WINNIPEG – There were no real surprises on the Winnipeg Jets’ list of protected players for the upcoming expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights.
The protected lists for all NHL clubs were released on Sunday morning and as expected the Jets decided to protect a goalie, three defencemen and seven forwards. Marko Dano and Toby Enstrom are among the Jets’ players left unprotected.
The Jets protected Connor Hellebuyck, Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp and Joel Armia.
In addition to Dano and Enstrom, the Golden Knights will also have the option of selecting forward Shawn Matthias or blueliner Ben Chiarot.
Enstrom waived his no-movement clause to allow the Jets to leave him unprotected. By doing so it allowed the Jets to protect a total of 11 players instead of taking the other option, which was eight skaters and a goalie.
All first and second year professionals aren’t available to be selected in the expansion draft meaning Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Nic Petan and Brandon Tanev are all exempt.
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The Arizona Coyotes left former Jets forward Alex Burmistrov exposed. The Bruins did not protect Drew Stafford. The Sabres left Zach Bogosian and Manitobans Justin Falk and Mathew Bodie available. Calgary chose to leave Winnipeg’s Michael Stone unprotected. Jordin Tootoo is available from the Chicago Blackhawks. Winnipeg’s Calvin Pickard of the Colorado Avalanche was exposed. Brandon’s Matt Calvert is up for grabs from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Manitobans Cody Eakin of the Dallas Stars, as well as Darren Helm and Dylan McIlrath of the Detroit Red Wings did not get protected. The Wild left Brandon’s Ryan White unprotected. Former Jets Zach Redmond and Al Montoya are both available from the Montreal Canadiens. So too are Colin Wilson, Cody McLeod and former Jets defenceman Adam Pardy on the Nashville Predators. Winnipeg’s Dale Weise of the Philadelphia Flyers was also left exposed. Winkler’s Eric Fehr and Winnipeg’s Brendan Leipsic of the Toronto Maple Leafs are both available to the Golden Knights.
The New York Islanders protected St. Malo’s Travis Hamonic, Dauphin’s Ryan Pulock and former Jets captain Andrew Ladd. The St. Louis Blues used valuable protection spots on three Manitobans including Alex Steen, Joel Edmundson and Ryan Reaves.
The Golden Knights will reveal their selections on Wednesday.
Winnipeg Jets Available Players
Marko Dano (F)
Quinton Howden (F)
Scott Kosmachuk (F)
Tomas Kubalik (F)
JC Lipon (F)
Shawn Matthias (F)
Ryan Olsen (F)
Anthony Peluso (F)
Chris Thorburn (F)
Ben Chiarot (D)
Toby Enstrom (D)
Brenden Kichton (D)
Julian Melchiori (D)
Paul Postma (D)
Brian Strait (D)
Mark Stuart (D)
Michael Hutchinson (G)
Ondrej Pavelec (G)
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