On the Expansion Draft Process …
Vegas Golden Knights: Vegas updating the expansion draft process.
“The Golden Knights organization is very pleased with how the expansion draft process has gone so far, through the NHL trade freeze which took effect Satruday, June 17 at 12 noon PT. Now, General Manager George McPhee and his staff will continue to have discussions with the other 30 NHL clubs. Vegas has indicated that they will give all 30 clubs every opportunity to keep their rosters intact if they’d like. This means that before the Golden Knights claim a player off a team’s unprotected list, McPhee and his staff are willing to negotiate deals so the other clubs do not lose a player they would otherwise like to keep.”
On Protected Rosters …
Adam Vingan of the Tennessean: The Nashville Predators are expected to protect eight skaters and one goalie – including defensemen Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm. The Predators could protect Calle Jarnkrok, which would then mean that James Neal would be left unprotected. TSN reported that the Predators and Golden Knights haven’t been able to reach an agreement to protect certain unprotected players.
John Hoven: The Los Angeles Kings protected eight skater list: Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Tanner Pearson, Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez and Derek Forbort.
Isabelle Khurshudyn of the Washington Post: From a person who is familiar with the Washington Capitals protected list.
- F Alex Ovechkin
- F Nicklas Backstrom
- F Evgeny Kuznetsov
- F Andre Burakovsky
- F Marcus Johansson
- F Lars Eller
- F Tom Wilson
- D Matt Niskanen
- D John Carlson
- D Dmitry Orlov
- G Braden Holtby
Notable unprotected players: Philipp Grubauer, Nate Schmidt, Brett Connolly and Jay Beagle.
The Capitals could make a deal with the Golden Knights – a pick or prospect – to not select Schmidt.
Unrestricted free agents that weren’t protected: T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams, Daniel Winnik, Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk.
Eric Francis: The Calgary Flames didn’t protect Troy Brouwer. They did protect Micheal Ferland, Curtis Lazar and Sam Bennett.