Cupboard Not Bare but the Pickings Are Slim for Predators

The Nashville Predators learned Monday the players available to them in Friday’s expansion draft in Buffalo.

There is Mighty Duck goaltender Mikhail Shtalenkov, King left wing Dan Bylsma, Ottawa Senator right wing Pat Fallon and Philadelphia Flyer center Craig Darby, just to name a few.

In other words, don’t expect to see the Predators raising the Stanley Cup any time soon.

Nashville will select three goalies, eight defensemen, 13 forwards and two others at any position--probably goalies. They can take only one player from each of the 26 existing teams.

There were several surprises on Monday’s list. Perhaps the most intriguing name was all-star winger Brett Hull of St. Louis, who is not expected to be re-signed by the Blues when free agency begins July 1.

Hull, an unrestricted free agent who earned $4.7 million last season with the Blues, could be just the marquee player the Predators need to fill their gleaming new downtown arena.

But signing him might prove impossible. He has been rumored to be interested in a mega-bucks deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.

There also appears to be no shortage of quality goaltenders for Nashville to choose from, including Shtalenkov, Curtis Joseph of the Edmonton Oilers, Mike Richter of the New York Rangers and John Vanbiesbrouck of the Florida Panthers.

But Joseph, Richter and Vanbiesbrouck are unrestricted free agents, and their high salary demands probably will deter Nashville General Manager David Poile.

Shtalenkov, New Jersey’s Mike Dunham and Calgary’s Rick Tabaracci are considered low-cost alternatives.

Nashville is expected to take Shtalenkov, whose availability was something of a foregone conclusion once the Ducks acquired promising youngster Patrick Lalime from Pittsburgh in a March 24 trade. The Ducks also protected goalie Guy Hebert.

Other Ducks left unprotected include center Ted Drury and right wings Tomas Sandstrom and Scott Young.

The Kings protected goalies Stephane Fiset and Jamie Storr.

But among those they left unprotected were center Ray Ferraro, wingers Russ Courtnall, Craig Johnson and Sandy Moger and defensemen Garry Galley, Jan Vopat and Doug Zmolek.

The list of skaters available to the Predators also includes:

Right wings Rob Ray and Dixon Ward of Buffalo, tough guys Jeff Odgers and Warren Rychel of Colorado, center Guy Carbonneau and defenseman Craig Ludwig of Dallas, defenseman Dmitri Mironov of Detroit, center Doug Gilmour and left wing Dave Andreychuk of New Jersey, defenseman Paul Coffey of Philadelphia and right wing Mike Gartner of Phoenix.

Nashville is the first of four expansion teams to join the league between now and the 2000-2001 season. The Atlanta Thrashers will begin play in 1999-2000 with the Columbus (Ohio) Blue Jackets and the St. Paul, Minn.-based Minnesota Wild to follow in 2000-2001.

The Ducks and Florida Panthers, added in 1993-94, were the most recent expansion teams to join the NHL.

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NHL Unprotected List

Unprotected players eligible to be selected Friday by the Nashville Predators in the NHL expansion draft:

MIGHTY DUCKS

Shawn Antoski, lw; Drew Bannister, d; Ted Drury, c; Doug Houda, d; Peter Leboutillier, rw; Eric Lecompte, lw; Tommi Miettinen, c; Richard Park, c; Craig Reichert, rw; Tomas Sandstrom, rw; Brent Severyn, rw; Mikhail Shtalenkov, g; Jeremy Stevenson, lw; Kevin Todd, c; Nikolai Tsulygin, d; Bob Wren, lw; Scott Young, rw.

KINGS

Ruslan Batyrshin, d; Doug Bodger, d; Philippe Boucher, d; Dan Bylsma, lw; Frederic Chabot, g; Russ Courtnall, rw; Ray Ferraro, c; Gary Galley, d; Craig Johnson, lw; Jere Karalahti, d; Nathan Lafayette, c; Jaroslav Modry, d; Sandy Moger, rw; Jeff Shevalier, lw; Martin Strebak, d; Jukka Tiilkainen, lw; Mark Visheau, d; Tomas Vlasak, c; Jan Vopat, d; Roman Vopat, c; Magnus Werblom, rw; Vitali Yachmenev, rw; Doug Zmolek, d.