Coyotes leave Richardson, McGinn exposed for expansion draft

The NHL released its protected and available lists on Sunday morning for the upcoming expansion draft. The Coyotes opted for the eight-skater format, protecting forwards Tobias Rieder, Anthony Duclair, Jordan Martinook and Nick Cousins along with defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, Connor Murphy, Luke Schenn and goalie Chad Johnson.

Among the key players exposed were wing Jamie McGinn, center Brad Richardson, restricted free agent center Alex Burmistrov, unrestricted free agent wings Shane Doan, Radim Vrbata and defenseman Kevin Connauton, and goalie Louis Domingue.

Every team had to expose at least two forwards and one defenseman that were under contract for next season and had logged 40 or more games last season or 70 or more the past two seasons.
McGinn, Richardson and Rieder were the only three forwards who met those requirements so the decision to expose McGinn and Richardson was unavoidable.

McGinn signed a three-year, $10 million deal with the Coyotes last summer. Richardson is coming off broken right tibia and fibula injuries suffered in November that sidelined him for the rest of the season. Doan and Vrbata are unlikely choices. Both want to play in Arizona, neither would likely play for Vegas, and neither would let the act of Vegas’ acquiring their rights sway their decision. Winnipeg placed Burmistrov on waivers last season so it’s unclear how much market value he has.

Coyotes GM John Chayka said Saturday that he was anxious to see the list of goalies that were exposed, raising the possibility of trades for a No 1. goalie after Arizona shipped Mike Smith to Calgary on Saturday.

Among the names made available were Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury, Detroit’s Petr Mrazek, the New York Rangers’ Antti Raanta, Boston’s Malcolm Subban, Columbus’s Joonas Korpisalo, Washington’s Philipp Grubauer and Colorado’s Calvin Pickard.

Brian Elliott, Jonathan Bernier, Ryan Miller, Jean-François Berube, Peter Budaj and Steve Mason are among the goalies expected to hit the open free agent market this summer.

The Expansion Draft Trade/Waiver Freeze went into effect on Saturday for all NHL Clubs with exception of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who can still make deals with any club.

Here are the full Coyotes lists:

Protected
Nick Cousins (F)
Anthony Duclair (F)
Jordan Martinook (F)
Tobias Rieder (F)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D)
Alex Goligoski (D)
Connor Murphy (D)
Luke Schenn (D)
Chad Johnson (G)

Available
Alexander Burmistrov (F)
Shane Doan (F)
Tyler Gaudet (F)
Peter Holland (F)
Josh Jooris (F)
Jamie McGinn (F)
Jeremy Morin (F)
Mitchell Moroz (F)
Chris Mueller (F)
Teemu Pulkkinen (F)
Brad Richardson (F)
Garret Ross (F)
Branden Troock (F)
Radim Vrbata (F)
Joe Whitney (F)
Kevin Connauton (D)
Jamie McBain (D)
Zbynek Michalek (D)
Jarred Tinordi (D)
Louis Domingue (G)

LOOSE PUCKS

The NHL set the salary cap ceiling at $75 million, and the floor at $55.4 million… Coyotes goalie coach Jon Elkin will return on a one-year deal, two sources confirmed. Elkin’s previous contract was set to expire on June 30. As Mike Smith’s longtime goalie coach, it was unclear whether he would return after the Coyotes traded Smith to Calgary on Saturday.

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