The New York Islanders protected five defencemen and three forwards ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft.

According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Islanders will give up a first round pick to keep Vegas from taking one of their forwards.

The Islanders only protected forwards John Tavares, Anders Lee, and Andrew Ladd so that they could also protect five defencemen - Johnny Boychuk, Travis Hamonic, Nick Leddy, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock.

The Golden Knights released a statement Saturday night saying they would work with teams to allow them to keep players they wanted in exchange for draft picks.