenstration of foresight. You have to be aware of the cap floor so an aging superstar on a terrible contract is probably necessary but lovejoy, hamhuis, green, gorges, stempniak, (frank)ing grabner and I hate to say it plekanic. This is just lazy name recognition. Do people think that Vegas would be better off starting with what can be considered young vets with an upwards ceiling instead of aging players with declining value?
- BrainSap

I think that it will be incredibly hard to build a fan base in Las Vegas, what with the demographic and plethora of other things to do, unless you can ice a competitive team right off the bat. If you want a cellar dweller for 3-4 years out of the gate, no one in LV will care at all after the initial 10 or so games. Granted, a lot of their fans will be visiting tourists, but for the sake of merchandise and brand sales, no team that has to compete with the strip can afford to be miserable to start off.

I don't think they're allowed to. Any player they take in the draft must remain with them for the entire season. Helps negate any funny business with trading back players for picks and such.
- jmatchett383

You are correct. No player that is drafted can be traded for 1 year so it's very unlikely LV will be active at the TD unless they're unloading futures to add players which is also probably unlikely.

Yea, but i think the reality is that younger vets with a high ceiling just aren't going to be available. Those are the guys teams will want to protect first, beyond the obvious "keepers" and then players that they are required to protect with NMCs. LV is going to have to be somewhat competitive in their first year, they can't go 20-62 in their first season, the NHL won't allow that to happen. Unfortunately, I think they need to bite the bullet on some of these older guys with 1-2 years left on their current deals just to get some wins in the standings. They can trade and draft their way into the future, and sign some UFAs along the way. Don't forget too, they are REQUIRED to select a minimum of 14 F, 9D, and 3G. It's not like they can just stock up on talented young forwards - they are going to have to eat 3 goalie contracts and a couple extra Dmen no matter what.
- mdo626

I don't think I would go as far as saying the NHL won't allow it because they really can't control which players LV drafts but they definitely don't want to see them go 20-62 in their 1st season and neither does LV. As others have pointed out, LV understands that they have their work cut out for themselves when it comes to building a fanbase and I would imagine they would understand that success is the best way to accomplish that. I truly believe being competitive quickly to build a fanbase was a big factor in them deciding to go with an experienced GM like McPhee over some of the young up and comers, they know that these 1st 3-4 years are going to determine whether the franchise survives long term or not.

Thinking about the LV situation I can't help but wonder if they are the team that finally opens the gates on the RFA market. For a team that is trying to is trying to compete from day 1 but is also trying to establish long term success, landing a young player or 2 via offer sheet may be a good way for them to build a solid young core quickly. Every year we hear the talk about the offer-sheets coming and I honestly think that it's only going to take 1 off-season with a team being very aggressive in the RFA market and the flood gates will open.

Thinking about the LV situation I can't help but wonder if they are the team that finally opens the gates on the RFA market. For a team that is trying to is trying to compete from day 1 but is also trying to establish long term success, landing a young player or 2 via offer sheet may be a good way for them to build a solid young core quickly. Every year we hear the talk about the offer-sheets coming and I honestly think that it's only going to take 1 off-season with a team being very aggressive in the RFA market and the flood gates will open.
- jaydogg1974

A lot of that will probably depend where they end up in the lottery...but they have no farm system and good draft picks...I would tend to believe they will use the picks

Thinking about the LV situation I can't help but wonder if they are the team that finally opens the gates on the RFA market. For a team that is trying to is trying to compete from day 1 but is also trying to establish long term success, landing a young player or 2 via offer sheet may be a good way for them to build a solid young core quickly. Every year we hear the talk about the offer-sheets coming and I honestly think that it's only going to take 1 off-season with a team being very aggressive in the RFA market and the flood gates will open.
- jaydogg1974

You can't do offersheets when your a lottery team. So won't happen. And I don't see how UFA + expansion draft gets them the kind of talent they need to win. They look like NJ without Tayler Hall and Schneider. Should have a quality defensive depth though zero elite guys. I don't see how they get any offense as the expansion draft is allowing most teams to protect any goal scorers.

Went young with an emphasis on development while trying to match the low bar of Ryan's roster in terms of competition.

Smith(NSH)-Johnson or Killorn-Atkinson(CBJ)
Rakell(ANA)-Burmistrov(WPG)-Karlsson(SJ)
Martin(TOR)-Granland(MIN)-Ennis if Kane isn't available.
Roussel(DAL)-Sheahan(DET)-Rust(PIT)

Martinez(LA)-Demers assuming he is out performed by the young depth
Gelinas(COL)-TVR(CHI)
Orlov(WSH)-McIlrath(NYR)

Neuvirth(PHI)
Wedgewood take zajac if Johnson is not available

Subban, nestrisil, strome, Granland, rienhart, Martinook, Wotherspoon, Puempel, de la rose, Lindbohm

I would take dwight king over clifford. Does everything a littleb bit better than clifford.