Brad Treliving saw the rules for the expansion draft and immediately was in an advantageous position. The Calgary Flames' general manager needed a goaltender, and with Las Vegas set to harvest the NHL for two of them in a year, his colleagues had incentive to make a move.

The Flames got Brian Elliott from the St. Louis Blues for a second-round pick.

A full year before the Las Vegas expansion draft, GMs must plan for the inevitability of losing a player to a team that the league wants to be good out of the gate. Already the impact of the impending expansion draft has been felt with the Flames acquiring Elliott and the Toronto Maple Leafs getting goalie Frederik Andersen from the Anaheim Ducks.

The Ducks knew they wouldn't be able to keep Andersen and John Gibson forever, and the expansion draft expedited a move.

''After starting to hear what the expansion rules could be, you just knew you weren't going to be signing both of them,'' GM Bob Murray said. ''You're going to come out looking pretty stupid if you did that.''

No one wants to look stupid, and that's the challenge over the next 12 months.

Teams will only be able to protect one goalie, so the Tampa Bay Lightning will likely have to trade Ben Bishop and the Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins have to decide what to do with Marc-Andre Fleury before the yet-to-be-named Las Vegas team picks its first 30 players on June 20, 2017.

With the unrestricted free agent market opening Friday and trade winds gusting, teams have to consider the expansion draft as part of their offseason maneuvers.

''Everything will be affected by that,'' Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen said. ''In every decision, we'll have to take into consideration what the rules are and how that might affect our outlook for the expansion draft and ahead of that.''

Each team will be able to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender. Any player with a no-movement clause in his contract must be protected, and each team will lose one player.

Players with bloated contracts or who are past their prime will be exposed, but teams could take a serious hit because young and cheap talent will be plentiful.

That's a danger for a team like the Chicago Blackhawks, who have won the Stanley Cup three times in seven years but are locked into long-term deals with their core players. GM Stan Bowman, who has taken Chicago from the brink of cap purgatory back to the Cup, isn't worried about losing someone.

''I think sometimes you can get too worked up about it,'' Bowman said. ''It's a little bit early to be making moves strictly for an expansion draft that's going to happen in about 12 months from now.''

Win-now teams shouldn't get worked up. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford plans to keep Fleury and Cup-winning goalie Matt Murray for now and worry about it later, and making moves for the future alone won't help anyone capture a title next season.

''It's tough to take a player you like out of your lineup right now before the season starts, especially if you want to compete for a championship,'' Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said. ''You try and find that perfect situation where you're protected in an expansion draft.''

Expect some movement once teams have a grip on which players they might protect or have in danger of exposing for the NHL's Las Vegas venture. The Blackhawks have eight players with no-move clauses and the Blue Jackets six, which could necessitate buyouts this week or deals over the next year.

''Nobody could really prepare before they knew what the rules were,'' Kekalainen said. ''Some teams are in better positions just by accident or by luck or whatever.''

Edmonton Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli, who can relax with Connor McDavid exempt because he'll only have two years of pro experience, said teams will have to think differently if they face the potential of losing a significant player. No doubt that's a reality for some, but Treliving doesn't see that flooding the market.

''That idea that now that there's expansion everybody's going to be dying to just give you players, that's not quite the case,'' Treliving said. ''There is obviously a knowledge of what may happen, so people are trying to see if they can be aggressive or if that's going to be something in a year.''

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Because there's never enough news in the hockey world, the Hall of Fame board will hold its annual selection meeting Monday to determine its class for 2016.

There are 14 first-time eligible players who meet the consideration criteria, a list that includes Milan Hejduk, Petr Sykora, and Jamie Langenbrunner, but this latest wave is without an undeniable first-ballot candidate.

So, it appears it's time for the holdovers to burst through the Hall of Fame doors.

Here are our five leading candidates, all of whom have been passed over, ranked:

Eric Lindros

The unrealized aspect of Lindros' career will never detach itself from his legacy, but that doesn't change what this anomalous behemoth was at one point.

Engineered as to be dominant, Lindros had an unequaled blend of skill and strength. It made him one of, if not the best player in the NHL at the height of his career, something those now up, and those remaining eligible, cannot claim.

He scored at what was an all-time rate in eight injury-affected seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, and remains one of the NHL's 20 most productive per-game scorers despite concussions and inactivity having reduced him to a middling contributor for the final third of his career.

Doing it his way, Lindros divided himself to the institution, but that doesn't change the fact that he's the only eligible former Hart Trophy winner to not have been inducted, and he's certainly more deserving than some.

Mark Recchi

If the greatest barometer is individual production, than the seismic offensive totals in Recchi's portfolio should eventually do the trick.

Longevity his hallmark, Recchi, ranked 12th all time with 1,533 career NHL points, neighbors with an assembly of the greatest offensive players in the sport's history, and, really, a collection that makes up the Hall of Fame's backbone.

Though he was never really among a handful of the very best players in the league at any point in his career, he racked up an impressive 440 points across four seasons beginning in 1990. But what should tip the scales in Recchi's favor are 147 additional points achieved in his postseason career, which helped realize three Stanley Cup titles.

Paul Kariya

Kariya finished his relatively short career with an ineffectual (at least by Hall of Fame standard) 989 points, but remains one of less than 50 players to finish their careers having scored at least a point per game.

He won the Hobey Baker for a 100-point season at the University of Maine, but the closest he came to a major NHL award (unless you include his two Lady Byngs) was a second-place finish for the Hart Trophy in 1997.

Kariya won gold at three levels of international competition, which includes scoring three times at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, helping Canada snap its 50-year drought.

Dave Andreychuk

Andreychuk's in the same boat as Recchi: a non-elite, unyielding point producer that stuck around long enough to carve out a definitive place in the sport's history, and achieved a lasting measure of success.

He scored more goals, and unlike any other eligible player, actually holds a reasonably significant NHL record, having more power-play markers (276) than any player in history.

Andreychuk was never in consideration for a major award in his 24 years, but captained the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup. That run went even beyond team and individual achievement, as it greatly contributed to the sunbelt franchise establishing itself as a healthy hockey market.

Jeremy Roenick

A nine-time All-Star, Roenick earned celebrity status in the NHL for both his talent and personality.

With 1,216 career points, he's the fourth-leading American-born scorer (third if you include playoffs) after following up three 100-point seasons in his prime with the Chicago Blackhawks with fairly consistent production in more than a decade to follow.

As far as tangible accolades, both individual and team, he never achieved anything lasting.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Loui Eriksson reportedly has a half-dozen suitors, but the Boston Bruins are apparently amenable to increasing their offer.

Six teams have contacted Eriksson's representative, J.P. Barry, about the pending unrestricted free-agent winger, WEEI's DJ Bean reports.

The Bruins have been reluctant to offer the 30-goal scorer more than four years, but a source told Bean on Sunday that the club is willing to give him more than that on a deal with a lower average annual value.

Eriksson's camp reportedly believes he'll fetch at least five years on the open market.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said Thursday that he planned to take one more shot at signing Eriksson, but he acknowledged a reunion may not happen.

TVA's Renaud Lavoie reported on the same day that the two sides weren't close on an extension, and that Eriksson appeared likely to hit free agency July 1.

The window for teams to negotiate with pending UFAs opened Saturday at midnight.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Florida Panthers have their sights set on a talented pending-free-agent forward. No, not that one.

The club has already tendered Vincent Trocheck a qualifying offer, Harvey Fialkov of the Sun Sentinel reported Sunday night.

Teams have until Monday at 5 p.m. ET to extend qualifying offers to their restricted free agents in order to gain the right to match an offer sheet from another club or receive draft-pick compensation.

Trocheck can't accept the offer until July 1. It will expire if he chooses not to do so by July 15.

The 22-year-old center tied for third on the Panthers with 25 goals and ranked fifth on the club with 53 points in his third season with Florida.

As for the "big fish" in potential unrestricted free agency, Panthers general manager Tom Rowe told Fialkov Saturday that Steven Stamkos "isn't a high priority and that won't change for a couple of days."

The Panthers have nearly $19 million in cap space, but the GM said only small tweaks are required to improve the club that won the Atlantic Division title.

"We only have a third-line position we need to fill. We're targeting a bunch of guys we put together. We'll start calling around the agents, get the interviewing process going, and see if there's interest on the other side and go from there.

"Getting (defenseman Keith Yandle) signed before free agency and (acquiring defenseman Mark Pysyk for Dmitry Kulikov during the draft) filled a couple of holes. We still got a couple more up front we got to take care of."

Rowe's comments - along with the Panthers' cap flexibility and activity at the draft - suggest they should continue to be active when the free-agent frenzy begins July 1.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Ray Bourque knows he made an error in judgment after being arrested on a drunk driving charge over the weekend.

“For the first time in my life, I find myself in unfamiliar territory. I am not happy about the situation I put myself into on Friday night," the Hall of Fame defenseman said in a statement Sunday, according to The Boston Globe.

Bourque was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of liquor and following too closely to another vehicle following a two-car accident in Andover, Mass..

No injuries were reported, and he was released on bail.

The 55-year-old took the blame for his arrest in Sunday's statement, which was released by Celebrity Marketing, Inc., a Boston-based firm run by former Bruins goaltender Cleon Daskalakis.

"I am a very proud person that accepts the responsibility of my actions and have always accepted being in the media eye," Bourque said.

He asked the public to respect his privacy during the legal proceedings.

"I have used this popularity to try and positively impact as many lives as possible. I am happy that no one was hurt in the accident and thank everyone who has reached out in support of my family and me. Please be patient as I go through this process and respect my family and my privacy."

Bourque is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Lawrence District Court.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.