Yesterday the Rangers surprised a few of us by protecting Kevin Rooney in the 2021 Expansion Draft. Given the contracts to both Brett Howden and Julien Gauthier, the options were open for the Rangers to protect one of Rooney or Colin Blackwell. The assumption was that the Rangers would protect Blackwell, given his prominent role, good numbers, and great feedback last season. Granted that feedback came from David Quinn, but it might have been backed up by Gerard Gallant at the Worlds this year.
Protecting Rooney makes sense
The Rangers basically made a choice between Howden and Rooney, and chose the latter.