Report: Vegas likely to be exempt from potential Seattle expansion draft

If Seattle is granted the next NHL franchise, the Vegas Golden Knights aren't expected to lose a player or receive a cut of the expansion fee.

There's no reason to expect Vegas would be put in a position to lose a player, as they won't be getting a share of the $650-million fee Oak View Group would pay if their application is accepted, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

That was part of the agreement between the NHL and Golden Knights owner Bill Foley when he was awarded the 31st club, per the report. The other 30 teams would get $21.67 million each from Seattle after receiving $16.67 million when Vegas entered the league.

Commissioner Gary Bettman told GMs last month that any potential future Seattle expansion draft would operate under the same conditions as the one Vegas completed last June.

An expansion draft is unlikely to take place before June 2020.

OVG has already filed its expansion application. It received 10,000 season-ticket deposits within 12 minutes of opening its season-ticket drive on March 1.

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