Now that the Pittsburgh Penguins are 2017 Stanley Cup Champions, they face some tough decisions. That starts with: who gets protected in the NHL Expansion Draft?
NHL Expansion Draft
Pittsburgh Penguins left wing Carl Hagelin (62) celebrates with center Sidney Crosby (87) after scoring an empty-net goal against the Nashville Predators. Only one of them is safe in the NHL Expansion Draft. (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)
Every protection strategy is hard. There are hard decisions to make, hard guys to see leave.
Nobody wants to see their players go in an NHL expansion draft.
Those decisions become harder when your roster just won a Stanley Cup.
A few days after taking home the best trophy in sports, the Penguins will have to choose.
Pittsburgh must whittle their winning roster down to seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender.
Those aren't easy decisions. So let's help them make some.
NHL Expansion Draft
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) skates with the puck and scores a goal against the Nashville Predators during the third period in game two (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
P is for Perfection
Applicable Penguins Forwards: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist, Carl Hagelin, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Scott Wilson, Josh Archibald, Oskar Sundqvist.
More from Puck Prose
NMC: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel
These guys were safe anyways. They're the three best players on the Pittsburgh Penguins, and they're on incredibly team friendly contracts.
Phil Kessel, with 23 playoff points and 70 in the regular season, only has a 6.8 million dollar cap hit.
That's incredible production for very little when it boils down to it.
Evgeni should have been the Conn Smythe this year, and he still makes less than ten million.
Sidney Crosby's fascination with his own number makes for one of the best contracts in hockey.
There is no value on this trio. They are literally priceless. This triumvirate is the catapult to the Penguins' recent success, and they were guaranteed safe from any NHL expansion draft a long time ago.
Guaranteed: Patric Hornqvist, Bryan Rust
A lot of Hornqvist being safe in my mind is the fact that he scored the Cup-clinching goal. While the Blackhawks let Dave Bolland walk after he did the same, Hornqvist has other values.
Throughout the playoffs, Hornqvist had 9 points, including 5 goals. He had just 2 giveaways in 19 games.
Which reflects on his abilities as a possession beast throughout the regular season. He also posted 44 points and again had very few giveaways. Dude controls the puck.
Bryan Rust is a 25-year-old winger who's got one more year til restricted free agency. But his impact in the playoffs is what keeps him in Pittsburgh.
It truly feels like whenever Rust is mentioned in the playoffs it's for something positive. That includes 2 game-winning goals this season. He's got great finishing ability.
And that ability to finish plays, especially in the playoffs, keeps him away from the NHL Expansion Draft.
Likely: Scott Wilson, Josh Archibald
Scott Wilson morphed into a defensive player in the regular season then changed back to score 3 goals in the playoffs.
That's the kind of flexibility the Penguins are going to need heading forward, especially when, starting 58.4% of his shifts in the d-zone, Wilson represented a 51.6 Fenwick.
Josh Archibald is the only currently restricted free agent the Penguins might be considering saving from the NHL expansion draft.
A lot of that is his playoff performance, mainly the fact that he played in them.
Carl Hagelin costs 4 million dollars and scored 22 points in the regular season and just 2 goals in the playoffs.
When you have to expose two guys with contracts offensively, he doesn't make the cut.
NHL Expansion Draft
Nashville Predators left wing Pontus Aberg (46) handles the puck as Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin (8) pressures (Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports)
P is for Phantom
Applicable Pittsburgh defensemen: Kris Letang, Olli Maatta, Ian Cole, Frank Corrado, Derrick Pouliot, Tim Erixon, Stuart Percy, Justin Schultz, Brian Dumoulin.
More from Puck Prose
NMC: Kris Letang
I'm gonna say something bold: Not having Kris Letang is the reason the Penguins had to go to game 7 overtime with the Ottawa Senators.
They came within a bounce of being eliminated. That doesn't happen with Kris Letang on the team, the sole superstar on defense.
He helps the Penguins counter the Senators offense.
This is also a better team with Letang on it. There's a reason he plays 25 minutes a night when healthy.
Letang also has positive possession numbers and scored 34 points in 41 games.
He's invaluable and if the Penguins did this without him, imagine what they could do with him (oh right win like last year).
Guaranteed: Brian Dumoulin
Nobody stepped up bigger or was a better defenseman in the playoffs for Pittsburgh than Dumoulin.
That's just an objective fact. Highlighted by his team-leading 22 minutes a night. He was the quiet force that made sure the transition from Marc-Andre Fleury to Matt Murray was a smooth one.
Dumoulin also scored 6 points including a game-winning goal. He's just 25 and has quickly become better over the last two seasons.
Probably: Olli Maatta
You don't get rid of a 22-year-old defenseman in the NHL Expansion Draft. Especially not one under contract until 2022. Especially not one that played more than 20 minutes a night in the playoffs.
Even with that now-ugly contract, Maatta is too important to the future success of this team. He's their youngest defenseman by a wide margin, and he's found success in the NHL.
That success led to a game-winning goal in the playoffs amongst eight points.
NHL Expansion Draft
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray (30) makes a save against Nashville Predators during the second period in game six of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)
MM is for Magic Machine
Applicable Penguins goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury, Matt Murray
Guaranteed: Matt Murray
Matt Murray won two Stanley Cups in his rookie year. Not even Ken Dryden did that. While Murray didn't do it alone, he still stepped in at a critical time and shut out the Predators in the last two games.
In his 11 games in the playoffs this season, Murray had a 1.70 GAA and a .937 SV%. Both led the league in the playoffs. Again, he did that in the last two rounds of the playoffs.
And Murray is only 23, has been for less than a month. He's staying put in Pittsburgh and was always going to be safe in the NHL Expansion Draft.
The Penguins would have traded their next three first round picks if they had to. They'll all be in the high 20's anyway.
Waived NMC: Marc-Andre Fleury
Fleury helped lift the Penguins to the series against Ottawa and won a Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009. It's unfortunate that he must go, but he lost his starting place.
Too Young To Handle
Exempt List: Jake Guentzel, Daniel Sprong, Carter Rowney, Conor Sheary, Tristan Jarry
NHL Expansion Draft
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) makes a save on Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson (not pictured) during the third period in game one of the Eastern Conference Final (Don Wright-USA TODAY Sports)
Vanilla Golem-Knight
Vegas takes Marc-Andre Fleury. A starting goaltender of his caliber isn't something literally anybody else is giving up.
Whether Vegas uses him as a trade piece or as their legitimate starter, Fleury will very likely be the best selection in the NHL Expansion Draft this year.
