NHL Rumors: Latest Buzz Around League Ahead of 2017 Expansion Draft

We are a little more than a week away from the Vegas Golden Knights beginning to resemble a live, actual NHL franchise.

The Knights will have their choice of players from the 30 other rosters June 21 as part of an expansion draft. Adding a 31st team to the NHL has added a wrinkle to team planning, with some looking to unload potential building-block players to avoid losing them for nothing. 

Other teams have their expansion draft strategy set and are 100 percent ready to move into the future. Let's take a look around the league at some of the latest rumors now that the Stanley Cup is back in Pittsburgh.

Knights Will Emphasize Young, Cheap Talent in Expansion Draft

The NHL's expansion rules, at least in theory, have made it so the Knights have a fighting chance to be competitive in 2017-18. Most teams will likely protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender. Teams could choose to protect eight skaters and one goalie, but that will only come into play in the most extreme cases.

Vegas should get to have its pick of a number of top-flight veterans, enough that it's possible a playoff team could emerge if things break the right way.

Knights management apparently has no plans on going that route.

Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reported the team is planning to emphasize adding young, cheap talent to its roster rather than veteran pieces. Despite the NHL's efforts, the Knights seem determined to take a more traditional expansion path.

Of course, this is the smart team-building move. Bottoming out and staying near the top of the draft is the likeliest way for them to land a blue-chip prospect who can keep them in contention for the foreseeable future. Chasing a wild-card spot with a bunch of vets no one else wants would be entirely shortsighted.

Columbus to Dump David Clarkson's Salary on Las Vegas?

Paul Vernon/Associated Press

One reason the Knights could look to keep their roster relatively lean for the near future is being able to absorb bad contracts from other teams. The Philadelphia 76ers and Cleveland Browns have been similarly stockpiling picks for years and taking back bad deals, hoping to increase their odds of hitting a draft-day home run.

One potential player the Knights could add is Columbus Blue Jackets forward David Clarkson. Injuries have limited him to just 26 total games since joining the Jackets in 2015, but he's under contract with an average annual value of $5.25 million through 2019-2020.

Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet reported the Jackets and Knights may have had talks centered on Clarkson, with Columbus sending a first-round pick and potentially a young player to Las Vegas.

There isn't much to examine here until any potential trades are done. The Knights are going to have a treasure chest of cash they need to spend over their first couple years of existence while they're building their core. Taking on a contract that goes into the summer of 2020 is a lot to ask, but if it nets them two different young players, it might be worth it.