Yesterday was a busy day. Busy at not being busy. The excitement of the pre-expansion draft trade deadline came and went with few moves, none of which were by the Maple Leafs.

Teams have now all submitted their protected lists to the Vegas Golden Knights. These allegedly will be made public some time today.

UPDATE: information on the Maple Leafs is now public

Exposed Players
Protected Players

Vegas can start making additional deals with teams today surrounding those lists, essentially requesting protection payments. The Columbus Blue Jackets have already made such an agreement, for a steep price.

Here’s a look at what other activity happened.

Beaulieu trade to Sabres opens up possibilities for Canadiens - Eyes On The Prize
The Canadiens have options - and draft picks - but trade leaves questions, too.

Farewell, Mike Smith: Analysing the trade to Calgary - Five For Howling
Mike Smith is now a Calgary Flame and the Coyotes are minus a starting goalie. So what's next?

Yesterday we made our selection in the SBN NHL Mock Draft.

Leafs select Eeli Tolvanen with the 17th pick - Kevin Papetti
BPA wins the day with our Mock Draft pick.

Other News

Who out of Rychel, Leivo and Leipsic should the Toronto Maple Leafs protect? - MLHS
All three of the above-mentioned players experienced mixed seasons and  it’s difficult to pinpoint where they fit in the plans of the Leafs brass moving forward; none of them has cracked the NHL full time, all three are now waiver eligible.

Hurricanes Hire Mike Bales as New Goaltending Coach - Canes Country
The former NHLer joins the Hurricanes after four years as Pens’ goaltending coach.

Wild did not trade Brodin prior to Expansion Draft trade moratorium - Hockey Wilderness
Signs are pointing to the Wild standing pat with the defenseman and exposing him in the Expansion Draft.

From The Branches