Not quite Golden Knights: 11 expansion-draft players who never made it

The Golden Knights roster has just nine players left from their 2017 expansion draft — Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Will Carrier, Nate Schmidt, Brayden McNabb, Jon Merrill, Deryk Engelland, Tomas Nosek and Marc-Andre Fleury.

Of the 30 players picked, 11 never suited up in a regular-season game for the team. In some cases, their tenure with the NHL’s newest franchise was less than 24 hours.

Here’s who they are and where they are now:

Calvin Pickard

The first name called in the 2017 expansion draft, the former Avalanche goalie was set to be the team’s backup behind Marc-Andre Fleury. On the eve of the season opener in Dallas, Pickard was traded to Toronto after Vegas claimed Malcolm Subban off waivers. Since then, he has played for Toronto, Philadelphia and Arizona and been waived multiple times. He signed with Detroit in the offseason and spent much of the year at AHL Grand Rapids.

Griffin Reinhart

A former top prospect for the Islanders, Reinhart was traded to Edmonton for the pick that became star winger Mathew Barzal. The Knights picked him up in the expansion draft from Edmonton, but he could never crack the Golden Knights roster in either of his two seasons with the franchise, spending both in the organization at AHL Chicago. He played 33 games this season for the Kontinental Hockey League’s Kunlun Red Star in Beijing.

Teemu Pulkkinen

The Finnish forward appeared for the Golden Knights in the 2017-18 preseason after being picked from the Coyotes but was sent to AHL Chicago. After scoring 29 goals and 36 assists in 75 games for the Wolves, Pulkkinen bolted for the Kontinental Hockey League, signing with Dinamo Minsk (Belarus) on a one-year contract. He led Minsk in goals and points in the 2018-19 season and re-signed. He scored what ended up being a team-leading 17 goals before being traded for cash to Dynamo Moscow in December.

Clayton Stoner

The Anaheim Ducks sent Shea Theodore to the Golden Knights to select Stoner, who was entering the final year of a four-year, $13 million contract. He had spent most of the 2016-17 season injured. Stoner appeared in camp, but suffered an abdominal injury and never played again. He recently rejoined the Golden Knights organization as coach of team’s 12AA youth team.

Alexei Emelin

The Russian defenseman was picked by Vegas after six seasons with Montreal. He spent 10 days as a member of the Golden Knights before he was swapped to Nashville for a third-round pick in 2019. After 76 unremarkable games with the Predators, Emelin left for the KHL, signing with Avangard Omsk (Russia), where he is under contract.

Trevor van Riemsdyk

The defenseman was a member of the Golden Knights for less than 24 hours. Selected from Chicago in the expansion draft, he was traded to Carolina the next day along with a seventh-round pick for a second-round pick in 2017 (the Golden Knights used that pick to get Jake Leschyshyn). Van Riemsdyk was a consistent part of the Hurricanes’ run to the Eastern Conference Final last season and remains with Carolina. He will be a free agent this offseason.

David Schlemko

Like Van Riemsdyk, the defenseman was with the Knights for about a day. The Golden Knights picked him away from the Sharks, then shipped him the following day to Montreal for a 2019 fifth-round pick. He split time between Montreal and AHL Laval, Quebec, before being traded ahead of the 2019 deadline to Philadelphia, which assigned him to AHL Lehigh Valley. He is a free agent.

Marc Methot

The strong, stay-at-home defenseman was picked from Ottawa and lasted five days on the Golden Knights roster before being traded to Dallas for goalie prospect Dylan Ferguson and a second-round pick. Methot missed large chunks of each of his two seasons with the Stars with knee injuries, opting to retire at the end of last season. Ferguson, 21, joined the Golden Knights ECHL affiliate in Fort Wayne, Indiana, this season.

Jean-Francois Berube

The Golden Knights accepted a 2017 first-round pick (which they used to get Erik Brannstrom), a 2019 second-round pick (which was sent to Detroit for Tomas Tatar), the injured Mikhail Grabovski and prospect Jake Bischoff to take the goalie’s expiring contract. He became a free agent that July and signed with Chicago for 2017-18, playing 13 games. He spent last year in Columbus’ minor-league system. Berube was with AHL Hartford, Connecticut, (N.Y. Rangers) when the season was paused.

Connor Brickley

Carolina sent a fifth-round pick to the Knights to coax them to pick Brickley and his expiring contract. He split 2017-18 between Florida and AHL Milwaukee and split the next season between the New York Rangers and their AHL affiliate in Hartford, Connecticut. He was playing for EC Red Bull Salzburg of the Austrian Hockey League this winter.

Chris Thorburn

In an effort to protect their numerous young players and prospects, Winnipeg sent a first-round pick (Nick Suzuki), a 2019 third-round pick (eventually sent to New Jersey) for a first-round pick that was received from Columbus and selecting Thorburn’s expiring contract. The veteran forward signed a two-year, two-way contract with St. Louis that offseason. Despite playing one game for St. Louis last season and no playoff games, he was the third person to hoist the Stanley Cup after the Blues beat Boston in Game 7 in June. He retired after the Stanley Cup Finals.