NHL teams released their real protected lists yesterday, but we are undeterred in our quest to put together a version of the Vegas Golden Knights. The lists may no longer align with the real thing, but nobody could have expected the Islanders would actually protect Adam Pelech, so we’re keeping the lists the same even if that means our Vegas Golden Knights don’t quite look like the real thing.

An important note before you make your final picks: please, remember that this team must be cap compliant based on last year’s salary cap ($75,000,000) and we must meet the positional minimums. The salary cap may have gone up for this season, but that does not apply to Vegas in the Expansion Draft. Our iteration of the Golden Knights only need two more players under contract, and have just under $6,000,000 in salary cap space. As a result, players whose salaries exceed that number or fall within $2,000,000 (sorry, Mike Cammalleri fans) of that number will not be listed in our poll. If any picks result in Vegas not being cap compliant, we’re going to pick a different player than was selected in the poll. The same will be true if the positional limits are not met.

Below’s where the roster stands right now with players selected from the Atlantic Division bolded, and scroll further to make the final seven picks from the Metropolitan Division.

Players under contract for 2016-17 (18/20)

Salary Cap Space: $5,733,333

Forwards (11/14)

Tomas Plekanec (C, $6,000,000)

Matt Moulson (LW, $5,000,000)

Carl Soderberg (C, $4,750,000)

Brandon Sutter (C, $4,375,000)

Benoit Pouliot (LW, $4,000,000)

Mikkel Boedker (LW, $4,000,000)

Cody Eakin (C, $3,850,000)

Jakob Silfverberg (RW, $3,750,000)

David Perron (LW, $3,750,000)

Matt Martin (LW, $2,500,000)

Riley Sheahan (C, $2,075,000)

Calle Jarnkrok (C, $2,000,000)

J.T. Brown (RW, $1,250,000)

Hunter Shinkaruk (C, $863,333)

Defensemen (7/9)

Marc Methot ($4,900,000)

Jason Demers ($4,500,000)

Jonas Brodin ($4,166,667)

Mark Stuart ($2,625,000)

Brayden McNabb ($1,700,000)

Luke Schenn ($1,250,000)

Trevor Van Riemsdyk ($825,000)

Goaltenders (1/3)

Malcolm Subban (RFA)

Carolina Hurricanes (h/t Erik Johnsgard)

Which player should Vegas select from Carolina?

Lee Stempniak (RW, $2,500,000)	30
Joakim Nordstrom (LW, $1,275,000)	17
Klas Dahlbeck (D, $850,000)	2
Andrej Nestrasil (C, RFA)	3
Jay McClement (C, UFA)	1
Matt Tennyson (D, UFA)	0
Patrick Brown (C, UFA)	0
Andrew Miller (C, $650,000)	0
Connor Brickley (C, UFA)	0
Brendan Woods (LW, UFA)	0
Danny Kristo (RW, UFA)	0
Dennis Robertson (D, UFA)	0
Phillip Samuelsson (D, UFA)	0
Cam Ward (G, $3,300,000)	6
Eddie Lack (G, $2,750,000)	2
Daniel Atshuller (G, RFA)	0
Michael Leighton (G, UFA)	1

Columbus Blue Jackets (h/t BlueLine Brusier)

Which player should Vegas select from Columbus?

Boone Jenner (C, $2,900,000)	20
Ryan Murray (D, $2,825,000)	15
Matt Calvert (LW, $2,200,000)	7
William Karlsson (C, $1,000,000)	15
Lukas Sedlak (C, $825,000)	1
Lauri Korpikoski (LW, UFA)	0
Kyle Quincey (D, UFA)	1
Scott Harrington (D, RFA)	0
Zac Dalpe (C, UFA)	0
Alex Broadhurst (C, RFA)	1
Josh Anderson (RW, RFA)	2
T.J. Tynan (C, UFA)	0
Daniel Zaar (RW, RFA)	0
Brent Gallant (LW, UFA)	0
Marc-Andre Bergeron (D, UFA)	0
John Ramage (D, UFA)	0
Ryan Stanton (D, UFA)	0
Jamie Sifers (D, UFA)	0

New Jersey Devils

Which player should Vegas select from New Jersey?

Ben Lovejoy (D, $2,666,667)	12
Dalton Prout (D, $1,575,000)	3
Devante Smith-Pelly (RW, $1,300,000)	17
Jon Merrill (D, $1,137,500)	6
Beau Bennett (RW, RFA)	19
Jacob Josefson (C, RFA)	2
Stefan Noesen (RW, RFA)	1
Scott Wedgewood (G, RFA)	1
Keith Kinkaid (G, UFA)	0
Shane Harper (RW, UFA)	0
Seth Helgeson (D, UFA)	0
Luke Gadzic (LW, UFA)	0
Ben Thomson (LW, RFA)	0
Petr Straka (RW, UFA)	0
Carter Camper (C, UFA)	0
Viktor Loov (D, RFA)	2
Andrew MacWilliam (D, UFA)	0

New York Islanders (h/t Pug!)

Which player should Vegas select from the Islanders?

Calvin De Haan (D, RFA)	26
Cal Clutterbuck (RW, $3,500,000)	5
Casey Cizikas (C, $3,350,000)	2
Josh Bailey (LW, $3,300,000)	7
Brock Nelson (C, $2,500,000)	15
Jason Chimera (LW, $2,250,000)	2
Thomas Hickey (D, $2,200,000)	1
Dennis Seidenberg (D, $1,250,000)	5
Jaroslav Halak (G, $4,500,000)	3
J.F. Berube (G, UFA)	0
Alan Quine (C, RFA)	1
Stepgen Gionta (C, UFA)	0
Scott Mayfield (D, RFA)	0
Bracken Kearns (C, UFA)	0
Ben Holmstrom (C, UFA)	0
Eric Boulton (LW, UFA)	0
Mathew Finn (D, RFA)	0
Loic Leduc (D, RFA)	0
Jesse Graham (D, RFA)	0
Christopher Gibson (G, RFA)	0

New York Rangers (h/t Dimitry)

Which player should Vegas select from the Rangers?

Michael Grabner (RW, $1,650,000)	19
Kevin Klein (D, $2,900,000)	1
Steven Kampfer (D, $650,000)	0
Brandon Pirri (C, RFA)	2
Oscar Lindberg (C, RFA)	4
Brendan Smith (D, UFA)	1
Tanner Glass (LW, UFA)	0
Adam Clendening (D, RFA)	1
Jesper Fast (RW, RFA)	1
Antti Raanta (G, $1,000,000)	37
Mackenzie Skapski (G, RFA)	0
Marek Hrivik (RW, UFA)	0
Nicklas Jensen (RW, RFA)	0
Daniel Catenacci (C, RFA)	0
Chris Brown (C, UFA)	0
Michael Paliotta (D, RFA)	0

Philadelphia Flyers (h/t Marc Bernot)

Which player should Vegas select from Philadelphia?

Matt Read (RW, $3,625,000)	14
Michael Raffl (LW, $2,350,000)	12
Dale Weise (RW, $2,350,000)	5
Brandon Manning (D, $975,000)	6
Michael Neuvirth (G, $2,500,000)	11
Steve Mason (G, UFA)	2
Michael Del Zotto (D, UFA)	7
Nick Shultz (D, UFA)	1
Scott Laughton (C, RFA)	3
Boyd Gordon (C, UFA)	0
Jordan Weal (C, UFA)	2
Colin McDonald (RW, UFA)	0
Greg Carey (C, UFA)	0
T.J. Brennan (D, UFA)	1
Will O’Neill (D, UFA)	0
Mark Alt (D, UFA)	0

Pittsburgh Penguins

Which player should Vegas select from Pittsburgh?

Ian Cole (D, $2,100,000)	7
Bryan Rust (RW, $640,000)	37
Tom Kuhnhackl (RW, $625,000)	2
Scott Wilson (LW, $625,000)	0
Trevor Daley (D, UFA)	2
Chris Kunitz (LW, UFA)	2
Matt Cullen (C, UFA)	1
Nick Bonino (C, UFA)	6
Mark Streit (D, UFA)	0
Chad Ruhwedel (D, UFA)	0
Ron Hainsey (D, UFA)	0
Frank Corrado (D, RFA)	0
Kevin Porter (C, UFA)	0
Cameron Gaunce (D, UFA)	0
Derrick Pouliot (D, RFA)	1
Stuart Percy (D, RFA)	0
Tim Erixon (D, RFA)	2
David Warsofsky (D, RFA)	0
Oskar Sundqvist (C, RFA)	0
Jean-Sebastien Dea (C, RFA)	0
Garrett Wilson (LW, UFA)	0

Washington Capitals (h/t Dan Boyle’s Modeling Agent)

Which player should Vegas select from Washington?

Jay Beale (RW, $1,750,000)	3
Tyler Graovac (C, $625,000)	1
Taylor Chorney (D, $800,000)	0
Philip Grubauer (G, RFA)	40
Nate Schmidt (D, RFA)	10
Karl Alzner (D, UFA)	2
Brett Connolly (RW, RFA)	1
Kevin Shattenkirk (D, UFA)	3
T.J. Oshie (RW, UFA)	10
Justin Williams (RW, UFA)	0
Daniel Winnik (C, UFA)	0
Tom Gilbert (D, UFA)	0
Paul Carey (C, UFA)	1
Chandler Stephenson (C, RFA)	0
Aaron Ness (D, UFA)	1
Liam O’Brien (C, RFA)	0
Zach Sill (C, UFA)	0
Stanislav Galiev (RW, UFA)	0
Nathan Walker (LW, RFA)	0
Garrett Mitchell (RW, UFA)	0
Christian Djoos (D, RFA)	0
Cody Corbett (D, RFA)	0
Darren Dietz (D, RFA)	0
Pheonix Copley (G, UFA)	1