Monday night – Game 1 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final is in the books with the Penguins’ 5-3 win over the Predators.

Tuesday morning – the Bruins sign their coveted draft pick out of Notre Dame, Anders Bjork.

In the days ahead, here’s another topic in the Hub of Hockey.

The countdown to June 21 is officially on. That would be the NHL Expansion Draft to stock the new Vegas Golden Knights, the league’s 31st team and 15th in the Western Conference where the Knights will play in the Pacific Division.

The 30 NHL Clubs must submit their Protection List by 5:00 PM ET on Saturday, June 17, 2017. The Las Vegas team must submit their Expansion Draft Selections by 5:00 PM ET on June 20 and the announcement of their selections will be released on June 21.

Each of the current 30 NHL teams will lose one player. While there are finite rules within the following, here’s a capsule summary of the fundamentals:

* Clubs will have two options for players they wish to protect in the Expansion Draft:

a) Seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender
b) Eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goaltender

* All players who have currently effective and continuing no movement clauses at the time of the Expansion Draft (and who to decline to waive such clauses) must be protected (and will be counted toward their club’s applicable protection limits).

* All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club’s applicable protection limits).

The Las Vegas franchise must select the following number of players at each position: 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.

Which brings us to the projection of which Boston Bruin will be heading west for the 2017-18 season from Black and Gold to Golden Knight.

Look for the Bruins to take the 7-3-1 protection route – seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender.

Matt Beleskey and Brad Marchand have no-trade clauses; Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Backes, David Krejci and Tuukka Rask have no-movement clauses.

Obviously, Rask is the goaltender protected. Just as obvious, the first six forwards are Bergeron, Beleskey, Marchand, Backes, Krejci, and David Pastrnak. At No. 7 is likely Ryan Spooner. While he may not be with Boston next season, his trade value is worth protecting.

The only other long-shot forward the Bruins could lose is Frank Vatrano who is in his third year of the entry-level-contract rule. No worries about Noel Acciari, Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo who are in Year 1 or 2 of their entry-level contract.

After that, Drew Stafford and Dominic Moore are on the fringe – along with Anton Khudobin. Not likely Stafford goes with his salary factor in the $4 million range – or Moore with his age factor of 36. Khudobin is the sleeper with one-year left on a $1.25 million salary and his stellar back-up play down the stretch. Riley Nash, Tim Schaller, Joe Morrow and Jimmy Hayes won’t draw attention.

After Spooner, none of the aforementioned are likely targeted by Vegas when the Boston defense dynamic enters the equation.

Chara and Torey Krug are locks – which begs the argument for the No. 3 protected D-man among Kevan Miller, Colin Miller and Adam McQuaid.

Here’s a look at the Pro and the Con for protecting each.

Kevan Miller

Pro — The former Vermont defenseman is finishing the first year of a four-year deal at a cap-friendly and modest $2.5 million per. In the past three years, his plus-minus is plus-20, plus-15 and plus-1 with 7, 18 and 13 points, respectively. At 6-2 and 210, he is the Bruins’ most physical defenseman. In the Ottawa playoff series, he was the best Bruins’ D-man after Chara and McAvoy. He is a young 29 years old.

Con — Miller has yet to play two consecutive full seasons. In 2014-15, he played 41 games; in 2015-16 – 71 games; this past season 58. His injuries, often the upper-body type, stem most often from checks or fights.

Colin Miller

Pro — The sleeper in the Milan Lucic trade came to Boston from Los Angeles with all the right skills from his AHL display. Don Sweeney gave him a two-year deal last summer at a million a year. He can show signs of being a No. 3 or 4 defenseman, while chipping in with 13 points this past season in 61 games. He is 24 years old.

Con — Miller also shows signs of being a marginal NHL player. At 6-2 and 196, while he shows signs of a bona fide talent, his inconsistencies can be game to game; even shift to shift. He has yet to show he can consistently think the game at the pace at which it is played.

Adam McQuaid

Pro — Throughout the past two seasons of blue-line turmoil, the 6-4, 212-pound McQuaid has been one of the Bruins most reliable on the back end. He just finished his eighth season with Boston and has two years left on a four-year deal also at a modest $2.75 million per season, basically the same at Kevan Miller’s deal. He has earned his salary with 63, 64 and 77 games played the last three seasons, respectively, with a minus-2, plus-6 and plus-4.

Con — Will likely never put up much offense with 7, 9 and 10 points each of those last three seasons, respectively. Can make bad in-game decisions, but quickly bounces back. He is 30 years old.

In the end, look for Sweeney to protect Kevan Miller. That leaves Colin Miller and McQuaid as likely choices for Vegas. Betting here is that unless Vegas takes the less expensive Colin, they take McQuaid for his cap-fit salary, smarts and overall consistent play needed on an expansion-team roster.

Whaddaya think?