How’d they do that? A look at how the Vegas Golden Knights were built
Jonathan Marchessault, and how he found his way to Vegas, might be the epitome of how the Golden Knights forged their improbable run to the Stanley Cup final.
After the centre was surprisingly left exposed by the Florida Panthers for last June’s expansion draft, the Knights not only got the former 30-goal man for nothing, but Vegas general manager George McPhee also acquired Reilly Smith from the Panthers on the promise he’d select Marchessault.
The pair now make up two-thirds of the Knights’ top line along with William Karlsson, another diamond found in the expansion-draft rough.
That side deal with the Panthers is just one example of how Vegas went about building its team by playing opposing GMs off one another, taking advantage of clubs up against the salary cap, and identifying undervalued talent.