Calle Jarnkrok among Predators players protected in NHL expansion draft

Adam Vingan | The Tennessean

Show Caption Hide Caption What the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft means for the Predators On June 21, one player is going to be gone from the Nashville Predators thanks to the NHL Expansion Draft. The question is who?

Predators forward Calle Jarnkrok was among the players protected by the team when it submitted its expansion draft protection list to the NHL on Saturday, Jarnkrok's agent told The Tennessean.

The rest of Nashville's list is currently unknown and will be publicly released Sunday morning.

It is expected that the Predators will use the eight-skater option to shield their top four defensemen — Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm.

If that is the case, then Jarnkrok's inclusion could mean that forward James Neal will be exposed to the Vegas Golden Knights. Neal's agent didn't respond to messages left by The Tennessean.

TSN reported Saturday that the Predators and Golden Knights haven't been able to reach an agreement on a trade that would prevent certain exposed players from being selected.

RELATED

The Golden Knights have until 9 a.m. CT on Wednesday to compile their roster, which will be announced that evening during the NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

With the exception of Vegas, the remaining 30 teams are prohibited from making trades with each other until Thursday at 7 a.m. Those teams, however, may continue to negotiate with the Golden Knights regarding possible trades to sway Vegas' decision-making.

Reach Adam Vingan at avingan@tennessean.com and on Twitter @AdamVingan.