Penguins Release Protection List

The Penguins released their Protection List for the upcoming Expansion Draft.

Opting to protect eight skaters and a goalie, the black and gold shielded forwards Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, defensemen Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz, and goalie Matt Murray.

Players in the first and second year of their initial pro contract, including Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary and Daniel Sprong, are exempt from Wednesday’s draft.

Among the prominent players left unprotected are goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, forwards Carl Hagelin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson, and gritty defenseman Ian Cole.

The Pens eschewed an option that would’ve allowed them to protect two extra skaters overall but one less defenseman.

My take? GM Jim Rutherford and his staff must feel fairly assured that Las Vegas plans to select Fleury. How else do you explain leaving a sparkplug and clutch goal scorer like Rust unprotected?

Western Exposure

A number of high-profile players were left unprotected by their respective teams, including former Pens sniper James Neal. Here’s a quick glance at some of the notable players exposed:

Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Player (Pos)	Team	Players (Pos)	Team
Josh Bailey (F)	Islanders	Pontus Aberg (F)	Predators
Zach Bogosian (D)	Sabres	Troy Brouwer (F)	Flames
Marc-Andre Fleury (G)	Penguins	Dustin Brown (F)	Kings
Philipp Grubauer (G)	Capitals	Cody Eakin (F)	Stars
Roberto Luongo (G)	Panthers	Dan Hamhuis (D)	Stars
Marc Methot (D)	Senators	James Neal (F)	Predators
Petr Mrazek (G)	Red Wings	Colton Sissons (F)	Predators
Brock Nelson (F)	Islanders	Eric Staal (F)	Wild
Michal Neuvirth (G)	Flyers	Semyon Varlamov (G)	Avalanche
Tomas Plekanec (F)	Canadiens	Sami Vatanen (D)	Ducks
Bobby Ryan (F)	Senators	Joel Ward (F)	Sharks
Nate Schmidt (D)	Capitals
Ryan Strome (F)	Islanders

Around the League

There were several trades yesterday as teams positioned themselves for the upcoming Expansion Draft.

Calgary, rumored to have interest in Fleury, filled its goaltending void by acquiring Mike Smith from Arizona. The Flames sent goalie Chad Johnson, prospect Brandon Hickey, and a conditional second- or third-round draft pick in either the 2018 or 2019 draft to the Coyotes.

Buffalo acquired defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from Montreal for a third-round pick in 2017 draft. Devils GM Ray Shero was active as well, acquiring defenseman Mirco Mueller and a 2017 fifth-round draft pick from San Jose Sharks in exchange for 2017 second-round and fourth-round draft picks.

On June 14, Washington acquired hulking center Tyler Graovac from Minnesota for a fifth-round pick in 2018 draft.

Without question Montreal and Tampa Bay hooked up on the splashiest pre-draft deal. The Canadiens acquired talented left wing Jonathan Drouin and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2018 draft from the Lightning. In return, the Bolts received promising 18-year-old defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional second-round pick in 2018 draft.

Among other noteworthy news, the Rangers are buying out the contract of long-time stalwart and assistant captain, Dan Girardi. The veteran defender had three years remaining on a contract that paid him $5.5 million/season.

In similar moves involving defensemen, Anaheim plans to buy out the contract of former Pens prospect Simon Despres, who is suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Colorado bought out Francois Beauchemin.

This ‘n’ That

The Buffalo Sabres named Phil Housley as their new head coach on Thursday. A first-round pick of the Sabres back in 1982, the former Hall-of-Fame defenseman replaces ex-Pens skipper Dan Bylsma, who was fired on April 20 following two seasons at the helm.

That’s good news for the Pens. Assistant Rick Tocchet, widely rumored to be a front-runner for the Buffalo job, remains with the black and gold, at least for now.

Inside the organization, Mike Buckley replaces Mike Bales as goaltender coach. Bales, credited with helping Fleury solidify his game, accepted a similar position with Carolina.

Buckley worked extensively with youngsters Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry in his former role as goaltending development coach, making the Massachusetts native a natural to succeed Bales.

On Friday, Bill Guerin was named general manager of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Guerin, who served as the Pens’ assistant general manager the past three seasons, replaces Jason Botterill, who was named GM of the Sabres on May 11.