Come on...anyone who thought that Las Vegas would make the playoffs right after the expansion draft is talking out of their ass. What they are doing is unprecedented and I would venture a guess that not a single relevant person thought they would make the playoffs. There's a reason they were 500-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup in Vegas sports books.
Just because teams were allowed to protect less players doesn't mean that the Golden Knights weren't still picking from the pretty much 3/4th line forwards and bottom pairing D-men, not to mention huge salary dumps like Fleury.
So yes, they were able to get somewhat better quality players than the Blue Jackets and Wild were, but let's be honest, what they are doing is ridiculous. I'm rooting for them all the way now that the Bruins have been eliminated and I hope they win it all.