BUT........ the key player impacting any move or hypothetical protection list made by the Rangers is Antti Raanta. It comes as no surprise that Vegas is in the market for a burgeoning, young tender looking to take the reigns as a starter on another NHL team. Raanta ticks all the boxes after successful runs in Chicago and New York as each team's primary backup. His current $1.0M cap hit provides even more appeal to Vegas, who will be flush with RFA options within the expansion process, but nevertheless restricted to only 10 selections under the 'without a contract' category. With this in mind, the Rangers have a choice: (i) allow Raanta to be picked by the Golden Knights in order to save both Grabner & Holden from selection, or (ii) deem these two skaters to be replaceable commodities and deal Raanta for whatever you can get.

To trade or not to trade?

Several teams are in a position to take on a tender before the draft. Arizona, Calgary, NYI, and Philadelphia have noticeable openings in goal, while Ottawa, San Jose, Vancouver, and Winnipeg could all be in the mix if they consider Raanta an upgrade in value or performance over their current protection tender. But with Washington (Grubauer) and Pittsburgh (Murray or Fleury) also in the same conundrum, the predictable return in a deal - low ceiling prospect or 2nd-3rd round draft pick - will be much lower than the current value Grabner provides. With such a low 'hit-rate' on draft picks outside the 1st round, there's a chance they receive a zero-impact player in return.

EMPIRE CITY TO SIN CITY...The Golden Knights select

Unless he get's dealt before the expansion draft, the Vegas selection here has to be Antti Raanta. His numbers have been consistent for years, and in some respects last year even surpassed those of King Henrik... okay, that's not fair. He hasn't shouldered the burden of a #1 tender just yet, including the night-in-night-out starts against the league's top teams, but we have seen signs of promise. Stacked up against the other top backups, rumoured to be on the move (or in Darling's case, already have), Raanta's numbers show a wider gap between himself and his team's primary starter in almost every category. Considering each goalie has a different roster and style of play in front of them, the relative gap between starter and backup serves as an effective tool for evaluation across teams.

With Darling already dealt and signed in Carolina, and Pittsburgh likely to ship out Fleury in order to protect Murray, Vegas should and will focus their attention on Raanta and Grubaurer.