The Vegas Golden Knights selected their first team on Wednesday night. Prior to the expansion draft teams were only able to protect so many players from the draft. Two notable absences from protection was long-time Pittsburgh Penguins Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and Nashville Predators James Neal. After their names were called players instantly went to social media to share what was on their minds.
☹️…… vegas got a good one #shooter #alwaysopen pic.twitter.com/ghoRtWkHHi
— Ryan Johansen (@RyanJohansen19) June 22, 2017
Go get it in Vegas, Flower. By the way he legit scared me big time when he stuffed himself in my hockey bag seen on the clip in this vid. ???? https://t.co/lhTag4adyV
— Colby Armstrong (@armdog) June 22, 2017
???????? pic.twitter.com/D94gnVLnaq
— Penguins ???? (@penguins) June 22, 2017
I'm excited for a new chapter in my career and an amazing opportunity to start something special w/ the Golden Knights!!
— James Neal (@jneal_18) June 22, 2017
Nashville is a true hockey town and I'm so grateful for my time here. I wish we could've paraded Stanley down Broadway!!
— James Neal (@jneal_18) June 22, 2017
Thank you, @jneal_18. pic.twitter.com/nYe52VoNXc
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) June 22, 2017
#Preds GM David Poile: "The Predators have lost a really good person and a really good player in James Neal."
— Brooks Bratten (@brooksbratten) June 22, 2017
“It’ll be tough. It’s something I don’t even like having to talk about it. Playing through someone that long, going through what we did, it’s pretty special. We’ve got some great memories. We’ll see what happens with things here in the future. … That’s going to be a lot of fun [playing against him next year].” -— Captain Sidney Crosby