NHL Expansion Draft: 5 best players available for Golden Knights

May 31, 2017; Las Vegas, NV, USA: General overall view of the T-Mobile Arena exterior on Las Vegas Blvd. on the Las Vegas strip. The facility will be the home of the NHL expansion franchise Vegas Golden Knights which will begin play during the 2017-18 season. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

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Jun 11, 2017; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators left wing James Neal (18) and center Mike Fisher (12) react after an empty net goal by Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Carl Hagelin (not pictured) in the third period in game six of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

2. James Neal

The Nashville Predators will be able to protect their four star defensemen. However, this left them with some tough choices as far as which forwards to protect. They are protecting their extremely important ones, as Ryan Johansen, Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson aren’t going anywhere. Neither is center Calle Jarnkrok. This, however, leaves veteran forward and goal scorer James Neal available to the Golden Knights.

Nashville will likely work something out so Vegas doesn’t take him. However, should general manager George McPhee decide to take Neal, he’s getting one of the most consistent goal scorers in the NHL. In each of his nine seasons, he has at least 20 goals, with at least 25 in four of them. Neal is by no means an elite goal scorer, but he’s remarkably consistent. Most scorers are somewhat inconsistent, but this doesn’t apply to Neal. You know what you’re going to get from him.

Another reason why taking Neal makes sense for Vegas is he could be a top target at next year’s NHL trade deadline. The Golden Knights will likely pick a few players to flip to other teams for future assets. If that’s their strategy, it’s hard to see any better players to do this with than Neal.

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