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Leafs protection list
F: Kadri, van Riemsdyk, Bozak, Komarov, Martin, Brown, Leivo(7)
D: Rielly, Gardiner, Carrick(3)
G: Andersen(1)
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The NHL’s pre-expansion trade freeze did not yield a great deal of movement on Saturday.
The Montreal Canadiens continued to divest themselves of defensemen under the age of 30, trading 24-year-old Nathan Beaulieu to the Buffalo Sabres for a 2017 third round pick, Arizona moved goalie Mike Smith to the Calgary Flames for a draft pick and prospect, and the New Jersey Devils swapped a pair of 2017 draft choices to the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Mirco Mueller.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did not pull off a trade before the 3pm deadline and between now and Wednesday’s expansion draft, the Vegas Golden Knights will be the epicenter of the hockey universe, as teams with players vulnerable to being claimed will try to strike a deal with Knights GM George McPhee.
There are rumors of the Anaheim Ducks striking a deal to get Vegas to pass by forward Jakob Silfverberg and defenseman Josh Manson, while
Aaron Portzline reported on Saturday that Columbus has agreed to move their 2017 first round pick and allow the Golden Knights to select forward Matt Calvert, William Karlsson or former 2nd overall pick Ryan Murray to protect other players and to take the last three years of former Leaf David Clarkson’s contract off their hands.
Once the protected lists are released at 10am EST Sunday, the Golden Knights will begin to scour the available players to determine who they will select, but they will also be open to the interest of other teams who make offers to deal for players on other club’s exposed lists.
Ottawa, Florida, Minnesota and the NY Islanders all will have blueliners exposed on Wednesday when the Golden Knights make their picks.
The Sens could not get Dion Phaneuf to waive his no-movement clause, and are expected to shield Erik Karlsson and young Cody Ceci, which means that veteran Marc Methot is available.
The Panthers can protect only one of Jason Demers and RFA’s
Alex Petrovic and Mark Pysyk, New York could lose Thomas Hickey, Ryan Pulock, Scott Mayfield, Calvin De Haan or Adam Pelech, while the Wild face the prospect of exposing Jonas Brodin, Marco Scandella or Matt Dumba.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, this could be an opportune moment to use some of their organizational depth (youngsters Josh Leivo, Brendan Leipsic or Kerby Rychel) or draft picks to acquire defensive help.
The acquisition of former McPhee first rounder Eric Fehr at last season’s trade deadline has long been rumored to be someone that Vegas could claim as part of an arranged deal.
If GM Lou Lamoriello does pull off this type of deal, it will not become public knowledge until Wednesday, when the expansion selections are announced at the NHL Awards.
Sportsnet’s
Elliotte Friedman said on Friday that the Leafs intentions have not gotten out, but that they are likely going to try to make a big move that will improve their chances over the next two years, while Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander are on their entry-level contracts.
That suggests acquiring blueline help already under contract (like Brodin, Sami Vatanen or Chris Tanev) and perhaps adding veteran depth up front like free agents Justin Williams, Patrick Marleau or Ilya Kovalchuk if Toronto has to trade winger James van Riemsdyk.
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