In 2017, the expansion draft took place in Vegas. If we compare with Seattle, we can say that the league's general managers have adjusted. In Vegas, everything was too good to be true. Teams overpaid to get rid of players who were ultimately worth it. The result is this: <q>It's hilarious to look back at the 2017 NHL expansion draft. Florida traded Reilly Smith and a 4th, to Vegas, to TAKE Jonathan Marchessault, to protect Nick Bjugstad. Columbus protected Scott Hartnell (who didn't play another season with them) for William Karlsson, who went with the Golden Knights. The Capitals protected Matt Niskanen instead of Nate Schmidt. The Sabres paid Vegas a 6th to TAKE William Carrier, protecting Tyler Ennis and Johan Larsson instead. The Wild traded Alex Tuch to Vegas for Erik Haula. Pittsburgh TRADED a 2nd-round pick to Vegas to ensure they selected Marc-André Fleury. Last but not least, Anaheim traded Shea Theodore to Vegas for Clayton Stoner. NHL general managers didn't know how to handle an expansion draft. Wow. - Nathan Grav, Sportsnet</q> It's pretty terrible when you think about it. No wonder the Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup Final in their first year and won it in their 6th. With the Canadiens, there was no lace. The player who had to be let go was Alexei Emelin, and although the CH and the fans loved him, Marc Bergevin didn't succumb to the temptation to make a deal for another player to leave. However, according to former CH employee Marc Dumont, the former GM did try to pick him up afterwards. <q>Bergevin even tried to negotiate a trade to bring Emelin back after he was (thankfully) picked by Vegas. Excellent physical player, but also one of the worst defensemen in the league.</q> We know Emelin never played for the Golden Knights. He was traded 10 days after the expansion draft to the Nashville Predators, in exchange for a 2019 3rd-round pick. This means that Bergevin was interested in bringing him back to Montreal, but he wasn't willing to give up that much. In retrospect, we now know that this was a good thing.