Boedker, Dillon Among Players Left Unprotected by Sharks

The NHL on Sunday morning released which players each of the 30 NHL teams are protecting and which they are making available to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.

The Sharks are protecting Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney, Jannik Hansen, Melker Karlsson, Ryan Carpenter, Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Martin Jones. San Jose chose the format of protecting seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie rather than eight skaters and one goalie.

Among the notable players available for Vegas are Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward, Dylan DeMelo, Brenden Dillon, Paul Martin, David Schlemko, Aaron Dell and Troy Grosenick. Pending unrestricted free agents Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau were also left unprotected, as expected.

The Golden Knights must select one player from each of the 30 teams, including 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. Their roster will be revealed on Wednesday, June 21, at the NHL Awards show in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights are also now permitted to speak with pending free agents that were not protected by their respective clubs – including Thornton and Marleau – with a 72-hour window to sign those players. If the Golden Knights agree to terms with one of them, they are not permitted to take a second player from San Jose's list of available players.

In a statement, Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said: "We are excited to welcome the Vegas Golden Knights to the National Hockey League and the Pacific Division. Per the guidelines that were set forth under the expansion draft rules, we have submitted our protected list to the National Hockey League. The reality is that we will be losing a player and quality person from our organization but whatever the outcome, we feel fortunate that we have a strong prospect pool with the San Jose Barracuda to help fill that loss."

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