The Central Division has quite a bit to offer the Las Vegas Golden Knights from prospects to veteran scorers as they sift through the recently exposed rosters of every NHL team. Several team offer quite a bit of challenging option that the inaugural team can either take, trade off or just work out a deal for some picks. Once again, while some of these players may be available, trades may have already been worked out to persuade Las Vegas to look the other way on a few of them. So don’t be surprised if they don’t take them.
The Minnesota Wild have offered the most intriguing options in the draft after having exposed several interesting players. Due to their defensive depth, the team left several defensemen exposed, including 22-year-old Mathew Dumba, a promising defenseman who has already been in the NHL for three years since being the seventh-overall pick in 2012. Dumba’s 11 goals make him a key defenseman to build their franchise around, assuming the team doesn’t have a side deal set up or the Golden Knights are considering flipping him to another desperate team needing defense. Veteran forward Eric Staal was also left unprotected, leaving Las Vegas with even a tougher decisions to make. The 32-year-old veteran had one of his better season with the Wild this past year, putting up 28 goals. His price tag is even reasonable at $3.5MM for the next two years. Defenseman Marco Scandella is an afterthought here, but on any other team, would be an intriguing option for the Golden Knights.
The Nashville Predators have one obvious candidate in veteran scorer James Neal, who helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Finals. Neal finished the season with 23 regular season goals and the 29-year-old has tallied 80 goals in the last three seasons combined. Whether the Predators have worked out a package in order to keep Neal for their run next year is unknown as of yet. If that’s the case, another interesting name could be 23-year-old winger Pontus Aberg, who has showed a lot of promise in the AHL, including a 31-goal season this past year. He still played 15 games for the Predators, but managed just one goal and had a tough time cracking their rotation. Perhaps the least surprising options go to the Chicago Blackhawks. Long-standing rumors that Chicago has exposed 25-year-old defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk with the supposed agreement they would also take on the contract of Marcus Kruger and his 3.083MM for the next two years for additional costs suggest that Las Vegas already knows what they’re getting.
The Dallas Stars might hope that the Golden Knights take 26-year-old center Cody Eakin. The veteran had an off year after putting up three goals in 60 games, but had tallied 51 goals in the three years before that. The problem with Eakin is the three years he has left at $3.85MM per season. He was originally drafted by McPhee, so maybe the GM would be willing to take his chances with him. Dan Hamhuis could be a solid option as well if the Golden Knights are looking for a 34-year-old veteran defensive-minded blueliner. The Winnipeg Jets did expose 32-year-old Toby Enstrom after he waived his no-movement clause. The veteran could be the perfect person to lead a group of young Golden Knight defenders. Enstrom, despite starting to slow down, is still considered a solid defenseman. However, Winnipeg also left 22-year-old center Marko Dano available to Las Vegas. The former first-round pick in 2013 hasn’t been able to put together a full season, but is still young enough to put it all together. He put up four goals and seven assists last season in 38 games, but missed time due to a lower body injury and never regained his playing time after that.
While the St. Louis Blues exposed Jori Lehtera with the hopes they can package the veteran along with some picks to remove his contract off their books, which still has two years at $4.7MM per season, Las Vegas might be more enamored with 23-year-old Nail Yakupov, who is the former first-overall pick in the 2012 draft. While his career hasn’t exactly gone as planned, he has still shown some glimpses of potential and Las Vegas might be willing to take a chance on him. The Colorado Avalanche surprised a few by exposing goaltender Calvin Pickard. The 25-year-old didn’t have the greatest season last year, evidenced by his 3.02 GAA, but it was behind a weak defense. However, considering the amount of goaltending depth offered from the Eastern Conference, the team might ultimately pass on him considering there are other key goalies available ranging from Petr Mrazek to Marc-Andre Fleury to Philipp Grubauer to name just a few. They may have exposed Pickard to keep 29-year-old Semyon Varlamov away from McPhee, who also drafted the goaltender in Washington back in 2006. Besides that, Colorado left little else exposed.
Vegas should take Dano from Winnipeg.