The San Jose Sharks protected seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender ahead of this week's expansion draft, and left all four of their major free agent signings from the last two summers unprotected, the team announced today.
San Jose protected forwards Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Tomas Hertl, Chris Tierney, Melker Karlsson, Jannik Hansen, and newly signed Ryan Carpenter. The Sharks also protected defensemen Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun, and goaltender Martin Jones.
This left Mikkel Boedker, David Schlemko, Paul Martin, and Joel Ward, the team's biggest free agent acquisitions over the last two summers, exposed and eligible to be taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in Wednesday's Expansion Draft.