In the NHL Expansion Draft, teams also have the option of protecting eight skaters. For some teams, that may mean four defensemen, for some eight forwards. It's a break from our traditional 7-3-1 strategies.
In terms of protection in the NHL Expansion Draft, teams have the option of also going with eight skaters and a goaltender. Always just one goaltender. Some teams are highly likely to use this strategy. What would that look like?
Let's break it down by motivation, who Vegas would (or rather should) take, and if the strategy would pay off. Each slide in this article will have a different division. So let's get started.
NHL Expansion Draft
Ottawa Senators defenseman Marc Methot (3) defends Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin (71) (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Atlantic Division
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Florida Panthers
Should They Or Shouldn't They: Honestly, maybe.
Florida protects Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith, Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, Alex Petrovic, Mark Pysyk, James Reimer.
Motivation: Florida would be keeping their defensive core in order. Under a 7-3-1, Mark Pysyk is heavily favored to be chosen by Vegas.
He's a young defenseman with good numbers who is healthy. He's also cheap, as he would be going to Vegas a restricted free agent. And he would be a good trade piece for Vegas because of it.
Under this system, Florida loses a forward, but they would keep their top 4 defensemen intact, including the pairing of Petrovic and Pysyk. I'm not going to judge whether it would be a smart move. Just that it's a plausible one.
Vegas would choose Jonathan Marchessault. He's coming off a season where he scored 30 goals. That's not something Vegas will see a lot of in this NHL expansion draft. They would be able to play Marchessault at the top 6 spot he was able to take advantage of in Florida.
Ottawa Senators
Should They Or Shouldn't They: What does Ottawa think of Marc Methot? It's kind of dependant on that.
Ottawa protects Bobby Ryan, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone, Kyle Turris, Dion Phaneuf, Erik Karlsson, Marc Methot, Cody Ceci, Craig Anderson.
Motivation: Again, this about protecting Marc Methot. While he's more valuable to the team than Cody Ceci, Ceci's 8 years younger. Methot is able to play top 2 minutes and did so throughout the playoffs.
His ability to help shut down teams almost help get the Senators to the Cup Final. Methot has a ton of value. But there are some forwards on the team who do as well. In the NHL Expansion Draft, those forwards would be taken in Methot's place.
Vegas would take Jean-Gabriel Pageau. Pageau's a restricted free agent that kept firing goals into the net in the playoffs. Vegas has to believe they'll see the playoffs someday soon. Pageau has proven his worth there and had 33 points in the regular season. Not bad for a 24-year-old.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Should They Or Shouldn't They: It would be the most interesting 8-1.
Toronto protects Nazem Kadri, James Van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Connor Brown, Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Martin Marincin, Connor Carrick, Frederik Andersen.
Motivation: This would be Toronto believing in the potential of 25-year-old defenseman Martin Marincin over Leo Komarov.
The Maple Leafs will protect everyone else on this list no matter what. So if Toronto believes enough in Marincin, they could very well do this.
It also helps that so many of their talented young players being exempt. This is actually surprisingly one of the most plausible 4-4 scenarios.
Especially if Toronto had a better defenseman than Marincin. Then it'd a done deal.
Vegas would take Leo Komarov. He scored 32 points this year, and while that's a decline from last year, that's still better than a lot of other guys the Golden Knights may take.
NHL Expansion Draft
Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk (27) passes (Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports)
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes
Should They Or Shouldn't They: Yeah. Just straight up yes.
Carolina protects Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Brock McGinn, Andrej Nestrasil, Justin Faulk, Scott Darling.
Motivation: In this scenario, Carolina only protects one defenseman. While that may seem like an odd choice, consider this: Noah Hanifin, Jake Bean, Haydn Fleury, Brett Pesce, and Jaccob Slavin are all exempt.
That leaves restricted free agent Ryan Murphy as the only other defenseman that could be protected going into next year. He only played 27 games last season. His possession numbers were horrendous. In those 27 games, he only scored 2 assists. That may not be worth protecting.
Vegas would take Lee Stempniak. They're not even taking the one guy left unprotected defensively. Klas Dahlbeck likely means more to the Hurricanes than Murphy and Dahlbeck must be left unprotected as the only other signed defenseman besides Faulk.
New Jersey Devils
Should They or Shouldn't They: Sure, why not?
Carolina protects Taylor Hall, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Andy Greene, Ben Lovejoy, John Moore, Damon Severson, Cory Schneider.
Motivation: Honestly, it's between protecting John Moore and a bunch of restricted free agents who scored fewer points. Moore was actually 7th on the team in scoring. He had the 5th most goals.
Mike Cammalleri is the only player not on this list that scored more than Moore. The Devils must expose two
forwards, likely including Cammalleri.
John Moore did his job to the fullest of his potential. The Devils should reward him for it.
Vegas would take Beau Bennett. He's the best player on the Devils roster exposed in the NHL Expansion Draft. At least the best one who's not 34 years old and paid 5 million dollars next year.
The Golden Knights will take plenty of restricted free agents in the NHL expansion draft. Bennett could be one of them.
New York Islanders
Should They or Shouldn't They: It could cost them an important player
The Islanders protect John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic, Calvin De Haan, Thomas Greiss.
Motivation: The Islanders would do this to protect their top 4 defensemen. The Islanders would likely also want the option of trading De Haan instead of letting him walk for free.
He's a 26-year-old defenseman who scored 25 points and played 20 minutes a night. That's a rare thing and one that could be valuable.
Hamonic, Leddy, and Boychuk are all staying. De Haan should be joining them. He was one of the better defensive defensemen on this Islanders roster.
Considering the fact that the Islanders didn't have many of those, that'll be important going forward.
Vegas would take Josh Bailey. Bailey put up 56 points. The Islanders would be able to expose him in the NHL expansion draft only because just 13 of those points were goals.
It's easy to find assists on John Tavares's line (if you're not Andrew Ladd). It's harder to score in the NHL. And Bailey couldn't do that often.
NHL Expansion Draft
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk (57) skates with the puck (Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports)
Central Division
Chicago Blackhawks
Should They Or Shouldn't They: I don't know.
Chicago protects Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brent Seabrook, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Corey Crawford.
Motivation: the Blackhawks would be able to keep Trevor Van Riemsdyk. Van Riemsdyk is a young defenseman (a rarity on the Chicago roster) who was able to show up in the playoffs (another rarity).
Van Riemsdyk has developed in the Chicago system and should be the Blackhawks' future on the blue line. He began playing like a top 4 defenseman at the end of last year, and that was seen in the Nashville series. He also put up 16 points in an injury shortened season.
Van Riemsdyk has improved every season that he's been with the Blackhawks. He's the only guy the Blackhawks could have around in the post-Kane/Keith future. At least the only home-grown player.
Vegas would take Ryan Hartman. Which is where the trouble lays. Instead of alleviating the Blackhawks cap, Vegas takes another strong young gun for the Hawks.
The Blackhawks need cheap players able to play as well as Hartman. And it doesn't get better or cheaper for Chicago than Hartman. So the decision becomes Trevor Van Riemsdyk vs. Ryan Hartman. And though Chicago would miss Trevor, I think Hartman wins.
Minnesota Wild
Should They Or Shouldn't They: they should not.
Minnesota protects Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, Jason Pominville, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Devan Dubnyk.
Motivation: The Wild would be able to protect Matt Dumba, who otherwise would very likely be Vegas-bound. That's four good defensemen the Wild would continue to have, and it would cement their top 4. They would also protect the best of their offense and their leadership.
Vegas would take anybody from the offense. Eric Staal, Charlie Coyle, Jason Zucker, Nino Niederreiter, Erik Haula, Jordan Schroeder, all would be exposed in the NHL expansion draft.
Those guys were all important to the Wild, and while the Golden Knights would only be able to take one, that's still damaging.
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Nashville Predators
Should They or Shouldn't They: The Predators are what this article was made for. So, yes.
Nashville protects Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Viktor Arvidsson, Ryan Johansen, P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Pekka Rinne.
Motivation: this defensive core is the singular greatest in hockey. The Predators should be willing to do anything to protect it.
That includes allowing a player like Craig Smith or Pontus Aberg to leave for them. Josi is more important than any singular forward on this team.
However, the Predators don't win in the Stanley Cup Final without their productive offense. In the last two games, they outscored the Penguins 9-2. But the offense is also deep.
Ryan Johansen goes down and Colton Sissons puts up a hat trick. Sissons can't continue that streak of good luck so Frederick Gaudreau scores three goals in the Final. The Predators would be able to find a replacement for Aberg or Smith.
Vegas would take Calle Jarnkrok. His speed throughout the playoffs has been astounding and he had more regular season points than Smith or Aberg. That makes it easy for the Predators to replace both of those players (with these players). But less easy to replace Jarnkrok.
While it would be troubling to see Jarnkrok go, it would be less easy to deal with Josi's loss for no return.
NHL Expansion Draft
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Sami Vatanen (45) against the Nashville Predators (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)
Pacific Division
Anaheim Ducks
Should They Or Shouldn't They: Jakob Silfverberg vs. trading Sami Vatanen.
Anaheim protects Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, Rickard Rakell, Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, Sami Vatanen, Kevin Bieksa.
Motivation: Anaheim protects a defense that helped them to the Western Conference Finals and is one of the best in the NHL.
While Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour, both important to the team's success, are exempt from the NHL expansion draft, the other four defensemen aren't.
If the Ducks can convince Bieksa to waive, this will never be a problem. But they likely won't be able to. Which is what makes them protect Vatanen as well.
Vegas would take Jakob Silfverberg. For the last four years of his career, Silfverberg has scored more goals every year. His point production has increased from 23 to 39, another 39 to 49. And then Silfverberg put up 14 in the playoffs.
Now, Silfverberg is not an expendable player per se. So they may trade Vatanen or Cam Fowler before the NHL Expansion Draft. But if they don't, they would likely allow Silfverberg to leave before letting a young defenseman on a good contract go for no return.
Los Angeles Kings
Should They Or Shouldn't They: Yeah, they should.
Los Angeles protects Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tanner Pearson, Tyler Toffoli, Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin, Derek Forbort, Jonathan Quick.
Motivation: Los Angeles protects a good young defenseman in Derek Forbort as well as a good playoff performer in Alec Martinez.
The Kings keep their top 4 in order, which is what a lot of this strategy is about.
The Kings also expose the contracts they want to expose. That's Dustin Brown and Marian Gaborik. And they stand as good a chance of Vegas picking up those contracts as they do in 7-3-1. Probably better.
Vegas would take Trevor Lewis. 2 million for 12 goals. He's only 30. While there are plenty of depth centers available in this NHL expansion draft, the Golden Knights aren't going to willingly take Dustin Brown or Marian Gaborik.
San Jose Sharks
Should They or Shouldn't They: There are no overly negative consequences.
San Jose protects Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Melker Karlsson, Brent Burns, Paul Martin, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brenden Dillon, Martin Jones.
Motivation: The Sharks need to get younger at defense. Burns, Martin, and Vlasic are all over 30. Dillon is the Sharks best young defenseman. He played 16 minutes a night this season, and his possession numbers and turnover numbers were both better than the last two years.
Dillon only produced 10 points, but he blocked 81 shots and played a physical game. Again, the Sharks are in need of young defense. They can't discount its many forms.
Vegas would take Chris Tierney. Again, depth center, but Tierney is the cheapest option. If Joel Ward wasn't 36, he would be more tempting. If Justin Braun wasn't 30, he would be a Golden Knight.
