Las Vegas hires Kelly McCrimmon as assistant GM for new expansion franchise

The Las Vegas expansion NHL team has hired Kelly McCrimmon as its assistant general manager on Tuesday.

McCrimmon is well-known and widely respected in hockey circles as a brilliant talent evaluator during his time at the junior level. The owner, general manager and head coach of the Western Hockey League's Brandon Wheat Kings is now George McPhee's right-hand man in Las Vegas.

"In our conversations before we hired him, I really liked his integrity and his character — real straightforward, real smart guy," McPhee said in a phone interview.

"I just think that these kinds of hockey men are hard to find, and I was delighted that he wanted to come with us."

The 55-year-old led the Wheat Kings to the WHL title this past season after turning down a job in the Toronto Maple Leafs' front office a year ago. McCrimmon is a three time WHL executive of the year and was the Canadian Hockey League's executive of the year in 2009-10.

McCrimmon led his team to the playoffs as coach 10 times in 12 seasons. He starts immediately in Las Vegas and will be responsible for all aspects of hockey decisions.

Owner Bill Foley called the hiring of McCrimmon "another positive step" in the building of the team, which begins play in the 2017-18 season. McCrimmon said joining a new franchise was an incredible opportunity.

"It's just a tremendous acquisition for our franchise," McPhee said. "It's a great start."