Right from the horse’s mouth, Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Bill Foley and the Vegas Golden Knights signed two restricted free agents during the negotiating window and picked “a couple” of unrestricted free agents with which they will continue to negotiate. One of those RFAs is presumably Erik Haula of which we already know, while Jean-Francois Berube is likely one of the UFAs. Brendan Leipsic, rumored to be headed to Vegas from the Toronto Maple Leafs is also an RFA, though there has been no word on whether he has signed or not as of yet. Deryk Engelland is possibly the Calgary pick, which would represent another pending UFA.
Vegas GM George McPhee told us yesterday that there would be a few “throwaway picks” meaning players who the Golden Knights had no intention of signing after the draft. While Berube might represent that option, Engelland does make his off-season home in Vegas and could theoretically sign with the team. The Golden Knights should have no shortage of defensemen to choose from however, making him still a long-shot to spend the 2017-18 season on the strip. The Flames look like they’re getting off easy in the draft, without a side deal reported as of yet.
It’s interesting to see that the Golden Knights don’t appear to have gone after any of the big name free agents, as discussed this morning in regards to Karl Alzner. It’s hard to forfeit your selection in the expansion draft just to sign a player who you can talk to just a week later. With players like Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon available in the free agent hotbeds, the Golden Knights have probably just used the negotiating window to exchange early figures with the pending UFAs.