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Las Vegas NHL team name George McPhee as GM

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Getty Images

Nearly three weeks after watching his son take the next step in his hockey career by getting drafted, George McPhee is set to begin the next chapter of his career by taking on the job of general manager for the Las Vegas expansion franchise.

McPhee, who has been working as a special advisor to New York Islanders GM Garth Snow since September, was officially announced Wednesday in Las Vegas as the franchise’s first general manager. They are set to begin play during the 2017-18 NHL season.

McPhee will bring plenty of experience to the gig having spent 17 years as GM of the Washington Capitals, helping setup an infrastructure within the organization that helped turned the team in perennial contenders. He also has a connection with Murray Craven, the former NHLer who’s been advising team owner Bill Foley throughout the expansion process, from their days in Vancouver in the early 1990s.

“If there’s another [general manager] job in the future and someone gives me an opportunity, I’d love to do it again,” McPhee said following his 2014 dismissal in Washington. “And I’d go to Iceland to do it. Doesn’t matter where it is.”

The hiring of McPhee is Foley’s first step in building an executive team. It’s a process that requires urgency with the expansion draft now 11 months away. Scouts need to be hired and the rest of the hockey operations department will need to be filled.

Foley has spoken about creating a roster that is competitive right away and not one to hover at the bottom of the NHL standings for its first few years like other expansion teams have done in the past. There’s a brand new arena in place and an owner who will to spend to put the best possible product out on the ice. With season ticket deposit sales over 15,300, the Las Vegas market will be hungry for success.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!