Benjamin Hager:Las Vegas Review-Journal
When it became known that longtime Capitals General Manager George McPhee had been hired by the yet to-be named Las Vegas expansion franchise in the same role, Caps fans could see McPhee wanting to recruit his former co-workers in D.C. to come work with him.
It started with the request to interview his longtime number two in Washington Assistant General Manager Ross Mahoney. While Mahoney declined the invitation, McPhee managed to lure one of the teams amateur scouts to come to Sin City. The next Capitals-related move was hiring former Caps goaltending coach Dave Prior in the same capacity. Now, he’s hired the Caps’ Head European Scout Vojtech Kucera in a similar role.
Kucera had been with the Caps since 2000 and was key in finding current European Capitals such as Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Marcus Johansson. Kucera also owns a well-known ice rink in the Czech Republic.
While it was almost inevitable that McPhee would try and snag some of his former front office members in Washington, he’s made the Vegas front office into a menagerie of former Washington employees, with the exception of Assistant GM Kelly McCrimmon.
With just over one year until the Vegas franchise plays its first game, McPhee has shown he’s clearly intent on somewhat recreating his hockey personnel team from his time with the Capitals. And the bad part: he may not be done.
By Michael Fleetwood
Nobody is mentioning the hiring of Andrew Lugerner as the Director of Hockey Legal Affairs for the Las Vegas franchise. He worked for the Caps on player arbitration matters including the Holtby and Johansson arbitration cases in summer of 2015.
Good point, Adam.
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