from Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

The Golden Knights finally had players they could put into uniform. Thirty-seven in all, who always will be remembered as the original faces of Las Vegas’ first major league sports franchise.

They will be known as the first ones picked by general manager George McPhee and welcomed by majority owner Bill Foley, who paid a record $500 million a year ago to join the NHL as the league’s 31st team.

“I’m thrilled,” Foley said after his team was announced during the NHL Awards Show on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena.

“I thought we did a great job of balancing veterans and young players and we negotiated for some extra players and draft picks.”...

“It’s a pretty impressive group,” said Knights coach Gerard Gallant. “There’s more skill than I anticipated and there’s more than enough character guys. I’m excited about what we have. George and the guys did a great job.”...

“We had two objectives going in,” McPhee said. “One was to put a team on the ice that would entertain and compete, one the NHL and Las Vegas would be proud of. The other was to acquire additional draft picks to help us achieve long-term success. I thought we were successful in doing both.”

more