A look at the Capitals players VGK GM George McPhee was responsible for

One of the more interesting tidbits about the Vegas Golden Knights facing the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Final is that Golden Knights general manager George McPhee gets to face the team that let him go.

Following the Capitals missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years following the 2013/14 season, McPhee’s contract with the Capitals was not renewed by the organization, ending his tenure from 1997-2014 as the team’s GM.

Approximately 50 months later, McPhee finds himself in the Stanley Cup Final with the expansion Golden Knights racing to face off against those same Capitals.

This isn’t the first time McPhee has been to a cup final. He was in office when the Caps were swept by the Detroit Red Wings in 1998. During his duration in Washington, McPhee was responsible for seven division titles and had his say in helping draft 13 players on the Caps current roster:

Alex Ovechkin, 1^st overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft

Nicklas Backstrom, 4^th in 2006

John Carlson, 27^th overall in 2008
Braden Holtby, 93^rd overall in 2008

Dmitry Orlov, 55^th  overall in 2009

Evgeny Kuznetsov, 26^th overall, 2010
Philipp Grubauer, 112^th overall, 2010

Travis Boyd, 177^th overall, 2011

Chandler Stephenson, 77^th overall, 2012
Tom Wilson, 16^th overall, 2012
Christian Djoos, 195^th overall, 2012
 

Andre Burakovsky, 23^rd overall, 2013
Madison Bowey, 53^rd overall, 2013

Nate Schmidt would’ve been included in that list, too, but McPhee was able to pluck him from the Capitals during the expansion draft.

He was one of the masterminds behind building the Caps and Golden Knights, and will now be watching both of the clubs go toe-to-toe for Lord Stanley’s mug.