30 NHL teams scramble to prepare for Vegas Golden Knights draft

Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury blocks a shot during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Team president Glen Sather said Dan Girardi's contributions to the New York Rangers were "immeasurable" as the club announced the impending buyout of his six-year contract.

Teams across the league are having to shuffle their decks with buyouts, trades and signings as they prepare for the Las Vegas Golden Knights to poach a player at the first NHL expansion draft in 17 years next week. Clubs have until Saturday morning to submit a limited list of players that Vegas can't touch.

The Rangers would have had to include Girardi in that group had they not exercised a buyout as players with no-move clauses in their contracts must be protected -- unless said player agrees to waive that clause as Marc-Andre Fleury did for the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season.

Dion Phaneuf declined when the Ottawa Senators asked, a complication which forces a difficult decision for general manager Pierre Dorion.

"It was a man-to-man conversation, it was a good conversation," Dorion said of his talks with Phaneuf on Thursday morning. "It was explained very well to him, our request and why we were making this request."

Dorion said the Senators wanted to keep their top two defence pairings intact for next season and therefore, protect Marc Methot and 23-year-old Cody Ceci alongside captain Erik Karlsson. The club felt like it could expose the 32-year-old Phaneuf to Vegas and not risk losing him because of his age and contract -- which carries four more years at an annual cap hit of US$7 million.

It's apparent Phaneuf, who has grown comfortable as a Senator, didn't want to take the risk and Ottawa, barring a trade, will have to expose either Ceci or more likely Methot, who turns 32 next week.

Teams can only protect either seven forwards, three defencemen and one goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender.

Teams with veteran cores like Ottawa face more difficult protection decisions than those in say, Toronto. The Maple Leafs don't have to protect Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner or William Nylander with first and second year pros automatically exempt from selection.

Fleury made life easier for the Penguins when he agreed to waive his no-movement clause ahead of the trade deadline.

Without such a move, Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford would have been forced to either trade Fleury, buy him out or leave Matt Murray, the promising 23-year-old starter in back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, unprotected in the expansion draft -- an obvious non-starter.

"I thought it was the right thing to help the team, to stay with the team and finish the season here and have a chance to play for the Cup again," Fleury told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Buying Girardi out allows the Ranger to protect one more player from Vegas -- perhaps 30-year-old Nick Holden. Girardi, a declining 33-year-old who suited up for almost 800 regular season games for New York, had three more years left on his contract with an annual cap hit of $5.5 million.

The Colorado Avalanche went down the same path when they bought out the final year of 37-year-old Francois Beauchemin's contract on Thursday.

The Rangers also signed former Senator Matt Puempel to a one-year contract earlier this week in another move based around the expansion draft. Teams have to expose at least two forwards (and one defenceman) under contract for next season who played either 40 games this past season or 70 games combined the past two seasons -- a qualification Puempel helps them meet.

The Washington Capitals gave the Minnesota Wild a fifth-round pick for Tyler Graovac on Wednesday night for precisely the same reason.

Clubs can also strike deals with Vegas to ensure that certain players aren't picked -- a draft pick, for example -- in exchange for such a guarantee.

Protection lists must be submitted to the NHL and NHLPA on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET

Teams must submit their protection lists to the NHL and NHLPA on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.