There are many aspects and angles to necessitate a detailed schedule of procedures for the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft in which the Las Vegas Golden Knights will select one player from all 30 NHL teams.

Not only are there rules for the existing teams to abide by, like choosing either to protect 7 forwards, 3 defensemen and a goalie or just 8 skaters overall regardless of position along with 1 goalie. Then there’s the NMC (ie. no-movement clause), which necessitates taking up a protected spot. Trades may actually be made between the Las Vegas Golden Knights and existing NHL teams that could result in the Knights bypassing a player they otherwise would have selected. And on and on it goes.

Today, the league issued a “Critical Dates” schedule leading up to the June 21 announcement of Las Vegas’ selections, including stages that protect the rights of players like buyout windows, deadlines on being asked to waive a no-movement clause for the sake of a buyout or expansion-draft exposure. The teams are required to expose players at all three general positions who qualify for such via experience levels that take them out of the entry-level player category. Players who are just completing their first or second seasons of professional hockey are exempt.

That’s good news for the Bruins, who are well positioned with a roster that will largely consist of players exempt from Vegas’ reach.

A quick guess of the Boston Bruins in a 7-3-1 protection scheme would yield an obvious pattern with one decision at forward and one decision on defense. Barring a trade, here is what it looks like for Boston:

7 forwards: David Backes, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Riley Nash, David Pastrnak, and Ryan Spooner. An alternate list might include Matt Beleskey, but considering his nearly $4 million salary-cap hit and lack of scoring production – and word that the Knights will have no trouble reaching the cap floor – it’s far more likely the Knights will key on one of Boston’s exposed defensemen (see below). It’s been reported that the Bruins are fielding offers for Spooner who, with Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson now in the system, has apparently (and finally) tapped out Sweeney’s patience with his lack of compete level, particularly on the D-zone exit.

3 defensemen: Zdeno Chara (NMC), Torey Krug, and Kevan Miller. Rink Rap endorses a Kevan Miller protection and the resultant exposure of Colin Miller. Broad-based reasons for this: Kevan Miller was Boston’s second-best defenseman in the playoffs and not only because Krug, Brandon Carlo and Adam McQuaid (one D-man off of each pairing) missed the Ottawa series. His game was sturdy and strong, and under Claude Julien he had shown the ability to play the left side of the ice with confidence so head coach Bruce Cassidy knows he can adjust (even though when pairing the Millers together Colin was left side under Cassidy). Colin Miller has more offensive upside, but he will turn 25 next season and the potential upon which Sweeney based his acquisition (from Los Angeles in the Milan Lucic trade) may not substantially exceed what Colin Miller delivered this past season. Colin Miller has played some spectacular games for the Bruins, mixing the odd big hit with aggressive puck-moving ability and a wicked slapshot. That said, he turns over too many pucks on the breakout, the most troubling aspect of which is his propensity to jump out of the way of forecheckers’ hits, resulting in those cough-ups. Is that going to change? If that is who Colin Miller is as a player, then Sweeney needs to reckon with the puck-moving strength he has in Krug and Charlie McAvoy in particular and, from there, decide if, after just getting his team back among the Eastern Conference’s playoff eight, if Colin Miller’s offense is worth living with a crippling deficiency (it’s much easier to give away hockey games via soft play than to win them with skill). How much do the Bruins need another right shot with PMD skills if he’s going to be limited to protected matchups? Rink Rap believes the Bruins are better served protecting Kevan Miller – whose hardnosed game is not one-dimensional – and, if possible, retaining Adam McQuaid for mostly third-pairing duty opposite Krug (ie. Chara-Carlo, K. Miller-McAvoy, Krug-McQuaid).

That’s a lot of hot air on a subject that could soon prove moot. If Sweeney has taken this long before finally throwing in the towel on Spooner, he likely cannot be done with Colin Miller, his own acquisition(!). The more likely scenario: Sweeney protects Colin Miller and attempts to work a trade with the Golden Knights to not select Kevan Miller. If I’m Vegas, I’m pulling the senior Miller back closer to his L.A. roots. Trading Kevan Miller, however, would be a mistake for the Bruins. The guy has become a beast, a near replacement for Johnny Boychuk, and it’s tragic to think that the Bruins, after coming all this way via painstaking development on the job, would chose to do the same thing all over again (with no guarantee of reward) rather than enjoy the fruits of a finished product they worked so hard to cultivate.

1 goaltender: Tuukka Rask. The only intrigue here is whether, by whatever mechanics of their own process and confinements, the Knights are better off selecting Anton Khudobin (who is under contract for next season) over a defenseman. There is little doubt the Bruins want to see Zane McIntyre, after turning in a stellar sophomore pro season with the Providence Bruins, make the NHL leap this fall and back up Rask. Khudobin is a likable guy who took too long to find his form, and while he finished the season strong, what guarantee do the Bruins have that the same thing doesn’t happen all over again? Confidence in McIntyre is such that Vegas selecting Khudobin would be internally considered the best possible scenario (then the Bruins would not have to buy out or pay Khudobin to play AHL).

It’s a competitive conference and an increasingly competitive division. It’s reasonable for the Bruins, based on the past season’s progress, to plan on being a better team in 2017-18. But if, as expected, they let their unrestricted free agents (ie. John-Michael Liles, Dominic Moore and Drew Stafford) walk in the name of chancing the opportunity to entry-level players that they believe are ready, then the remaining asterisks only hang around the necks of Joe Morrow and Jimmy Hayes, two players whose NHL futures seemed solid two years ago but now find themselves at a mutual crossroads.

One thing the pro scouts couldn’t help notice: Morrow was forced out of mothballs in the playoffs of all times, and acquitted himself reasonably well. There were goals against, but given the challenge of stepping in at the most critical time of the season on a team that had shown zero trust beginning with the final half-dozen games of Julien’s tenure, the Group 2 restricted free agent was not too shabby and certainly should be given a fair chance somewhere (will Kevin Paul Dupont rename the NHL “the Original 31”?).

An aside on McQuaid: His loss would also come with a price. McQuaid, always clever and evermore gritty, was tragically injured for the playoffs. But a major reason the Bruins even made it to the postseason was his improved 5-on-5 play in concert with Krug. The two were routinely exposed in the transition game in 2015-16, but cleaned it up this past season. Both players looked faster in open-ice recovery, and it obviously helped that Julien structured a better-layered backcheck through the middle of the rink to help thwart the kind of plays that punished the duo too regularly in 2015-16.

Contrary to popular belief, McQuaid and Kevan Miller are not the same player. Both are right-shooting, tough-as-nails competitors whose value is greater when the opponent has the puck than when the Bruins do. But Kevan Miller is faster in the open ice, has higher offensive upside and, as noted before, can play left side (no routine thing in today’s highly systematic NHL). McQuaid is craftier and more accomplished at improvising under siege in the defensive end. Both have been highly valuable, but both have proven injury prone. Part of that is how hard they play. Miller’s right shoulder is always a concern, and McQuaid rarely makes it through a season without some kind of interruption. In fact, until the past season, it was extremely rare for both to be in the lineup at the same time; it was always one or the other. Until the playoffs, it seemed the Bruins might have both when it mattered most. Having both for a significant chunk of a season for the first time factored in helping the Bruins get back into the playoffs. Both have played up in the lineup, but Miller’s playoff performance indicates he is no longer significantly weaker where he has been weaker than McQuaid.

Bottom line: Regardless of how promising the future would look with Carlo, McAvoy and Colin Miller holding down the right side, it would be a huge mistake to trivialize the offseason loss of McQuaid and/or Kevan Miller.

IMO Sweeney does not need to trade Spooner in advance of the expansion draft, unless it plays into negotiations to influence Vegas’ choice. I doubt he would make Spooner available to Vegas as an unprotected player – that’s one way to avoid losing a Miller – but getting a roster player back only works if that player is a forward who is draft-exempt. More likely it would be another prospect or a pick that would not complicate the Bruins’ expansion-draft scenario.

Off-topic: I hope the Bruins do the right thing and retire Bill Cowley’s No. 10. Anders Bjork’s number at Notre Dame was 10. Cowley, if you don’t know (look him up at www.hockeyreference.com), was the point-per-game, Hall of Fame center of whom it was said he “created more wings than Boeing.” Cowley was a two-time Hart Trophy winner who was on two Bruins Stanley Cup championship teams (1939 and ’41) – sound familiar? – and played nearly his entire career for Boston until a contract dispute with Art Ross led to a separation between himself and the organization that has never been repaired. Cowley has been a quiet elephant in the Bruins’ kitchen, but before Bjork begins his NHL career, Cowley’s family should be allowed to celebrate his career the way other greats’ families have. No. 10 belongs up in the TD Garden rafters, not on Bjork’s back.

Here is Rink Rap’s June 1 guess on an opening-night lineup, assuming Spooner and the UFA’s are no longer with the club, and barring any other trades:

LW … C … RW

Bjork … Krejci … Pastrnak

Marchand … Bergeron … Vatrano

Heinen … Forsbacka Karlsson … Backes

Beleskey … Nash … Acciari

LD … RD

Chara … Carlo

K. Miller … McAvoy

Krug … C. Miller

G: Rask / McIntyre

Extras: Grzelcyk, Kuraly, Schaller.

Last cuts: Blidh, Czarnik, DeBrusk, Khudobin.

Off-season exits: Hayes, Liles, McQuaid, Moore, Morrow, Spooner, Stafford.

Key prospect pool: Blidh, Cehlarik, Czarnik, DeBrusk, Fitzgerald, Frederic, Gabrielle, Lauzon, O’Gara, Senyshyn, Subban, Vladar, Zboril.

Here is the NHL’s release:

NHL RELEASES UPDATED CRITICAL DATES FOR EXPANSION DRAFT

NEW YORK (June 1, 2017) – The National Hockey League released an updated critical dates calendar for the NHL Expansion Draft presented by T-Mobile, which will be held Wednesday, June 21, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (8 p.m. ET):

Monday, June 12 Deadline for Clubs to request that a Player “waive” his “No Move” clause for purposes of Expansion Draft (5 p.m. ET) (with the exception of Nashville and Pittsburgh, whose Deadline will be the later of: (i) 5 p.m. ET on June 12; or (ii) 5 p.m. ET on the day following the last day of the Stanley Cup Final).

Wednesday, June 14 Last possible day of 2017 Stanley Cup Final.

Thursday, June 15 First Buy-Out Period begins.

Deadline for Clubs to ask Players with “No Move” clauses whether they want to be placed on Waivers for purposes of Buy-Outs prior to Expansion Draft (11:59 am ET).

Friday, June 16 Last day to place Player on Waivers prior to Expansion Draft Trade/Waiver Freeze (12 p.m. ET).

Deadline for Players to agree to “waive” their “No Move” clauses for purposes of Expansion Draft (5 p.m. ET).

Saturday, June 17 Commencement of the Expansion Draft Trade/Waiver Freeze for all NHL Clubs with exception of the Expansion Club (3 p.m. ET).

Commencement of Expansion Draft Signing Moratorium on NHL SPCs for all NHL Clubs with exception of the Expansion Club (3 p.m. ET).

Deadline for each Club to simultaneously submit its Protection List to Central Registry and the NHLPA (5 p.m. ET).

Sunday, June 18 Deadline for Central Registry to approve and simultaneously distribute the Protection Lists to all NHL Clubs (including the Expansion Club) and the NHLPA (10 a.m. ET).

Opening of the UFA/RFA Interview Period (only applies to Players who are available for selection in the Expansion Draft) for the Expansion Club only (10 a.m. ET).

Wednesday, June 21 Deadline for the Expansion Club to simultaneously submit its Expansion Draft Selections to Central Registry and the NHLPA (10 a.m. ET).

Deadline for the Expansion Club to submit SPCs for any pending UFA/RFAs who are selected by the Expansion Club and signed to a new contract (10 a.m. ET). The Expansion Club is permitted to sign a current or pending Free Agent on a Current Club’s list of Available Players during the period between 10:01 a.m. ET on Sunday, June 18, and 9:59 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 21, and in so doing will be deemed to have made its Expansion Draft selection from such Current Club. If the Expansion Club signs a Restricted Free Agent from the Available List of a Current Club during said period, the Current Club will not be entitled to any compensation from the Expansion Club.

Official distribution and announcement of the Expansion Club’s Selections in conjunction with the 2017 NHL Awards presented by T-Mobile (8 p.m. ET).

Thursday June, 22 Expansion Draft Signing Moratorium and Trade/Waiver Freeze are lifted (8 a.m. ET).