Sabres protect Rasmus Ristolainen, expose Will Borgen for expansion draft

However, Skinner’s recent struggles offensively, coupled with the six years remaining on a contract that carries a $9 million cap hit, make him an unlikely selection for Seattle. The following Sabres are also eligible for selection: forwards Cody Eakin, Zemgus Girgensons, Andrew Oglevie and Kyle Okposo; defensemen Will Borgen and Colin Miller; and goalie Dustin Tokarski.

The Kraken’s exclusive bargaining window with restricted and unrestricted free agents also began 10 a.m. Sunday. Any signing counts as Seattle’s expansion selection from that team. Buffalo has 12 unrestricted free agents: forwards Drake Caggiula, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Steven Fogarty, Tobias Rieder, Riley Sheahan and C.J. Smith; defensemen Jake McCabe, Matt Irwin and Brandon Davidson; and Carter Hutton and Michael Houser.

Protecting Ullmark buys the Sabres more time to sign the 27-year-old to a new contract. Sources told The Buffalo News on Sunday that Ullmark has not ruled out a return to Buffalo and is still evaluating his options.

Unsigned draft picks and players amid the first or second year of their respective entry-level contracts are exempt. The following Sabres cannot be selected by Seattle and did not need to be protected: Forwards Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka, Brandon Biro, Brett Murray, Matej Pekar, Dawson DiPietro, Matteo Costantini (unsigned), Linus Weissbach, Lukas Rousek; defensemen Mattias Samuelsson, Oskari Laaksonen, Jacob Bryson, Casey Fitzgerald and Ryan Johnson (unsigned); and goalies Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Erik Portillo (unsigned) and Stefanos Lekkas.