THUNDER BAY -- Just three of Thunder Bay’s eight active NHLers won’t be up for grabs to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Matt Murray, fresh off leading his team to a second straight Stanley Cup championship, was the highest-profile local player protected when the league unveiled all 30 teams’ protected list on Sunday morning.
Murray was 32-10-4 with a 2.41 goals against average for the Penguins in 2016-17 and returned from a hamstring injury in the third-round of the playoffs and posted three shutouts en route to claiming another Cup win, leading Pittsburgh past Nashville in six games.
As expected, the Penguins exposed veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the team required to make available at least one netminder either under contract for next season or one heading into restricted free agency who has already received a qualifying offer.
A pair of Staal brothers were also shielded from the expansion draft.
In New York, the Rangers will hang onto defenceman Marc Staal, whose no movement clause means the team had to protect the 30-year-old veteran.
Staal scored three goals and added seven assists in 72 games with the Rangers this season, his 10th with the team.
Younger brother Jordan was also protected, the Carolina Hurricanes deciding to keep the defensive-minded forward in the fold.
A former No. 2 overall pick, Jordan Staal had 16 goals and 29 assists in 75 appearances for the Hurricanes, and has 187 goals and 436 points in 764 career games.
He’s spent the last five seasons in Carolina, after coming over in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Oldest brother Eric, who arguably had the best season of all three hockey-playing siblings, was left unprotected by the Minnesota Wild.
Entering his 14th season, Eric Staal enjoyed a resurgence in St. Paul, lighting the lamp 28 times while playing all 82 games and posting his highest point total since 2012.
The 32-year-old last July signed as a free agent with the Wild, and upped his career totals to 353 goals and 846 points while surpassing the 1,000 games played mark in 2016-17.
Division rival St. Louis Blues left a pair of Thunder Bay-born players unprotected, offering up goaltender Carter Hutton and defenceman Robert Bortuzzo to the Golden Knights.
Neither move came as a tremendous surprise.
Hutton, 31, signed a two-year deal with the Blues prior to this past season, most experts believing he got the extra year so the Blues could meet the NHL expansion.
He more than proved his worth in St. Louis, posting a 13-8-2 record in 29 appearances, his 2.39 goals against average 15th among goaltenders with 20 or more games played.
The bruising Bortuzzo, who struggled with injuries all season long, had a goal and three assists playing in 38 games, also playing in 10 playoff games for the Blues, who lost in the second round.
Pending unrestricted free agent Patrick Sharp was also not protected by the Dallas Stars. The 35-year-old is coming off his worst season in more than a decade, putting up just eight goals and 18 points in 48 games.
Finally, the Ottawa Senators chose not to protect free-agent-to-be Tom Pyatt, who made a triumphant return to the NHL in 2016-17 after spending the past two seasons in Europe.
Pyatt had nine goals and 14 assists, dressing in all 82 games for the Senators. He also scored twice in 14 playoffs games as Ottawa made it to the Eastern Conference final.
The Golden Knights will select one player from each team, and must take at least 14 forwards, nine defencemen and three goaltenders. They have until Wednesday to inform the league of their selections.
