The Vegas Golden Knights named Kelly McCrimmon of Plenty, Saskatchewan their second general manager in franchise history on Thursday. Their former general manager, George McPhee of Guelph, Ontario, will remain with the Golden Knights as their president of hockey operations.
McCrimmon, who had been the assistant general manager of the Golden Knights, had been rumoured as a leading candidate to be the next general manager of the Edmonton Oilers or the Seattle expansion franchise. McCrimmon’s and McPhee’s expertise in player evaluation were the major reasons why the Golden Knights have been the talk of the National Hockey League for their first two years of existence. In 2017-18, they unexpectedly reached the Stanley Cup Finals before losing to the Washington Capitals, and in 2018-19, finished third in the Pacific Division before losing their first round playoff series to the San Jose Sharks in a dramatic seven game affair.
Since 1988-89, McCrimmon has been very involved with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League. He started out as their assistant coach, and later became their head coach, general manager and owner. In 1996 and 2016, the Wheat Kings won the Western Hockey League Championship. Kelly McCrimmon is also the brother of the late Brad McCrimmon, who died in the tragic Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash in 2011.
