Ron Hextall said in his season-ending media availability that he anticipates that the Penguins will "probably lose a pretty good player.”
This will be the 11th expansion draft the Penguins have participated in (not including their own) and they've lost some "pretty good players" to teams entering the league over the years.
Let's take a look back at past expansion drafts since the Penguins came into the league in 1967, and which players the Penguins lost to those new teams.
1970: BUFFALO SABRES, VANCOUVER CANUCKS
The Penguins lost four players in the draft, all of whom were defensemen chosen by Buffalo. The Canucks didn't choose any players from the Penguins.
The Sabres picked defenseman Tracy Pratt, who had played the previous two seasons with the Penguins, with the seventh overall pick. Pratt went on to play four years in Buffalo, the second of which was split between the NHL and the AHL affiliate in Cincinnati.
The next player the Sabres chose from the Penguins came 10 picks later, when they took Mike McMahon 17th overall. McMahon had spent much of the previous season in the AHL with Baltimore, and only played in 12 NHL games that year. He only spent one year with the Sabres, and much of that time was spent in the AHL.
The Sabres chose yet another defenseman from the Penguins when they took Jean-Guy Lagace with the 21st selection. Lagace had spent the entire 1969-70 season in Baltimore, and hadn't played in the NHL since his 17 games in 1968-69. He only played three games for Buffalo the following season, splitting much of the year between the WHL and CHL.
The Penguins lost a fourth defenseman when the Sabres took Doug Barrie with the 27th selection. Barrie had spent the previous season in Baltimore, and his only NHL experience was the eight games he played in the 1968-69 season. He went on to be a regular in the NHL for the next two seasons, playing the full season in Buffalo in 1970-71 and into the 1971-72 season before the Sabres traded him to Los Angeles.
1972: ATLANTA FLAMES, NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Each of the existing teams in the draft could only lose a maximum of three players, and all three of the Penguins' losses were forwards chosen by Atlanta.
The Flames took right wing Keith McCreary with the 18th overall selection. McCreary had spent the previous five seasons in the NHL with the Penguins, with his best season coming in 1968-69 when he had 48 points in 70 games to finish third on the team in scoring. He was named the Flames' first captain, and played three seasons in Atlanta before retiring.
The next Penguin chosen was left wing John Stewart, taken 30th overall. Stewart was in his second professional season, and had split his time in the organization to that point between the NHL and the minors. He would be a regular in Atlanta's lineup for the next two years after he was chosen.
The Flames took center Bob Leiter with their next pick at 32nd overall. Leiter had played just one season for the Penguins, scoring 31 points in 78 games. He led the Flames in scoring in their inaugural season with 60 points, and finished No. 2 in scoring the following season with 52.
1974: KANSAS CITY SCOUTS, WASHINGTON CAPITALS
The Capitals picked defenseman Yvon Labre eighth overall. Labre had spent most of his professional career in the minors to that point, only playing 21 games in Pittsburgh in 1970-71 and 16 games in 1973-74. Labre went on to score the first home goal in Capitals history and spent seven years there, and was the captain from 1976-78. His No. 7 is hanging in the rafters at Capital One Arena.
The Scouts took the next Penguin, choosing right wing Ted Snell 23rd overall. Snell had scored 12 points in 55 games the year before with Pittsburgh. He played in 29 games with Kansas City before being traded to Detroit.
The Scouts took the third and final Penguin chosen in the draft, left wing Robin Burns at pick No. 29. Burns was up-and-down between Pittsburgh and the minors in his first three seasons in the organization, and spent the entire year before the expansion draft in the AHL. He was a regular in Kansas City's lineup for two years before retiring.
1979: EDMONTON OILERS, HARTFORD WHALERS, QUEBEC NORDIQUES, WINNIPEG JETS
The Penguins lost three players in the draft, and all three were chosen by Edmonton.
The Oilers chose defenseman Colin Campbell (the same Colin Campbell who is currently the Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations of the NHL) with their fourth pick. Campbell was a regular in Pittsburgh's lineup for the two seasons prior to the draft, and scored 20 points in 65 games in his last season as a Penguin. He only played one season for the Oilers, recording 13 points in 72 games.
The Oilers took defenseman Tom Edur from the Penguins with their 11th pick. Edur hadn't played since the 1977-78 season, the third season of his NHL career, when he recorded 43 points in 58 games to lead all Penguins defensemen in scoring. Edur had informed the Penguins prior to the 1978-79 season that he was retiring at age 23 in order to commit full-time to being a Jehovah's Witness and recruit for the group in Denver. The Penguins had tried offering Edur an open contract (he later said for "any amount of money I wanted") that would allow him to have Sundays off, but he still chose to retire. The Oilers selected Edur in the expansion draft a year later hoping to lure him back to professional hockey, but Edur wasn't interested in witnessing Wayne Gretzky.
The Oilers took left wing Wayne Bianchin with the 12th pick. Bianchin spent six years in the Penguins organization, recording 11 points in 40 games in his final season. He was limited to 11 games in his one season with the Oilers due to a nagging back injury before moving to Italy to finish his playing career.
1991: SAN JOSE SHARKS, MINNESOTA NORTH STARS
The owners of the North Stars sold the team to new owners in order to buy a new expansion franchise in San Jose. As a condition of the deal, the Sharks were allowed to choose 24 players from the North Stars' organization in a dispersal draft. The North Stars were then allowed to participate in the expansion draft along with the Sharks, with each team choosing 10 players. The existing teams could only lose a maximum of one player, regardless of if they were chosen by the North Stars or Sharks.
Center Randy Gilhen was the Penguins players lost in the draft, chosen by the North Stars with the 12th overall pick. Gilhen had been with the Penguins for two seasons, and scored 15 goals and 10 assists in 72 games in the 1990-91 season. He played in 16 games in that Stanley Cup run, scoring one goal. Gilhen would never play for the North Stars, though. Less than a month after the expansion draft, the North Stars traded Gilhen, two other players, and a draft pick to the Kings for Todd Elik.
1992: OTTAWA SENATORS, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Each existing team (other than the Sharks) lost two players in the draft. Both Penguins players went to the Lightning.
The Lightning picked second overall, and used their first selection on goaltender Wendell Young, who had been with the Penguins for the previous four seasons, serving in a starting role in the 1989-90 season. Young spent two seasons in Tampa before returning to the Penguins in a backup capacity for the 1994-95 season.
The Lightning took defenseman Peter Taglianetti ninth overall. Taglianetti was acquired midseason in 1990-91 and finished the year in Pittsburgh, but played 44 games in 1991-92 and didn't appear in the playoffs due to a back injury. He played 61 games for Tampa the following year, then returned to the Penguins for three more seasons.
1993: FLORIDA PANTHERS, MIGHTY DUCKS OF ANAHEIM
As with the previous year, each existing team lost two players in the draft.
The Panthers chose defenseman Paul Laus from the Penguins with the 10th pick. Laus never played for the Penguins. After being chosen 37th overall in the 1989 entry draft, Laus spent his first three professional seasons in the IHL, including a stint in the ECHL. He made his NHL debut in the Panthers' inaugural season and played nine seasons there, the longest tenure of any of the original Panthers. He became an enforcer for the Panthers, and still holds the NHL record for most fighting majors in an NHL season with 39 in the 1996-97 season.
The Mighty Ducks chose forward Troy Loney with the 26th pick, ending Loney's 10-year tenure with the Penguins. Loney was named the first captain in Mighty Ducks history, and only played one season with the team.
1998: NASHVILLE PREDATORS
The Predators were allowed to choose one player from each of the league's 26 teams.
The Penguin they chose was center Tony Hrkac, selected 22nd. The Penguins had only acquired Hrkac 10 days before the expansion draft in a trade that sent center Josef Beranek to the Oilers. The Predators traded Hrkac to Dallas two weeks after the expansion draft for future considerations.
1999: ATLANTA THRASHERS
The Thrashers chose one player from each existing team except the Predators.
They chose defenseman Maxim Galanov from the Penguins with their seventh pick. Galanov spent just one year with the Penguins, appearing in 51 regular-season games and one playoff game. Galanov spent just one season in Atlanta, appearing in 40 games.
2000: COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS, MINNESOTA WILD
Each existing team -- minus the Predators and Thrashers -- lost two players in the draft. Both Penguins players were taken by the Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets took defenseman Jonas Junkka with the 22nd overall pick. Junkka was drafted by the Penguins in 1993, but never left Sweden while the Penguins owned his rights. His one season in North America came in 2000-01 after the expansion draft, when he played for the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate in Syracuse. He finished the remainder of his career in Europe.
The Blue Jackets chose center Tyler Wright with the 31st pick. Wright spent four years in the Penguins' organization. He scored 22 points in 50 games in the NHL in the 1999-00 season, and spent the rest of that year with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in its inaugural season. Wright went on to play four full seasons in Columbus before being traded to Anaheim in his fifth year with the team.
2017: VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
This one is recent enough that I'd bet you remember it.
The Penguins traded their 2020 second-round pick to Vegas to ensure that the Golden Knights would select Marc-Andre Fleury due to salary cap concerns and Matt Murray's rise.
The Golden Knights obliged, and Fleury is still a Golden Knight four years later, and is finally a Vezina finalist for the first time in his career.
2020: SEATTLE KRAKEN
With the way the expansion draft has evolved over the years, Hextall is probably right in his assessment that the Penguins will likely lose "a pretty good player.” Gone are the days when an incoming team would pillage an AHL team's blue line, or select the rights to a player who had spent the last six years in Sweden, or take a shot on a guy that had retired a year earlier to recruit for the Jehovah's Witnesses.
