Wild deal Tuch to Golden Knights

The Minnesota Wild sent 2014 first-round pick Alex Tuch to the Vegas Golden Knights as part of an expansion-draft side deal, the clubs announced Wednesday.

The agreement sees the Golden Knights sign Wild restricted free-agent Erik Haula after the new club agreed to stay away from center Eric Staal and defensemen Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella, all of whom were made available in the expansion draft.

Haula agreed to a multi-year extension with the Golden Knights, which had an exclusive window to negotiate with pending free agents, according to reports.

It's not the first such deal struck by the Golden Knights, which also made similar arrangements with the Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders, with both deals returning first-round draft choices to Vegas.

The Golden Knights announced their 30 selections - and numerous trades - as part of Wednesday's NHL Awards ceremony.

Any further deals, where Vegas chooses a player and then flips him to another club, cannot be announced until a league-wide trade freeze lifts Thursday.