Not many people have discussed who Pittsburgh should and will likely protect for the expansion draft. In my opinion, assuming no big changes are made to the roster, I would protect the following:

Offense: Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Kapanen, Rust, McCann, and one of the following (Tanev, Blueger, ZAR). I believe that Zucker should be exposed. I don't think that Seattle would take him, but even if they do, it at least frees up some cap space.
Defense: Letang, Dumoulin, Pettersson
Goalie: Jarry

I would be intrigued to hear any thoughts or discussions. A lot of people have proposed Pettersson trades and it seems like a waste to trade him before the expansion draft. Unless the return is a defenseman that is worth protecting, trading him for offensive pieces would result in having to protect a defenseman that is not really worth protecting.

I totally agree Zucker has to be exposed. He is so unlikely to be picked and the worst case he gets picked and we save all the money that we're wasting rn. For me, Tanev absolutely has to be protected. The team is not at all the same without him and he fits perfectly on just about any line, plus his fantastic work rate and PK abilities. For those same reasons its hard to leave Blueger unprotected, I just see hi as less likely to be picked.

With the surplus of defensemen in Pittsburgh right now, I wouldn't at all be opposed to a Pettersson trade, even if we dont get a solid D-man in return. I'd be okay with a package of prospects/picks as long as the value is enough. His numbers have been really good lately but he totally fails the eyeball test and turns the puck over far too often. Shedding that massive cap hit for a slightly-above-average player is a big win in my book.

Zucker should be protected

Penguins gave up a good prospect and a 1st round pick for him

If a team trades its assets for a player than immediately moved him for nothing what kind of asset management is that. If they won the cup fine we can work with that but for the last 3 years the penguins have struggled to get out of r1.

I see the following happen

Penguins pay Seattle to take Matheson

move Zucker in a trade for a tough/gritty wing and some assets