Ken Holland’s Expansion Draft Decisions Proving to be the Model Strategy

The Vegas Golden Knights fairy-tale season has caught the entire hockey world by surprise. Now six wins away from hoisting the Stanley Cup, their historic season has come with some controversy. The idea that Vegas was handed a cup-contender because of generous expansion draft rules has rubbed many the wrong way. While this may or may not be the case, some decisions made by other general managers have started to look very questionable.

The Columbus Blue Jackets gave up premium draft picks so the Knights would take William Karlsson (and David Clarkson‘s contract) instead of Josh Anderson. The Florida Panthers used Jonathan Marchessault as an incentive to take Riley Smith. The Minnesota Wild gave up Alex Tuch and Erik Haula so that Mathew Dumba would go unclaimed. The list goes on and on of one-sided deals in-favor of Vegas.

Still, hindsight is 20/20. Being able to predict this many breakout seasons wouldn’t have been possible going into the season. Who saw Karlsson having a 23.4% shooting-percentage? Or Haula scoring more powerplay goals in one season than Connor McDavid has in his entire career? In the end, it was just a string of bad luck for some NHL clubs.

Ken Holland on the other hand had the last laugh. He’s proving to be an expansion draft wizard, going back to the 1998, 1999 and 2000 expansion drafts where he escaped with no blemishes. This past expansion draft Holland went in with the idea that every team is going to lose a player, and that sacrificing futures wasn’t part of the game-plan. Detroit had a relatively easy team to protect, but certain players found themselves exposed.

The most notables at the time being Petr Mrazek, Riley Sheahan and Xavier Ouellet. Yet, all three were young assets and made the case for a potential side deal. The idea of a pick and say a prospect could have been enticing for Detroit to keep someone like Sheahan. That might not seem like a big deal today, but Vegas has found away to revitalize the careers of all their selected castaways. A Vili Saarijarvi or Nick Jensen could be a completely different player in the Sin City.

Something so many general managers fell victim to.

Tomas Nosek was the eventual pick and while he has become a decent depth player for Vegas, there is no telling how much worse it could have been if Holland decided to go another path.

With what looks to be a Seattle expansion on the horizon, Holland’s strategy of accepting the loss of a singular player and not sacrificing futures is the expected blue-print for the rest of the league. The lame-duck GM turned out to be for the best.

So enjoy and appreciate the hockey overlords that are the Vegas Golden Knights. Other fan bases don’t have that luxury.