As expected, from the Winnipeg Jets the Vegas Golden Knights select… Chris Thorburn!?!

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This article was published 20/06/2017 (2500 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Toby Enstrom did the Winnipeg Jets a big favour by waiving the no movement clause in his contract in advance of Wednesday’s NHL Expansion Draft.

The Jets repaid the courtesy by securing Enstrom’s place on their roster by swinging a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights, allowing Winnipeg to keep the veteran Swedish blue-liner on their roster.

Instead of choosing Enstrom, the expansion Knights pulled a shocker, claiming the rights to 34-year-old free-agent forward Chris Thorburn from the Jets. Thorburn’s selection came as the result of a trade in which Vegas acquired Winnipeg’s first-round (13th overall) pick in Friday’s draft and a third-round choice in the 2019 draft while the Knights shipped a 2017 first-rounder (24th overall) acquired earlier from the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The deal also apparently allowed the Jets to keep 22-year-old forward Marko Dano, a prominent player left unprotected.

Las Vegas was required to choose at least one player from each of the 30 established NHL clubs and Enstrom’s favour allowed the Jets to protect seven forwards (Joel Armia, Andrew Copp, Bryan Little, Adam Lowry, Mathieu Perreault, Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler), three defencemen (Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers) and one goaltender (Connor Hellebuyck) instead of a formula permitting four forwards, four defencemen and a goaltender.

Dano, a 22-year-old Austrian-born Slovak forward, recently signed a one-year contract extension with the Jets worth US$850,000. He was originally chosen in the first round (27th overall) of the 2013 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets but was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 as part of a multi-player deal.

On Feb. 25, 2016, Dano was acquired by the Jets along with Chicago’s first-round pick in 2016 for veteran forward Andrew Ladd and minor leaguers Jay Harrison and Matt Fraser.

The 32-year-old Enstrom, meanwhile, has one year remaining on a five-year contract that has an annual salary cap hit of US$5.75 million.

Meanwhile, three Winnipeggers became expansion draft targets: Vegas chose goaltender Calvin Pickard from the Colorado Avalanche and centre Cody Eakin from the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Brendan Leipsic.

Pickard, 25, established himself as a bona fide NHL starter in 2016-17 for the last-place Avs. Pickard had a 15-31-2 record in 50 appearances, posting a 2.98 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.

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Eakin, 26, struggled offensively in 2016-17, scoring only three goals and 12 points in 60 games for the Stars.

The 23-year-old Leipsic, a 5-9, 170-pound centre, has only six games of NHL experience after an extremely productive junior career with the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks. He scored 18 goals and 51 points for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies in 2016-17.

The Golden Knights were required to choose at least 14 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders. The salaries of the players selected had to combine to equal at least 60 per cent of the league’s current salary cap.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14

Mike Sawatzky
Reporter

Mike has been working on the Free Press sports desk since 2003.

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