On Wednesday night, some of NHL’s very best players from past and present gathered at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to distribute some hardware to some of the best in the game, but, that wasn’t all that happened. The NHL’s newest club, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, officially revealed who will be playing for the club beginning in the 2017-18 season.
To recap the awards quickly: Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella received the Jack Adams trophy, Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews won the Calder trophy, Sergei Bobrovsky won the Vezina award, and Connor McDavid received the Hart trophy for MVP.
Now, back to the roster reveal. The most noteworthy forwards chosen in the expansion draft are as follows Cody Eakin (Dallas Stars), Jonathan Marchessault (Florida Panthers), James Neal (Nashville Predators), David Perron (St. Louis Blues), Oscar Lindberg (New York Rangers), Erik Haula (Minnesota Wild), and William Karlsson (Columbus Blue Jackets).
The defensemen are Jon Merrill (New Jersey Devils), Brayden McNabb (Los Angeles Kings), Jason Garrison (Tampa Bay Lightning), Marc Methot (Ottawa Senators), and Clayton Stoner (Anaheim Ducks).
Finally, the goalies are Calvin Pickard (Colorado Avalanche) and Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins).
It was an emotional evening for all the teams and players, seeing some of their now former teammates embark on a new adventure in Sin City. Sidney Crosby, who has played with Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh since his career began, was a bit emotional talking about his former goaltender.
“It’s a weird feeling. I’ll let him know how weird it was to see him in a jersey like that,” Crosby told reporters following the events.
The Vegas Golden Knights open their first NHL season on October 6th against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center, and their home opener will be October 10th against the Arizona Coyotes. Only three and a half months until hockey season, but until then…is it October yet?
