When George McPhee was constructing his roster in June during the NHL Expansion Draft, the Golden Knights general manager was thinking of being competitive in the team’s inaugural season.
The playoffs? It wasn’t a priority.
“We were simply trying to put the best team we could on the ice in terms of talent, character and leadership,” McPhee said last week in Edmonton. “We didn’t know where that was going to take us.”
But after McPhee and his staff’s handiwork resulted in a record season, a division title and a playoff berth with home ice advantage for the first two rounds, the question begs — is this team built for postseason success?