10 Days Away: Tracking the 'Vegas 30'

Kraken fans will see and hear this a lot in the next 10 days as we excitedly count down to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft™ presented by Upper Deck: All 30 players selected will not make the regular-season roster.
There are reasons. One is the NHL active roster allows up to 23 players. Another regulator is 20 players (18 skaters, two goalies) dress for each game.

A third and perhaps most compelling reason is a number of players selected by Kraken GM Ron Francis and his hockey operations staff might (emphasis on "might") be announced as parts of trades with other NHL clubs during the July 21 expansion draft night (5 p.m., ESPN2, Sportsnet, SN Now, TVA Sports ) or days that follow.
In fact, when Vegas entered the league in 2017, it selected 11 players who never played one NHL game with the Pacific division rival. Three more played 44 NHL games or less for the franchise.
Tracking the "Vegas 30" is a fun and instructive way to get a sense of how the expansion draft offers a multi-layered approach to building a competitive NHL roster. It provides insight into how Francis might (emphasis on...) build the Kraken. Let's be clear Kraken front office plan's first active phase is one we will all find out together July 21.
In alphabetical order of the NHL team losing a player, here's a capsule look at the Vegas 30, then and now, plus notes about trades and outcomes connected to the pick:
Anaheim: Clayton Stoner, Defenseman
Stoner is one of the 11 players who never skated in an NHL game for Vegas. He played 360 games for Minnesota and Anaheim, but a lingering abdomen injury ended his career before the end of training camp in Vegas. He was placed on the injured reserve list in early October 2017.
But here's where it gets intriguing for Kraken fans anticipating what will happen on Seattle's expansion draft night. Anaheim wanted to protect defensemen Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson, so the Ducks traded D-man Shea Theodore to Vegas with the agreement not to pick Vatanen or Manson.
Theodore become a star for his new team while Manson has been a steady defender for Anaheim and Vatanen was traded to New Jersey 15 games into the 2017-18 in an exchange that brought Adam Henrique out West.
Arizona: Teemu Pulkkinen, Left Wing
Pulkkinen played 83 games over five seasons with Detroit, Minnesota and Arizona as a player shuttled between the NHL and American Hockey League. He never played with the big club, but led the Vegas AFL affiliate that first season before signing with Russia's Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
Boston: Colin Miller, Defenseman
Miller was a successful expansion draft pick. He played third-pairing minutes in his first VGK season, adding time on ice as a powerplay specialist as a third-year pro. He scored 10 goals (his best so far) and added 31 point during the inaugural season.
After a solid second year with Vegas, though less productive on offense, he was traded to Buffalo for second- and fifth-round draft picks. Vegas flipped that pick along as part of a trade to acquire Los Angeles defenseman Alec Martinez, who has been a big contributor for his new team. Martinez will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and likely a sought-after left-handed defenseman.
Buffalo: William Carrier, Left Wing
If you watched Vegas in the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, you heard Carrier's name frequently. He is a high-energy forward who plays a physical game without drawing many penalties (16 penalty minutes in 52 games).
Vegas received a sixth-round pick from Buffalo for not drafting young goalie Linus Ullmark. Icing on the cake since VGK likes Carrier so much it extended his contract for three more seasons last February at a team-friendly cap hit of $1.4 million per year.

Calgary: Deryk Engelland, Defenseman
Vegas selected Engelland as a pending free agent and signed him to a one-year deal, which worked out well for both parties since Engelland and his family were residents of Las Vegas.
Engelland became an emotional leader for the team and community in the aftermath of the horrific concert shooting in early October of the first season. His first season was his career-best. He played two more seasons before retiring.
Carolina: Connor Brickley, Left Wing
Then-Carolina GM Ron gave Vegas a fifth-round pick in an agreement VGK would pick Brickley, who was previously acquired from Florida. Brickley never played an NHL game for Carolina nor Vegas.
Brickley played 83 total NHL games, most with Florida before the trade to Carolina. Brickley's contract expired after the expansion draft. He played 14 games for the New York Rangers in 2018-19 before signing in Austria. He did play professionally this past season.
Chicago: Trevor van Riemsdyk, Defenseman
The Kraken are obligated to pick 14 forwards, nine defenseman and three goalies. The other four picks can be any position. Vegas went heavy on defensemen. A day after the 2017 expansion draft, van Riemsdyk (brother of Philly forward James) was traded to Carolina for a second-round pick. He provided depth at the position in Carolina and did the same this past season with Washington at a salary cap hit less than $1 million of the $81.5 salary maximum for each team.
Colorado: Calvin Pickard, Goaltender
Vegas picked the minimum three goalies and Pickard, former WHL standout for the Seattle Thunderbirds was one of them. Pickard played 50 games for Colorado in 2016-17. Vegas traded him to Toronto for Tobias Linderg and a sixth rounder.
Pickard has shuttled between NHL and AHL teams since; he's played 113 total NHL games, none for VGK and 27 with Toronto, Philadelphia, Arizona and Detroit. Lindberg played more two seasons of AHL, then signed back home in Sweden.
Columbus: William Karlsson, Center
When fishing buddies talked about the "big one that got away," Karlsson might be a hockey counterpart tale for Blue Jackets fans. CBJ was fearful Vegas would select goaltender Joonas Korpisalo or forward Josh Anderson (traded to Montreal where he was a high-impact player during the run to the Stanley Cup Final).
To avoid losing either player, Columbus offered a first-round draft choice (24th overall) for Vegas to select from Karlsson, veteran forward Matt Calvert or Ryan Murray (the former Everett Silvertips defenseman who was picked No. 2 overall in the 2012 Entry Draft).
Vegas took the draft pick and Karlsson, who enjoyed a breakout 2017-18 season with 43 goals (his previous high was nine in 2015-16). He has scored 96 goals in four stellar seasons for the Pacific division squad.
In a trade with Winnipeg during the expansion draft exclusive window for VGK (the Kraken will have the same right), the No. 24 pick moved to the Jets with the No. 13 pick overall coming back. Vegas selected forward Nick Suzuki, traded along with veteran Tomas Tatar to Montreal in 2018 in a deal for forward Max Pacioretty, the Canadiens captain at the time.
Fast forward to this year's Stanley Cup Playoff, during which Pacioretty scored some big goals in early rounds, then struggled against Montreal. Suzuki, 21, was a powerhouse for the surprising Canadiens.
Dallas: Cody Eakin, Center
Eakin was an upside third-line center in Las Vegas for two seasons, then traded to Winnipeg for a conditional draft choice that has materialized into a fourth-round pick at the upcoming 2021 NHL Entry Draft™ (July 23 and 24, NHL Network). Eakin signed as a free agent in Buffalo, notching seven points in 46 games with the Sabres.
Detroit: Tomas Nosek, Left Wing
Nosek played 17 NHL games with Detroit and became a depth forward for Vegas. He's contributed 15 to 18 points each of four seasons and performs similarly in the postseason, though not dressing for all games. His 2020-21 season was the Czech's best with 8 goals and 10 assists in 38 games.

Edmonton: Griffin Reinhart, Defenseman
Reinhart is another who never pulled on a VGK jersey for an NHL game. He played two AHL seasons, then signed with the KHL. Last season he was playing in the top German pro league.
The back story here is Edmonton traded two 2015 first-round picks (No. 16 and No. 33) to the New York Islanders to acquire Reinhart. NYI's pick at No. 16? Former Seattle T-Birds star and now NHL star Mathew Barzal.
Florida: Jonathan Marchessault, Left Wing
Marchessault scored 30 goals for Florida during the 2016-17 season at an entry-level contract. Florida's front office was clearly thinking the young forward was going to ask too much on his next contract, leaving him unprotected and actually throwing in a sweetener to persuade Vegas to pick Marchessault. The Panthers traded 25-goal scorer Reilly Smith and his $25 million contract obligation to VGK for a fourth-round draft choice.
Uh, that didn't work out and along with Columbus, are motivators for some if not all NHL GMs to keep it simple this time around, vowing to lose just one good player as necessary.
Marchessault is the leading scorer for Vegas in its first four seasons with 225 points in 280 games. He signed a six-year, $30 million contract extension during that first season that now is considered team friendly. His linemate Smith scored several big goals in the recent postseason, as did Marchessault.
Los Angeles: Brayden McNabb, Defenseman
An excellent pick, McNabb is among franchise leaders in both hits and blocked shots. He signed a team-friendly extension for four years that will expire next summer. He scored a key goal this postseason and has the physical game needed during postseason play. For Kraken fans considering which defensemen the Seattle team might pick July 21, McNabb is a good marker for a certain type of D-man needed as part of the blue-line mix.
Minnesota: Erik Haula, Center
Haula scored 29 goals and 55 points in 76 games during the 2017-18 season, then later traded to Carolina due to salary cap reasons after an injury-shortened second season, getting Nicholas Roy in return. Roy scored an overtime winner in the recent Montreal-Vegas series.
The kicker here, especially for Wild fans, is Minnesota traded forward Alex Tuch to Vegas to guarantee the expansion club would pick Houla rather than exposed and promising defenseman Matt Dumba (who is subject to lots of media speculation for the Kraken draft too). Tuch signed an early seven-year, team-friendly extension in Vegas and is a top-six forward who has scored 21 points in 37 playoff games the last two seasons.
Montreal: Alexei Emelin, Defenseman
Emelin never played for Vegas, traded to Nashville for a third-rounder. He played one season for the Predators and returned to the KHL.
Nashville: James Neal, Left Wing
Similar to this summer's media forecasting, the expansion teams picking in 2017 and 2021 have a deeper pool of promising choices among top-four defenseman than top-six forwards. That's why Vegas took a chance with Neal, a proven goal scorer who had one year left on his contract.
Neal scored 25 goals that first season, good for fourth on the team. He signed a five-year free agent deal with Calgary the next summer. He has struggled to return to top form with Calgary and Edmonton.
New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill, Defenseman
Merrill was solid citizen for Vegas over three seasons, signing a two-year extension that ended in 2020. He joined Detroit on a one-year deal and was traded to Montreal at the trade deadline this season. He is among the free-agent crop of defensemen this summer.
New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube, Goaltender
The Islanders wanted Vegas to pick Berube to protect others on their roster, offering a 2017 first rounder (No. 15 overall), 2019 second rounder and Mikhail Grabovski (who last played in 2016). Berube had an expiring contract, never even practiced with Vegas because he signed with Chicago as a free agent a few days after the expansion draft.
Vegas used the 2017 first-rounder on Erik Brannstrom, a young defenseman later traded to Ottawa as part of a pivotal deal to land now-team captain Mark Stone.

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg, Left Wing
Lindberg was another piece of the just-mentioned Mark Stone deal. He notched 23 points in 98 games with Vegas before the trade, which also included a 2020 second-round draft choice. Lindberg left Ottawa and the NHL after the 2018-19 season, signing with the Swiss top pro league and then with the KHL's Moscow Dynamo.
Ottawa: Marc Methot, Defenseman
Methot did not play for Vegas, traded to Dallas during the 2017 summer for goalie prospect Dylan Ferguson and a 2020 second-round pick. Methot played two seasons in Dallas but injuries cut his career short. Ferguson played this past season in ECHL. The 2020 second rounder was packaged to acquire Alec Martinez from Los Angeles. Martinez has been rock-solid for VGK and no doubt will draw interest as a free-agent defenseman when the signing period opens July 28.
Philadelphia: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Left Wing
Bellemare was a penalty-kill specialist for Vegas over two seasons and popular with teammates and the fan base. His contract expired in 2019 and Colorado offered a bump in salary to continue his elite shorthanded work for the Avalanche. Bellemare is 36 and a free agent this summer.
Pittsburgh: Marc-Andre Fleury, Goaltender
When the Penguins decided to protect goalie-of-the-future Matt Murray (now with Ottawa), Vegas had its face of the franchise in the Stanley Cup-winning Fleury who is a supreme teammate and embraced his point role with the community. He has starred over the four seasons and won the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goalie this season. Key miscues put him on the bench in favor of Robin Lehner, who couldn't help stop Montreal's surprise run either.
San Jose: David Schlemko, Defenseman
Vegas flipped Schlemko days after the expansion draft to pick up a fifth-round pick from Montreal. The young D-man appeared 55 games over two years with the Canadiens, shuttling from NHL to AHL more often in 2018-19. That was his last professional season.
St. Louis: David Perron, Left Wing
The Blues were protecting a number of promising players in 2017, so Perron was left unprotected. He had a career year in Vegas with 66 points during the regular season and nine more during 15 postseason games.
Perron, now 33, was an unrestricted free agent during the 2018. He re-signed in St. Louis, where he has thrived, including winning a Cup in 2019 and leading the Blues in scoring this past season.
Tampa Bay: Jason Garrison, Defenseman
Then-Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, now heading a Detroit rebuild after constructing major parts of a back-to-back Cup championship roster, made a side deal with Vegas to select Garrison and his $4.6 million salary hit. Yzerman was looking to protect a pair of young defensemen, Slater Koekkoek (now with Edmonton) and Jake Dotchin (last played in the AHL in 2020).
Tampa Bay gave up second- and third-round draft choices, plus forward Nikita Gusev. The upshot is Gusev stayed in the KHL and later became a restricted free agent traded to New Jersey for a 2021 second-round draft that will be 35th overall in the upcoming draft.
Garrison played eight games with Vegas, spending most of the year in the AHL. He signed with Edmonton for a season, then played a year in Sweden.
Toronto: Brendan Leipsic, Left Wing
Lepisic played 44 games for Vegas. The former Portland Winterhawks star was traded to Vancouver at midseason for Philip Holm, who was send to the AHL affiliate and later left for the KHL. Leipsic played 137 more NHL for Vancouver, Los Angeles and Washington before playing this past season for CSKA Moscow in the KHL.
Vancouver: Luca Sbisa, Defenseman
Sbisa was selected 19th overall by Philly in 2008. Sbisa scored 14 points in 30 games for Vegas during the first season, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time until injuries ended his season. Irony is he had played the full 82 games for the Canucks the previous season. He is now with Nashville, where he was limited to one game last season.
Washington: Nate Schmidt, Defenseman
Schmidt was the alpha defenseman during the first season. He logged more than 22 minutes on ice per game and tallied a career-high 36 points of offense. He was stellar over three seasons with VGK before being traded to Vancouver last summer to make salary cap and ice time room for the newly signed free agent D-man Alex Pietrangelo. Schmidt was traded to Vancouver for a third-rounder and logged 20 minutes per game with VAN.
Winnipeg: Chris Thorburn, Right Wing
Thorburn is the final entry of the 11 players who never played for Vegas. His contract expired shortly after the expansion draft and he signed with St. Louis, last playing in the AHL in the 2018-19 season.
The Jets offered to swap their No. 1 pick (13th overall) to VGK in exchange for a 24th overall pick (Vegas acquired from Columbus) and a guarantee Vegas would pick Thorburn and not forward Marko Dano or defenseman Tobias Enstrom.
Vegas selected Nick Suzuki in that first round, moving him to Montreal in the aforementioned Max Pacioretty deal in a trade that worked out for both sides. Winnipeg selected forward Kristian Vesalainen, 22, who has played 17 NHL games while still developing with the AHL affiliate.