CHICAGO (AP) - The NHL stage belongs to Ray Shero and the New Jersey Devils. Then it goes right back to George McPhee and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas stocked its roster in the expansion draft Wednesday night, and now New Jersey is on the clock with the No. 1 pick of the amateur draft beginning Friday night at the United Center. The only other time the franchise had the first pick was in 1979, when the then-Colorado Rockies selected Rob Ramage.
"I think it's been exciting for our franchise, exciting time for our scouts," said Shero, who was hired as New Jersey's general manager in May 2015. "In addition obviously to the first overall pick we've got the nine other picks, which are going to be very important on Day 2.
"But this is, I think, once the dust has settled now with expansion in terms of Vegas making all the selections or trades, whatever they've done, it really puts into focus again OK, the draft itself, which is important for every team."
After New Jersey makes its pick - Shero said the Devils know who they are going to take, but he was keeping that to himself for now - Philadelphia, Dallas, Colorado and Vancouver round out the top five. Then Vegas makes the first pick in franchise history.
The Golden Knights announced two more trades Thursday, running their total to 13 picks for this year's draft. Vegas sent defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk and a 2018 seventh-round draft pick to Carolina for a second-round selection on Saturday. It also shipped defenseman David Schlemko to Montreal for a fifth-round pick in 2019.
Vegas, which selected 30 players in its expansion draft Wednesday night, now has three picks in each of the first two rounds. It also has two selections in the fifth and sixth.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap