Timing is everything for Las Vegas' assistant GM Kelly McCrimmon

Timing is everything and Kelly McCrimmon knows a thing or two about that.

McCrimmon managed to time his departure to the NHL perfectly. He stalled a year – despite overtures from the Toronto Maple Leafs last summer – to push his Brandon Wheat Kings from WHL finalists to champions. He’ll now start anew as the assistant GM of the expansion team in Las Vegas.

In a video on the Wheat Kings website, McCrimmon – the longtime owner/operator – called the position in Nevada a “dream job” because of the chance to help build an organization from scratch.

That’s where timing comes in again. Las Vegas owner Bill Foley and GM George McPhee are getting a hockey executive who’s shown an impeccable knack for knowing the right time to retool, load up and at which time his rivals are most vulnerable.

It all comes down to his decision-making on the WHL trade market, a place where he rarely came out on the losing end. McCrimmon developed a reputation as the shrewdest dealer in the league, causing one counterpart to quip that he must have incriminating pictures at his disposal. His blockbusters with two teams in particular – the Saskatoon Blades and Lethbridge Hurricanes – over the last five years helped shape the Wheat Kings.

The biggest deal with the Blades is well documented. McCrimmon sent fan favourite and captain Brayden Schenn to his hometown team just days after he tied a Canadian scoring record at the 2011 World Junior Championship. The Blades were on their way to a first-place regular season finish and saw arguably the CHL’s top prospect as their missing piece.

McCrimmon struck and received a king’s ransom: two first-round picks, a second-rounder, a CHL import selection and two prospects. One of the prospects was Tim McGauley and one of the draft picks turned into goaltender Jordan Papirny, both fixtures on Brandon’s successful clubs during the last two seasons.

With the Wheat Kings due to regress in 2012-13 after the graduation of now-Ottawa Senators right winger Mark Stone, McCrimmon avoided half measures in an attempt to retool. He dealt overager Brenden Walker to Saskatoon, which was seeking veteran help as Memorial Cup hosts.

The key to the trade was Brandon securing the right to flip first-round picks with Saskatoon the following season when the Blades were starting their post-Memorial Cup rebuild. The provision ultimately earned the first overall pick in 2014 (via Vancouver) and Stelio Mattheos, a regular last season and member of Canada’s 2016 Ivan Hlinka under-18 team.

McCrimmon was also quick to pounce on the troubles of the Hurricanes, who saw a mass exodus of players amid on-and-off-ice turmoil.

Ryan Pilon, Reid Duke and Macoy Erkamps were all acquired in two separate deals. Pilon, a 2015 New York Islanders pick, spent almost two full seasons in Brandon before deciding to retire last September. Duke and Erkamps played two seasons of their own and won a title last season. Erkamps was the team captain.

McCrimmon will be hard pressed to provide input on the same types of successful deals in the NHL, but his junior hockey knowledge will be invaluable for the fledgling squad. And he’ll score big if he helps McPhee realize the time to capitalize and the time to plan ahead.

That’s one of the trademarks the Wheat Kings will miss the most.

McCrimmon’s management and regular coaching has made Brandon one of the WHL’s model organizations. McCrimmon, who won a WHL championship with the team as a player in 1979, bought a third of the franchise in 1992 and became the sole owner in 2000. In 24 seasons, the team missed the playoffs just twice, won two league championships and appeared in four Memorial Cup tournaments. As coach, McCrimmon has an impressive 423-223-36-38 record next to his name.

McCrimmon will still own the Wheat Kings, much like Brent Sutter did in Red Deer when he left to pursue an NHL coaching job. You can bet whoever is running the team will have McCrimmon on speed dial, much like the OHL’s London Knights do with co-owner and Toronto Maple Leafs director of player personnel Mark Hunter.

But McCrimmon no longer has both hands on the wheel in Brandon. That leaves a huge void. Perry Bergson documented, in the Winnipeg Free Press, the list of personnel already with the Wheat Kings that could replace McCrimmon. McCrimmon mentioned he will “look internally” to address his absence.

His roll with the Wheat Kings will be a hard one to fill. But at least he leaves for the NHL as a WHL champion.

Chalk it up to good timing for Kelly McCrimmon.