“The decisions we make, do we make them for now or do we make them for the expansion draft?” Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan said. “You try to find that perfect situation where you’re protected in the expansion draft, but in the end, we’re going to lose a player I think that we really like, and it’s going to be unfortunate.”

While some of the rules have leaked, and we know that teams will have a choice between protecting seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender (11 players) or eight skaters and one goaltender (nine players). But here are some questions that still require further explanation:

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How will pending unrestricted free agents be handled?

The expectation is that pending unrestricted free agents will be eligible to be drafted, but it’s unclear if Las Vegas would risk wasting a draft pick on one as they would still need to sign the player to a contract. The expansion draft will be held in late June and then free agency will start on July 1. To that end, the current teams might consider holding off on extensions for pending UFAs until after the draft, opting to protect other players on the roster and hoping the pending free agency will deter the Vegas team at the expansion draft.

So while drafting a pending UFA could give Las Vegas the first crack at signing the player — much like a team trading to acquire early negotiating rights, as the Arizona Coyotes recently did with Alex Goligoski — there’s also the chance the player isn’t interested in playing there and signs elsewhere shortly after the draft. Thus, Vegas would have wasted a valuable pick. But that won’t be a gamble Las Vegas will have to take.

Based on discussions around the league, there apparently will be a mechanism to help Las Vegas with exposed UFAs. Once the list of unprotected/draft-eligible players is compiled, Las Vegas would have a two-day window to talk with the pending UFAs in that group and gauge their interest in Sin City before the actual draft. In essence, they would have a 48-hour edge on the entire exposed UFA market. That might give pause to any team faced with a decision to protect a free agent, particularly a core player (think Victor Hedman in Tampa Bay or Karl Alzner in Washington). From the perspective of the new team, if they are certain those UFAs won’t (or would) sign in Las Vegas, it will help better guide their selections.

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Are players like Blackhawks forward Artemi Panarin exempt?

Players with two years or less of professional hockey experience will be exempt from the expansion draft. According to the collective bargaining agreement, 10 or more games played in the NHL at age 18 or 19 counts as a season, as does any American Hockey League or NHL season for players older than that. The rule was created to protect junior players, like Buffalo’s Jack Eichel and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. But Panarin is 24, and he scored 30 goals and 47 assists in his “rookie” season. Though he’s not exactly a junior player after he spent several years in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, this one seems pretty straightforward. If Panarin can be a finalist for the Calder Trophy, the NHL’s rookie of the year award, then his lack of experience should likewise make him exempt from the expansion draft.

What if a team can’t comply with expansion draft rules?

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When deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to reporters before the Stanley Cup finals, he referenced a “significant” penalty – like a loss of draft picks and/or players – if teams were unable to comply with the draft rules. According to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman must be exposed who have played 40 games the previous season, or a total of 70 over the previous two, and there is also a requirement that the 40/70 players are under contract for the first expansion season. Using the generalfanager.com expansion draft tool, even the league’s youngest teams, like the Toronto Maple Leafs, should be able to comply. Other collective bargaining agreement wrinkles, such as players only being eligible for no-movement clauses in the years after they are eligible for Group 3 Unrestricted Free Agency (seven accrued seasons or 27 years of age), should prevent any drastic roster jockeying to protect certain players.