Good morning all. Today should be a day that will live in infamy if the MSHM guesses hit the mark. By 3pm ET this afternoon teams have to either jettison prime assets for picks/prospects or risk losing them to the VGK expansion draft monster. It is also the last chance to buy out uncooperative/unmovable players taking up space on protected lists. There’s been decent volume so far but deadlines spur action.
Schedule
3pm ET - Trade/movement moratorium begins. Not sure if it ends when Vegas submits it’s picks (Weds at 10am ET) or when they’re announced (that evening). Safe to say by Thursday teams can start trading their asses off before the amateur draft Friday night.
5pm ET - Expansion draft protected lists submitted to the NHL
10am ET Sunday - Expansion draft protected lists released to the public. Also at this time, the VGKs have a 3 day window to negotiate with teams, make trades, negotiate with RFA/UFA players, etc culminating with submitting their 30 picks on Wednesday morning
Other than a surprise trade, the big one here for Avs fans is the protected list being made public tomorrow morning. Will they go 7-3-1 or 4-4-1? Picks or Varly? Will they sign Goloubef or Weircioch so they can protect Barberio? Which protected player will be the most baffling? The most rage-inducing? Anybody home? Hello McFly.
Stay tuned, more to come as always.