Rangers go with 7 forwards, 3 defense, and 1 goalie as protection list is official

The Rangers expansion protection list is official. They’ve protected 7 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 1 goalie, as expected. Here is the full list:

• Forwards: Chris Kreider, Artemity Panarin, Pavel Buchnevich, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome, Filip Chytil, and Kevin Rooney
• Defense: Jacob Trouba, Ryan Lindgren, Libor Hajek
• Goalies: Igor Shesterkin Alex Georgiev (sorry – lack of sleep is catching up to me)

The surprise here is Rooney, since most of us thought he would be exposed. This means that Colin Blackwell, Phil Di Giuseppe, and Julien Gauthier will be left exposed in expansion. They will likely lose Gauthier, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s Blackwell.