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Fleury, Poile, Engelland & Garrison Talk Expansion; Patrick on McCrimmon

June 22, 2017, 1:18 AM ET [13 Comments]
Sheng Peng
Vegas Golden Knights Blogger •Vegas Golden Knights Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT


Marc-Andre Fleury, David Poile, Deryk Engelland, Brayden McNabb & Jason Garrison were all present at the Expansion Draft, which was held in Las Vegas. The newest Golden Knights spoke after being selected:

Brayden McNabb

Check out some of McNabb's comments here.

Deryk Engelland

Reporter: What's going through your head?

Deryk Engelland: A lot of excitement. Play here at home. My family, our roots are here. It's kind of been in the back of your mind since they announced the team. It's kind of surreal.

Back then, I wouldn't have thought they would get an NHL team.

HockeyBuzz: After your time with the Las Vegas Wranglers, what made you decide to settle down in Vegas?

DE: I met my wife here. Just ended up calling this home. I'm from a small town in Canada. She's from Wisconsin. We liked it here. It's a good place to call home.

Reporter: How did you weigh decision of signing here as opposed to hitting open market?

DE: Just playing at home is huge.

Them showing interest and wanting me here and taking me in the Expansion Draft when they could've passed, picked somebody else, waiting until free agency to sign me showed a lot. It was a fairly easy decision on my part.

Reporter: Anyone you're super-familiar with on the roster?

DE: James Neal. Played with him. To get a guy like that, guy can score from anywhere. He's a great guy to have around. Looking forward to seeing him.

HB: A lot of rumors that Neal will be flipped. Are you saying that he'll be part of the team here going forward?

DE: As of now? I guess so. I don't for a fact know. I have no idea. I know as much as you guys.

Reporter: Being a local, do you find that you have to defend the city of Las Vegas to your roommates?

DE: You defend Vegas if you live here for everything. Everyone's like, Other than the Strip, what is there to do? There's a city and it's a great place to raise kids, have a family.

Reporter: Are you excited about Marc-Andre Fleury coming?

DE: Yeah, we had a tight bond there in Pittsburgh there.

He's top-notch in every aspect. Obviously, great teammate. Fun to be around. Never too high, never too low. Nothing bad I could ever say about that guy.

Reporter: What are the challenges of playing for a team starting from scratch?


DE: Just the chemistry. You gotta get that down as quick as possible.

Reporter: What were some of the highlights of playing with the Wranglers? The midnight games?

DE: Yeah, that was interesting. A little different. Taking your pre-game nap at 5 at night. There's a lot. I was 21 at the time, living in Vegas.

Jason Garrison

Reporter: What have you seen here so far?

Jason Garrison: I've checked out the locker room. I've been in the building before. Not hockey-related.

Reporter: What event were you at here?

JG: Coldplay concert. Last summer.

David Poile

Reporter: Can you talk about losing James Neal?

David Poile: Yeah, that hurts. This expansion process was painful for the Nashville Predators. We knew it. There's no way of getting out of it.

The strength of our team is defense, so we protect four defensemen.

I tried to make a deal with George. But the price was just too high in my estimation.

We're down a man. James was very good for us. Scored a lot of goals. There were no James Neals available to the Nashville Predators when we started 20 years ago.

HockeyBuzz: I spoke with Cliff Ronning, who talked about how you asked Nashville expansion players to be more a part of community events than their contracts dictated. Have you advised George McPhee about this -- that players need to get more involved in a community like Las Vegas more to grow the game?

DP: I haven't. I can only speak for Nashville. Tennessee is called the Volunteer State. I didn't know that when I moved there. I didn't know what it meant exactly. I just thought [University of] Tennessee Volunteers.

Charity work, community work is a big part of our organization.

As they say, the more you give, the more you get back. It's so true. I think you saw that this year with our fans.

That just didn't come overnight. That's from years of relationships.

Marc-Andre Fleury

Reporter: 14 years to day that you were drafted by Pittsburgh. Did you know that?

Marc-Andre Fleury: I just found out today. It's crazy how things work sometimes.

Got drafted in Nashville [by Pittsburgh]. Played my last [Penguins] game in Nashville. Weird circumstances.

Reporter: You knew this was a possibility for a while. Have you done homework on Las Vegas?

MAF: Yeah, I was reading a lot about what was happening here with this team. With the staff, the organization.

My wife's in town. For a few days, we'll be house shopping.

Reporter: Does it feel weird to be wearing a different jersey?

MAF: Yeah, for sure. I never did before.

I'm grateful for the opportunity. I'll wear it with pride.

***

George McPhee now has the 6th, 13th, and 15th picks from this year's Entry Draft. Will they be gunning to trade up for the chance to select Brandon Wheat Kings' centerman Nolan Patrick? The scuttlebutt is that they're certainly looking to trade up with these treasure chest of picks --and Vegas Assistant General Manager Kelly McCrimmon coached Patrick in Brandon.

A couple weeks ago, I caught up with Patrick and asked about his time under McCrimmon.

HockeyBuzz: How do you think Kelly McCrimmon will fare in Vegas?

Nolan Patrick: I think he'll be awesome. He knows hockey more than anybody I've ever met so far. He was obviously a great general manager for us in Brandon. He made some unbelievable trades to put us in positions to win. He cares about his team. He'll do great things there. With George McPhee there, they both know what they're doing. I think it'll work out well for them.

HB: Is there anything in particular that Kelly taught you?

NP: There's a lot of things I could go on and on about that he taught me. He was great for me in Brandon. I came in as a 16-year-old and he pushed me to succeed. He was always on me to improve. I give a lot of credit to him for my first two years there.

HB: Do you have some preference for going to a more established NHL team over going somewhere totally brand-new like Vegas?

NP: (laughs) It's the NHL. I'll be honored to go anywhere. Whatever happens, happens. I'll be happy for anything.

***

If McPhee keeps his three first-round picks, he'll be in select company. Since the first Draft, just 19 teams have used that many first-rounders in a year. The last time was 2015, when Boston drafted Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn.

Montreal holds the record for most first-round picks exercised in a year with a whopping five in 1974 (Cam Connor, Doug Risebrough, Rick Chartraw, Mario Tremblay, Gord McTavish).

Here's the full list:

1974 MON 5 first-round picks used

1999 NYI 4
1998 COL 4
1972 MON 4
1970 BOS 4

2015 BOS 3
2013 CBJ 3
2013 CGY 3
2011 OTT 3

2007 EDM 3
2007 STL 3
2004 WSH 3
2003 LAK 3
2002 WSH 3

1989 TOR 3
1984 PIT 3
1983 BUF 3
1982 BUF 3
1981 MON 3

1978 PHI 3
1976 MON 3
1973 TOR 3
1971 MON 3
1968 MON 3


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