NHL Expansion Draft: Washington Capitals lose Philipp Grubauer

The Anaheim Ducks will likely do some fancy maneuvering to ensure they can protect him. But as it stands right now, they won’t be able to protect Jakob Silfverberg. Vegas hopes this remains true, as he’s a proven scorer.

Not surprisingly, the Arizona Coyotes won’t have much to offer the Vegas Golden Knights. Luke Schenn might be the best option, and that’s telling of how bad the rest of the options are. He’s a decent defenseman, but he’s a third pairing guy at best.

Vegas will happily take a draft pick or two from the Calgary Flames to ensure they take Troy Brouwer off their hands. His contract was awful before the ink dried, and it’s looking even worse a year later.

Yet another veteran forward who the Vegas Golden Knights will get draft picks to take. Benoit Pouliot has had a rough go of it this season, but his underlying stats suggest he needs a fresh start. Don’t be surprised if he’s a quality player in Vegas.

The Vegas Golden Knights will jump all over Brayden McNabb. Something to watch moving forward, though – how much do the Kings offer them to take on Marian Gaborik or Dustin Brown?

San Jose could go in a number of directions as far as protecting players, so this should be interesting. Chris Tierney’s a quality depth forward who should grow into a third line role.

Other than the Avalanche and the Coyotes, no team will offer Vegas a thinner selection of players than the Vancouver Canucks. Their most intriguing player is Anton Rodin, so Vegas should go with him. The rest of their unprotected players are probably going to be known quantities, and not good ones either.