The Las Vegas Whoevertheyares — the NHL expansion team will announce its nickname next Tuesday — are a year away from playing a game in the NHL, but the new club’s presence looms large this season.

As GMs gather today for their first meeting of the season, they will be looking for clarification from the NHL on expansion rules and the effect they can have on rosters and trades.

Each team can expect to lose a good player from its roster, given each must expose one defenceman and two forwards that are under contract for next season and will have played a minimum of 40 games this year or 70 over the past two seasons. The idea is to get the Las Vegas team as competitive as possible as quickly as possible.

“Certainly more competitive than any other expansion team,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “They’re going to have a deeper draft. Is it likely they’ll win the Stanley Cup in the first year? Perhaps not. But they should be playing meaningful games well into the season. That was the plan.”

The rules guiding what players can be protected and must be exposed have been out for some time, but not every team can fill the mandate and there are still some muddy waters to be waded through:

Each team must expose a goalie that is under contract for 2016-17, or a goalie heading into restricted free agency. The Montreal Canadiens, however, don’t have any netminder that fits that criteria, outside of Carey Price, and they’re not exposing him. They may have to re-sign backup Al Montoya just to expose him to the expansion draft, and there’s no guarantee Las Vegas will take him, so Montreal could end up with a contract they don’t want.

Some GMs were surprised to learn Las Vegas will have 48 hours from the time protected lists are released to negotiate with restricted free agents left unprotected. If a team loses an RFA, it won’t lose a player in the expansion draft.

The Vegas team can also talk with unrestricted free agents left unprotected for the same 48-hour period, giving them an unprecedented advantage over the rest of the league heading into free agency. They could actually come to an understanding with an unrestricted free agent, take another player from that team, then sign the UFA on July 1.

Individually, some teams are in tougher spots than others. The Wild have five blueliners they’d love to protect, but can only protect four at the most. Tampa can only protect one goalie, but have three either NHL-ready or in their prime. The Penguins might lose rookie of the year candidate Matt Murray because Marc-Andre Fleury has a no-movement clause.

“The reason we announced the expansion a year in advance was so our teams would have plenty of time to prepare for it,” Bettman said.

The players have signed off on pretty much everything, said NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr. Some players with full no-movement clauses may yet allow themselves to be exposed to the draft.

“That’s one of the things still being discussed,” Fehr said. “It’s the same as having a no-movement clause now and the team could still ask you to waive it (for a trade). You can, but you don’t have to.”

The Las Vegas team, by the way, has trademarked Desert Knights, Golden Knights and Silver Knights.

New rink: The Arizona Coyotes are negotiating with Arizona State University to build a16,000-seat arena. If it’s built, the Coyotes would be able to move closer to the most populous parts of the Phoenix area. “First, it will stop all the speculation as to what may or may not happen to the franchise,” Bettman said. “Secondly, it will ensure from an attendance standpoint the franchise can thrive. It will assure the long-term future of this franchise beyond doubt.”

Rask basks: Tuukka Rask, tied for the league lead with three shutouts, is 10-1-0 overall this season, with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage. Rask is the second goaltender in the Bruins’ 92-year history to win 10 of his first 11appearances in a season. (Gerry Cheevers went 10-1-0 in 1976-77). “That’s been Tuukka this year . . . giving us a chance to win every night,” Boston coach Claude Julien said.

Grabner goals: Don’t look now but Michael Grabner entered Monday tied for second in the NHL with 10 goals. Through 16 games this season, Grabner has eclipsed his goal total from 2015-16, nine in 80 games with the Maple Leafs. “I’m just trying to go out there and play my role,” said Grabner. “I think that’s a big part of hockey. When you get confidence, you just seem to be going out there, not thinking and good things happen.”

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Ekblad struggling: With just two points — both power-play goals — in 15 games, Aaron Ekblad is in the first extended slump of his three-year career. He is also a team-worst minus-7, while playing a team-leading 23:23 per game. “If you don’t see it on my face, you’re crazy,” Ekblad told The Miami Herald. “Sometimes it’s hard to look positively at your game if those kinds of things aren’t happening.” Ekblad’s 40 shots on goal ties him for second on the team, but his shooting percentage is at a career-low 5.0 per cent.

KHL contraction: The 29-team Kontinental Hockey League is considering cutting teams because a recession in Russia and the low price of oil have hurt the fortunes of the Russian state-owned companies and regional governments that fund most teams, pushing several deeply into debt. “I think it’s possible that the league could contract if the board takes that decision,” league president Dmitry Chernyshenko told state agency R-Sport. The move occurs months after the league expanded to China, a market also being targeted by the NHL for future merchandising growth.

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