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Reminder: Key dates and rules before expansion draft

Las Vegas NHL Franchise Reveals Team Name And Logo

LAS VEGAS, NV - NOVEMBER 22: The team name and logo for the Vegas Golden Knights are displayed on T-Mobile Arena’s video mesh wall after the Vegas Golden Knights was announced as the name for the Las Vegas NHL franchise at T-Mobile Arena on November 22, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team will begin play in the 2017-18 season. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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It’s going to be a hectic week in the NHL, to say the least.

As we’ve already written, a trade freeze goes into effect tomorrow afternoon for all 30 teams that aren’t the Vegas Golden Knights. Before then, we can expect to see some fairly big names traded. The Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, and Montreal Canadiens are among the teams worth watching.

Sunday morning, all 30 teams’ protected lists will be distributed. Then there’ll be some more fun, as teams are still allowed to make trades with Vegas after the freeze.

So let’s say a team had to expose a player it really doesn’t want to lose in the expansion draft. A deal could be struck with Vegas to keep the Golden Knights from selecting said player. Those deals aren’t supposed to be made public until Wednesday evening, but leaks tend to happen.

Vegas is also allowed to interview and sign RFAs and UFAs that weren’t protected. If a player is signed, that player counts as the Golden Knights’ pick from that team. There’s no compensation for RFAs.

Read more: Trades galore before expansion draft?

Here all the deadlines and rules, per the league:

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