Analysis:

Golden Knights’ McPhee on Shipachyov: ‘Sometimes it just doesn’t work’

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Las Vegas Golden Knights center Vadim Shipachyov (87) and goalie Oscar Dansk (35) celebrate a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche during a preseason hockey game, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017, in Denver.

Thu, Nov 9, 2017 (3:16 p.m.)

George McPhee has been nearly flawless since he was hired as the Golden Knights general manager in July 2016.

He navigated through the expansion draft masterfully, collecting 15 draft picks and a handful of highly touted prospects, while still managing to put a competitive team on the ice.

Actually, saying the Golden Knights have been competitive may be underselling them, as they’re off to the best start by an expansion team in the 100-year history of the NHL.

And despite having only 23 roster spots, McPhee has not wasted a single one of his 30 expansion selections, meaning every player chosen is either still with the franchise or netted a draft pick. This alone is an impressive feat, considering most experts expected at least a couple “throw-away” picks.

Today, however, high-priced Russian free agent Vadim Shipachyov retired from the NHL and returned to his home country after only 32 minutes of ice time with the Golden Knights, marking what could be McPhee’s first real misstep.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t work,” McPhee said of the Russian superstar he signed for $9 million this summer. “Sometimes the player you see in Europe just isn’t the player you see here. That’s the risk you take when you sign them. You’re hoping that it works out, but it doesn’t always.”

McPhee provided consent for Shipachyov to return to play in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia immediately. If he wanted to return to play in the NHL, Shipachyov’s rights still belong to the Golden Knights for five years, but, McPhee said, he would allow him to go to another team.

On Oct. 3, the day of final roster cuts, the Golden Knights sent Shipachyov to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. At the time, McPhee said it had nothing to do with his lackluster performance in the preseason and more to do with his waiver exempt status, meaning he could be sent down without the chance of losing him to another team. McPhee even let Shipachyov come back to Las Vegas to be with his family, as opposed to playing in Chicago.

But on Oct. 25, after a brief stint in the NHL, Shipachyov was sent back to the AHL — this time with the instructions to play with the Wolves.

“He needed to assimilate more and work on his pace of play,” McPhee said. “We were willing to work with him. He needed some time to play to see if he could adjust to the pace of play of the North American game with a smaller rink. But he wasn’t willing to do that.”

Shipachyov refused to report to the AHL and was suspended by the Golden Knights on Oct. 29.

“He needed to play,” McPhee said. “You can’t just practice and adjust to this game. Everyone here was playing better than he was at the center ice position.”

In just three games with the Golden Knights, Shipachyov recorded one goal and no assists. The 30-year-old finished third in points in the KHL in Russia last year with 26 goals and 50 assists.

Shipachyov made it clear he didn’t want to play in the AHL, but there are plenty of NHL-caliber players who have to pay their dues in the minors before getting their break.

Alex Tuch and Shea Theodore are two of the most talented players on the Golden Knights roster, and both had to start the season in the AHL for the same waiver exempt reason Shipachyov was there.

Tuch went to Chicago and racked up four goals and an assist in three games. Theodore dominated with five goals and six assists in eight games with the Wolves.

Shipachyov pouted.

“There’s no shame in going to the American Hockey League. Seventy-five percent of the players in this league have played there,” McPhee said. “You have to do things the right way. Whoever is playing well plays. He needed to play, and we were willing to have him play in Chicago and give him that time and work with him. But he just didn’t want to do it. That’s OK. That’s not what he signed up for, and it’s not the end of the world.”

The whole situation may have been avoided with the simple waiving of Griffin Reinhart on Oct. 3 instead of Oct. 29.

Reinhart remained with Vegas for the first three weeks of the season and was a healthy scratch in every game. If his roster spot would have been given to Shipachyov, he may still be a Golden Knight.

In the end, the mistake doesn’t cost McPhee much.

He gave up no assets to get Shipachyov, and upon retirement, Shipachyov had to repay $1,902,439 of the $2 million signing bonus he received, keeping $97,561 for the time he spent with the Golden Knights.

The real mistake was in talent evaluation. Believing so strongly that Shipachyov was good enough to be a top-line center, McPhee outbid other NHL teams to get him, then realized what a mistake it was after only 32 minutes on an NHL rink.

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