Hartnett: Expansion Vegas Could Poach Good Player From Rangers

By Sean Hartnett
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The expansion Vegas Golden Knights will soon assemble the bulk of its roster.

What general manager George McPhee does could impact every NHL team in some way.

In advance of the June 18-20 expansion draft, teams will turn in their protected lists by June 17. Vegas' selections will then be announced in its home building, T-Mobile Arena, on June 21 at the NHL Awards.

The Rangers' brain trust began offseason meetings in the resort city of La Quinta, California on Monday, with expansion draft strategies a focal point of the discussions. A 7-3-1 protection format (seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender) makes the most sense for the Blueshirts.

Teams are allowed to protect either: A.) Seven forwards, three defenseman and one goaltender or B.) Eight skaters and one goaltender. Any player possessing a no-movement clause that has declined to waive it must automatically be protected and will count towards a team's protection limits. All first-year and second-year NHL/AHL professionals are exempt, so that includes Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich, Jimmy Vesey, Ryan Graves, Neal Pionk, Cristoval Nieves, and Robin Kovacs, among others. The same goes for unsigned draft picks.

As the Rangers' roster currently stands, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, winger Rick Nash and defensemen Dan Girardi and Marc Staal each possess no-movement clauses and would be automatically protected should each of them decline to waive their no-movement rights. Under such circumstances, the Rangers' protected list could look like this:

Forwards (7): Rick Nash (NMC), Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad.

Defensemen (3): Dan Girardi (NMC), Marc Staal (NMC) and Ryan McDonagh.

Goaltenders (1): Henrik Lundqvist.

MORE: Hartnett: Big Changes Coming To Rangers? All Signs Say Yes

An interesting wrinkle is the complicated futures of Staal and Girardi. The Rangers could ask either veteran defenseman to waive his no-movement clause and if either player is agreeable, it would count towards the Blueshirts' exposure requirement. Alternatively, the Rangers could opt to exercise a buyout prior to the expansion draft. Girardi has three seasons remaining on his $5.5 million AAV contract, while Staal has four seasons left at a $5.7 million cap hit. If the Rangers were to buy out Girardi, a portion of his cap charge would be spread across the next six seasons. If Staal were to be bought out, the resulting cap charge would be spread across the next eight.

Persuading either defenseman to waive his NMC or straight up buying out of a contract would open a slot for the Rangers to protect an additional blue liner. Should the Rangers have this option available to them, they could be in position to take advantage of teams needing to shed quality defenseman they are unable to protect.

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa possesses a NMC. The Ducks could request Bieksa to waive his rights or be forced to buy out the 35-year-old defenseman to help alleviate their defensive headache. As their roster currently stands, Anaheim can only protect two of Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson in a 7-3-1 protection format.

The Minnesota Wild are in a similar situation. As things stand, defensemen Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dubma, Marco Scandella and Christian Folin cannot all be protected in either the 7-3-1 or 8-1 formats. Ryan Suter, Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville all possess NMCs. The Wild would need to buy out Pominville or coerce him into waiving his no-movement rights to protect all of the aforementioned blue line fivesome.

Expect the Western Conference champion Nashville Predators to employ an 8-1 format to ensure defensemen P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis are protected.

For the Rangers, one of Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg, Michael Grabner and Antti Raanta remains vulnerable players to be selected by Vegas. Fast and Lindberg are both 25 and are restricted free agents this summer. Grabner, 29, is coming off a 27-goal season and has one year remaining on his contract at $1.65 million. Raanta, 28, posted a 16-8-2 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage in 30 games last season. His inexpensive one-year, $1 million cap charge and his demonstrated ability to carry the Rangers while Lundqvist was injured makes him attractive to Vegas, but this is set to be a goalie-heavy expansion draft.

The case for Vegas selecting Lindberg has been boosted by his fine showings during the playoffs and at the 2017 IIHF World Championship. Lindberg collected two assists in five tournament games and helped Sweden to the gold medal. If I'm in McPhee's shoes, Fast would be the Ranger to select. The hard-working right wing constantly is trusted by head coach Alain Vigneault to fill holes across the lineup, excels on the penalty kill and boasts a strong positional sense. Fast was voted by teammates as the Players' Player recipient for the second straight season.

MORE: Hartnett: Consummate Team Player Fast Does The Little Things For Rangers

Here's a little more info on expansion draft rules. Every team must expose:

-- A defenseman who is under contract next season and has either played 40 or more NHL games this season, or had played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.

-- Two forwards who are under contract next season and either played in 40 or more NHL games this season, or had played in 70 or more NHL games in the prior two seasons.

-- One goaltender who is under contract next season or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current deal immediately prior to 2017-18. Should a club make an RFA goaltender available to fulfill this requirement, that goaltender must have received a qualifying offer prior to the team submitting their protected list.

The Golden Knights must pick at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. At minimum, 20 of those players must be under contract from the 2017-18 season. Vegas will need to add a cap hit between $43.8 million and $73 million through the expansion draft process.

It seems like the expansion draft could allow the Rangers to become bargain hunters on the trade market, though it's clear they will lose an asset to the Golden Knights.

Intriguing times lay ahead.

Follow Sean on Twitter at @HartnettHockey