Penguins/NHL
Best Case Scenario For Pens in Expansion Draft
The NHL offseason is about to hit high gear. Expansion draft protected lists are officially due into the league office by 5:00 P.M. on July 17 with the expansion draft happening days later on July 21.
One major difference between Vegas and Seattle is how much more guarded Kraken GM Ron Francis has been with clubs on who they would take in Scenario A, B or C.
There’s going to be some side deals but not to the extent that McPhee sought out in 2017. Seattle has more teams guessing, multiple league sources say.
Pittsburgh went the 4-4-1 route in 2017 and will go the 7-3-1 this time around.
The Penguins brass in recent weeks has been bracing to lose To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! based off intel they’ve gathered, sources say.
A best case scenario for the Penguins?
Seattle selects [hide] defenseman Marcus Pettersson.
Pettersson, 25, has four more years remaining on his contract with a $4,025,175 cap hit. In a flat cap world, it’s too much money tied into a third pairing level defenseman. Losing Pettersson for nothing has value when you can clear $4 million off the cap, especially with PO Joseph waiting in the wings, even if the new regime isn’t as high on Joseph as the previous regime was.
Compared to potentially losing a Jason Zucker for nothing who the Penguins mortgaged a first round pick and top D prospect in their system for, Pittsburgh gave up little value for Pettersson in trading Daniël Sprong. [/hide]
