Latest Expansion Draft Buzz

The Pittsburgh Penguins protected list for the expansion draft is as followed:

Key Forwards Exposed: Brandon Tanev, Jason Zucker, Zach Aston-Reese (RFA),

Buzz: The Top-5 was clear cut for months. No. 6 and No. 7 is a different story. Even at his age, Pittsburgh see’s Jeff Carter as part of their core for next season and some say Ron Hextall believes Carter has more hockey left in him than just this season (Don’t be shocked to see Carter agree to a one year extension). The Penguins rationale for protecting Jeff Carter, though, remains to be seen as the chances of Seattle selecting Carter were always thought to be minimal due to Carter’s age and his salary being so low for next season that he would just retire if selected by Seattle.

However, there were certainly some whispers last night that a few contenders in the East had spoken with Seattle about a side [hide] deal for Carter were he to be left unprotected. [/hide] One team that kept coming up was the [hide] Tampa Bay Lightning, [/hide] the other being the [hide] Philadelphia Flyers. What theater that would have been. At the end of the day, the Penguins had to cover their bases and he’s a player they feel is vital to their success next season and they didn’t want to ruff any feathers by exposing him, as one source put it.

Protecting Carter, though, had a trickle down effect as with the trade of Jared McCann in getting no NHL ready player back in return for next season, Pittsburgh could come out of the expansion draft losing two top-9 forwards from their roster in a matter of days to go with a third in Evgeni Malkin going to be sidelined to start the season.

Pittsburgh was locked into keeping Teddy Blueger days ago, which meant the team was going to have to expose Tanev, a favorite of the coaching staff.

For how management wants this team to play, some around the league this week saw the Penguins potentially exposing Brandon Tanev as a major risk, maybe more so for a side deal, sources now say, but we’ll find out in a couple days.
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The Penguins, though, have been led to believe Jason Zucker and Zach-Aston Reese are stronger candidates at the forward position to be selected by Seattle than Tanev. We’ll see………

Key Defensemen Exposed: Marcus Pettersson, Cody Ceci (UFA)

Buzz: It wasn’t just the sixth and seventh forward spots that the organization wavered on until final 48 hours before the protected lost deadline. Who to protect as the third defenseman was not clear cut among the brass but the Penguins at the end of the day settled on Matheson over pending UFA Cody Ceci, a source says. Pittsburgh remains [hide] interested in retaining Ceci who can now talk to Seattle. [/hide]

Buzz: There are no indications that protecting Casey DeSmith was much of any discussion. With Seattle already having their goaltending targets lined up, exposing Jarry was of little interest to the Penguins.

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Penguins Protected Expansion Draft List Released Latest Pens Buzz: Seattle made a quick decision to go with Brandon Tanev, sources say What went down in failed Minnesota trade, Why Penguins view Kessel’s Trade List as a joke & More Buzz Post-Game Buzz: Breaking down Penguins 5-2 loss and is Tangradi’s opportunity with Malkin nearing an end?