Changes will be sweeping through the NHL in June as the league prepares to officially welcome the Vegas Golden Knights for their inaugural season this fall.
In the coming days, the new franchise’s roster—thanks to the expansion draft which allows the Golden Knights to choose one unprotected player from each of the 30 NHL rosters—will be just about co
Each of those teams predetermines which players are up for grabs as they are allowed to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie OR eight skaters and a goalie from being picked up by Vegas.
Teams, including the New York Islanders and Rangers, must have their list of protected players into the league by 5 p.m. ET on June 17. Four days later at the NHL Awards show, the league will announce Vegas’ selections.
Both New York teams could lose some considerable talent in the next week given their limit on protecting players. Here is what their lists could look like:
New York Islanders predicted protection list
Forwards: John Tavares, Anders Lee, Andrew Ladd, Brock Nelson
Defensemen: Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Ryan Pulock, Travis Hamonic
Goalie: Thomas Greiss
New York Rangers predicted protection list
Forwards: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello
Defensemen: Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Nick Holden
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist
