The New York Islanders, to many’s annoyance but to some’s enjoyment, made a deep run in the NHL’s Playoff Bubble with good ole-fashioned defensive hockey. It’s a style of play that worked quite well for the Eastern Conference Finalists, but didn’t inspire much enthusiasm among the hockey-watching public. For Seattle’s purposes, will the defensively-focused Islanders possess many options for the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft?
Oh, you bet.
The flat cap might not impact a team in the NHL more than the Islanders when it comes to the Seattle Expansion Draft. General manager Lou Lamoriello built a competitive roster for head coach Barry Trotz, but the Islanders also have a projected cap hit of over $77 million next season, nearly $4 million away from the upper limit of the salary cap.
Along with that, you don’t advance to the Eastern Conference Finals without talented players, so even without cap considerations, there should be a quality selection available for the Kraken.
Islanders protected list for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Mathew Barzal (lock)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (lock)
Anthony Beauvillier (lock)
Anders Lee
Brock Nelson
Jordan Eberle
Kieffer Bellows
The Islanders’ forward group features plenty of veterans on big contracts. Not every one of those forwards will be protected.
Young phenom and Seattle Thunderbird legend Mathew Barzal won’t come back to the Pacific Northwest during the Expansion Draft. Nor will promising 23-year-old Anthony Beauvillier, who was terrific for the Islanders during the 2020 playoffs. Nor will Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who Lameriello paid a pretty penny for in a trade with Ottawa and in turn gave him a six-year, $30 million contract extension.
Three veterans and a promising rookie round out the protected list. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson are pretty safe bets for protection and Jordan Eberle gets the nod for his ability to drive offense on a team that’s offensively challenged at times.
Kieffer Bellows, who played one season of junior hockey for the Portland Winterhawks in 2017-18, secures the seventh and final spot. Even though Bellows was suspended last year for violating the AHL’s Performance Enhancing Substance program, he has remained in favor within the organization and has played in six games thus far for the Isles.
Defense
Ryan Pulock (lock)
Adam Pelech (near lock)
Scott Mayfield
After shipping Devon Toews to the Avalanche this offseason, the Islanders’ situation on defense is much clearer.
Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech are safe bets to land on New York’s protected list. The 26-year-old blueliners are playing big minutes for the Islanders in 2020-21.
Scott Mayfield secures the final spot. The 28-year-old offers stable play in the defensive zone with some offensive upside, and more importantly, comes at an affordable $1.45 million cap hit per year.
Goalie
Semyon Varlamov
This is a bit of a complicated situation, but for now, Semyon Varlamov is the choice. Varlamov has been fantastic early on, posting a .936 save percentage in five games.
But keep an eye on what the Islanders do with Cory Schneider — or any other goalie. Right now, Varlamov is the only goalie eligible for the Expansion Draft on New York’s roster, and if the Islanders don’t sign another goalie past 2021-22, Varlamov will be exposed — at least one goalie needs to be exposed, per the Expansion Draft rules.
Top Islanders targets for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Josh Bailey
Otto Koivula
Casey Cizikas
Michael Dal Colle
Defense
Nick Leddy
The Islanders present two plug-and-play options that would land high in Seattle’s lineup in year one in Bailey and Leddy.
Bailey, 31, is an experienced winger who is coming off a huge 2020 playoff performance with 20 points (2-18-20) in 22 games. Bailey has underperformed in 2021 so far with just one point in six games, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to imagine him returning to that playoff form soon.
Leddy, 29, is a second-pair defenseman that’s produced well early on. His 0.42 individual expected goals created per 60 is 11th among NHL defensemen — it’s a small sample size, but it’s an encouraging sign. If Leddy keeps playing like that, he should be protected over Mayfield, especially with his presence on the Isles’ power play.
Koivula, 24, is an intriguing young player with loads of potential. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound center is entering his fifth professional season but hasn’t broken into the Islanders lineup yet after a productive year (9-13-22) in the American Hockey League in 2019-20.
For the Islanders’ No. 5-ranked prospect — according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler — behind four other centers on the organizational depth chart, the path to jumping off the taxi squad and into the Islanders’ everyday lineup is filled with obstacles. But an expansion franchise like Seattle would have plenty of room for him.
Cizikas is worth mentioning because many believe, like Arthur Staple at The Athletic, he will be protected by New York. The pending unrestricted free agent carries a lot of value because he plays center, but is there value in protecting a fourth-line center?
Michael Dal Colle, 24, could be an interesting reclamation project for the Kraken. The fifth-overall selection in the 2014 Entry Draft has only played in 86 NHL games and hasn’t broken through to be an NHL regular yet.
Side deal scenarios
The Islanders are ripe for the picking when it comes to potential side deals.
Not only does New York have to worry about clearing up cap space for 2023-24 when Barzal’s bridge contract is up, but Beauvillier is also a restricted free agent in 2021-22. With just under $4 million in projected cap space next season, the Islanders almost certainly need to move a big contract.
What better team to help them move a big contract — with the right compensation, of course — than Seattle, which is building a team from scratch?
Does that mean the Islanders throw in a sweetner so Seattle takes someone like Bailey, Leddy, or Varlamov and shed their contracts? Bailey is signed through 2023-24 at $5 million per year, Leddy is inked through 2021-22 at $5.5 million per year, and Varlamov carries a $5 million cap hit through 2022-23.
Or, does New York throw even more down on the table so Seattle takes a veteran like Cal Clutterbuck or Leo Komarov? Both are signed for the next two seasons, Clutterbuck at $3.5 million per year and Komarov at $3 million.
Better yet, the Islanders could dangle an enticing draft pick or prospect in exchange for Andrew Ladd, who’s currently buried in the minors, and the rest of his two-year, $8.75 million contract off the books.
Josh Horton is a freelance writer, former newspaper journalist, and former Western Hockey League writer for the Everett Herald and The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). He is NOT a juggler, nor is he a former professional baseball player. Follow him on Twitter @byjoshhorton.
Previous Sound Of Hockey Expansion Draft Team Previews
The process for our Expansion Draft profiles has been to go from worst to first in terms of where teams finished last season. Thus, the Detroit Red Wings—who were historically bad in 2019-2020—were our first profile, while the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning will be our last. What we’ve noticed is that as we are progressing through better and better teams, the decisions that general managers will have to make is getting more difficult, while the level of talent that will be exposed is generally improving. Strangely, the Boston Bruins do not seem to have particularly difficult decisions to make for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
On the contrary, for a team that finished first in the Eastern Conference last regular season with 100 standings points in 70 games, the expansion-related challenges are few, at least for now. If things hold, Boston’s protection list will be cut and dried.
Nonetheless, there’s legitimate NHL talent that will be exposed by the Boston Bruins, and it is our duty to consider Seattle’s options for the Expansion Draft.
Assumptions
If the Bruins had kept Torey Krug, they would have had to go with the eight skaters and one goalie protection scheme, and Matt Grzelcyk, a point-producing defenseman in the prime his career, would have been the obvious pick. Alas, Krug is gone to the St. Louis Blues, and now the more common seven forwards, three defensemen, one goalie option is Boston’s route.
One question surrounding Boston’s immediate future is what general manager Don Sweeney decides to do with David Krejci. The second-line center is 34 years old and is reaching the end of an enormous contract. He has had a profound impact on the Bruins’ organization and is just one year removed from scoring 73 points, so his production is not yet waning.
We are assuming that Krejci’s contract status is moot, though. It’s our guess that he will remain a free agent until after the Expansion Draft, then re-sign with Boston so that he does not need protecting.
The only way we see the below changing is if Boston makes in-season trades—this feels likely, being that the B’s are still bona fide contenders—or somebody new emerges as must-keep talent. For this exercise we will assume no trades are coming.
Boston Bruins protected list for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
David Pastrnak (Lock)
Patrice Bergeron (Lock, NMC)
Brad Marchand (Lock, NMC)
Charlie Coyle (Lock, NMC)
Jake DeBrusk (Lock)
Craig Smith
Ondrej Kase
There really aren’t any questions with this list. Even Craig Smith and Ondrej Kase—neither of whom earned our “lock” distinction—appear highly likely to be protected.
Smith was signed to a three-year deal in the offseason, and at an average annual cap hit of $3.1 million is reasonably priced considering he averages close to 40 points per season.
Kase has shown glimpses of star power in his career—he potted 20 goals in 2017-2018 with the Ducks—and Boston paid a significant price to acquire him, sending a first-round pick, David Backes, and Axel Andersson to Anaheim at the NHL Entry Draft. So, Kase will be protected unless one of Nick Ritchie or Anders Bjork has an enormous season.
Defense
Matt Grzelcyk (Lock)
Brandon Carlo (Lock)
Charlie McAvoy (Lock)
This is the way.
Ok, but seriously, all signs point toward this trio being protected by the Bruins. There is one young blueliner whose stock is rising quickly in Jeremy Lauzon, but it’s hard to imagine Boston exposing Grzelcyk or Carlo, and McAvoy is obviously cemented on the top pairing.
Goalie
Tuukka Rask (UFA)
Neither of Boston’s netminders—Rask or Jaroslav Halak—is signed beyond this season. There’s a chance that Rask could still be a UFA when Seattle’s negotiating window opens. Daniel Vladar is a highly-regarded goalie prospect and also needs protecting, but we don’t think netminder will be the focus out of Boston.
Top Boston Bruins targets for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Ritchie, 25, seems like the most obvious choice at the most obvious position out of Boston, just based on his role in that lineup. He’s a large-bodied, gritty winger, listed at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, and with players out of the lineup is currently getting time in the top six and on the power play. But in his career, Ritchie has not had massive offensive outputs, so far peaking at 31 points in 2018-2019 with Anaheim.
Ritchie would be an effective player that could get opportunities in Seattle’s top six, but one must wonder if there are higher-upside options available here.
Other forwards to consider would be Bjork or perhaps Trent Frederic.
Bjork, 24, is lower on the depth chart than Ritchie and has had a relatively quiet and injury-riddled start to his NHL career. Last season was his first showing of real promise, as he notched nine goals and 10 assists in 58 games. It will be worth watching to see how Bjork performs this season if he stays healthy, though he so far does not have a point and is mired in Boston’s bottom six.
Frederic, meanwhile, is younger than the other options at 22 years old, but his NHL experience is limited to 22 games over three seasons. In that time he’s registered just one point, an assist against Philadelphia on Saturday. Frederic was a star at the University of Wisconsin, where he scored a point per game over two seasons and had decent numbers in the AHL. Still, the Kraken would have to see something special this year to make them believe Frederic will develop into more than a fourth-line grinder.
Defense
Jeremy Lauzon (some people call him Jérémy Lauzon, which is way more French Canadian and certainly more interesting) could end up being an x-factor in this whole process. As straightforward as Boston’s protection schemes appear, Lauzon is making a name for himself and could throw a wrench in Sweeney’s plans. At 23, the 2015 second-rounder has been hovering around 20 minutes per night on Boston’s blue line this season.
If Lauzon’s role continues to grow, Sweeney may be forced to think twice about his protection plans, and if he leaves Lauzon exposed, then the Kraken may have to think twice about taking a forward.
Goalie
The Rask contract situation is worth monitoring for Seattle fans, but it seems unlikely we will see the 2019-2020 Vezina Trophy finalist in the home goalcrease at Climate Pledge Arena. Rask, 33, has been the backbone of some great Bruins teams over the years, and Francis could do much worse than signing Rask as a UFA to a short-term deal. We’re guessing that Rask is going to want a longer term on what could be his last contract, though, and that just doesn’t make sense to us for Seattle.
The more likely play—should the Kraken be interested in a Boston goalie—would be for the future option in Vladar. The touted 23-year-old prospect had stellar numbers with the Providence Bruins last season, and is expected to one day be an NHL starter.
Side deal scenarios
We foresee side deals happening with teams that are right up against the salary cap. Surprisingly, the Bruins project to have plenty of room after this season, though they have some big-time restricted free agents—Carlo, Ritchie, Frederic, and Kase—due for raises and decisions to make on veteran UFA’s like Rask and Krejci. Even so, they shouldn’t be cornered into an unfavorable deal due to the cap.
In Boston’s case, a side deal would become more likely if a guy like Ritchie, Bjork, Lauzon, or even Vladar really does prove himself indispensable. If that happens, the cut-and-dried protection list will be difficult to alter and could lead to some wheeling and dealing.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The Blue Jackets traded wunderkind center Pierre-Luc Dubois and a third-round pick in 2022 for prolific young scorer Patrik Laine and Columbus native Jack Roslovic.
As you can imagine, the Laine-for-Dubois trade will have some implications on the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft outlook.
Columbus Blue Jackets
As far as the Blue Jackets, it’s less about what becomes available for Seattle than it is what Columbus will be forced to do.
In our initial projection of Columbus’ protected list, we leaned toward the Blue Jackets sticking with the conventional seven-forward structure in order to keep someone like Boone Jenner. But it wasn’t unreasonable to think Columbus would elect to protect eight total skaters in order to retain an extra defenseman such as Gabriel Carlsson or Dean Kukan
If they want to keep Roslovic and Laine, along with Cam Atkinson, Max Domi, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Jenner, they have to go with seven forwards.
Roslovic’s emergence likely means Eric Robinson, a speedy 25-year-old winger, won’t be protected. But he’s more of a depth piece and wasn’t all that more interesting than Carlsson and Kukan, who we’ve identified as interesting options.
The Blue Jackets now have one more quality player to protect, meaning Seattle’s options get just a little better here.
Updated projected protection list for Columbus Blue Jackets:
But thankfully Winnipeg’s forward pool is robust enough where Seattle should have a decent option, regardless.
We expected Roslovic to be protected in our Winnipeg write-up in December, on the condition he signed a new contract, and it’s likely one of Adam Lowry, Mason Appleton, or Jansen Harkins take his spot.
Lowry, 27, is the most productive player currently and plays up the middle, but the fact he plays a premium position may not matter as much to Winnipeg now that they added even more center depth with Dubois. Harkins, 23, and Appleton, 24, are younger wingers that should be in contention for selection for Seattle.
Or, perhaps, 24-year-old rearguard Sami Niku is the apple of Seattle’s eye. But so far the Finnish defenseman hasn’t posted a point in three games for the Jets thus far this season.
By replacing one elite scorer (Laine) and one quality player (Roslovic) with one elite all-around player (Dubois) and a draft pick, the protection decisions for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft now become a little easier for Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff.
Updated projected protection list for Winnipeg Jets:
FORWARDS
DEFENSE
GOALIE
Mark Scheifele
Josh Morrissey
Connor Hellebuyck
Blake Wheeler
Dylan DeMelo
Kyle Connor
Neal Pionk
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Nikolaj Ehlers
Adam Lowry**
Andrew Copp*
*Needs to be re-signed **Needs to be re-signed, Lowry replaces Jack Roslovic
The Colorado Avalanche are in the middle of a Stanley Cup contending window that only comes around once every 25 years, if you are lucky. After an earlier-than-expected exit in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, general manager Joe Sakic made only a few tweaks to the already potent roster. Sakic first traded big defenseman Nikita Zadorov to Chicago for forward Brandon Saad. A few days later, Sakic would acquire defenseman Devon Toews from the New York Islanders for two second-round draft picks.
Colorado entered the season as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup this year with its high-end talent and player depth at every position. The subtext here is that the Kraken will have quality options at all positions.
Assumptions
The Avalanche will have a few pending unrestricted free agents at the end of this season that will impact their protected list and therefore selections for the Kraken. In the forward group, Gabriel Landeskog and the newly acquired Saad are on the last year of their current contracts. Both have signaled that they want to continue playing in Denver. It is possible that both forwards re-sign, but for now, we only think there is room for one of them due to cap space. We believe that they will hold onto Landeskog.
The other pending UFA of note is starting goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer platooned with Pavel Francouz last year to be one of the better goalie tandems in the league. As well as Francouz played, we still believe Grubauer is the preferred option and assume that he re-signs before the Expansion Draft.
Another open item on the roster is whether Erik Johnson waives his no move clause (NMC). This has been bantered about by several other media outlets already. Given that the Avalanche may have a team that can compete for the Stanley Cup for many years, we are assuming that Johnson will not be waiving his NMC to assure he stays with the Avalanche in this window.
There is no discussion on MacKinnon, Rantanen, or Landeskog being protected. The three of them make one of the best lines in hockey and will not be going anywhere. Kadri and Burakovsky are close to locks and the only argument to be made about exposing either of them in the Expansion Draft could be an effort to free up some cap space. Kadri carries an annual cap hit of $4.5 million while Burakovsky has a cap hit of $4.9 million. Both players are productive middle-six forwards with reasonable contracts and are unlikely to get exposed.
The last two protected slots are where it gets interesting. If Saad is re-signed, he takes one of those spots, but for now, we assume that will not happen based on the earlier assumption. A case can be made for Nichushkin, Jost, and J.T. Compher to fill out the rest of the forward protected list.
Nichushkin’s Corsi for statistics give him an edge over the others which is why we list him sixth. Jost is the youngest of the three players and has the most upside of the players mentioned, so we forecast him as being the seventh and final protected forward. As much as we would love to see Jost exposed, we believe Sakic takes a long view by protecting Jost over Compher.
Defense
Erik Johnson (NMC)
Cale Makar (Lock)
Samuel Girard (Probable)
The addition of Devon Toews this offseason makes the decision on who to protect on defense a bit more challenging. There could be an argument for Colorado to go with protecting four forwards, four defense and one goalie (the eight total skaters format) to protect Toews, but with Bowen Byram, who is ineligible for the Expansion Draft, Colorado will be able to afford losing a blueliner.
Goalie
Philipp Grubauer (if re-signed)
If Grubauer is re-signed, then it will be very clear he is the goalie they want for the immediate future.
Colorado Expansion Draft targets
Forwards
Brandon Saad (Pending UFA)
Joonas Donskoi
J.T. Compher
Vladislav Kamenev
Tyson Jost (if exposed)
Donskoi, Compher, and Jost give the Kraken options from the forwards. Donskoi is a good skating middle-six forward with a scoring touch. Compher is a two-way forward with a strong work ethic, which might be the ideal player to have on an expansion team. If exposed, Jost has the highest ceiling at 22 with his best years in front of him.
Defense
Devon Toews
Ryan Graves
Devon Toews is the best option on defense. He was one of the top defensemen on the New York Islanders last year. Comparing his point production to Ryan Graves is a bit misleading. Colorado scored 25% more goals than the Islanders last year and play a different style than the Avalanche. Look for Toews’s point production to increase this year while playing with Colorado.
Goalie
Pavel Francouz
Francouz is a goalie to keep an eye on. He played great last year, but that was his first year in the NHL. We will need to see if he can be a regular starter in this league. With the options available at forward and defense, we think the Kraken look elsewhere for their starting goalie.
Colorado Avalanche side deal scenarios
With the depth and quality of options available across this team, the Avalanche could certainly be a side deal candidate. Toews and Jost (if Saad re-signs) are players the Avs probably want to hold onto beyond this season. There could be a scenario where Joe Sakic offers up a draft pick to Ron Francis in exchange for the Kraken to select someone further down the depth chart.
Previous Sound of Hockey Expansion Draft team previews
The Philadelphia Flyers had a breakout season of sorts last year. They finished one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division when the league stopped but were top four in the Eastern Conference and earned a bye during the qualifying round.
While it was a breakout, it was one that you could see coming a mile away.
Starting with former general manager Ron Hextall and continuing on to Chuck Fletcher, the Flyers were acquiring talent. It all came together in 2020 and now the Flyers are a contender again, armed with a roster that has a mix of veterans, youth, and an up-and-coming goalie.
That’s the good news for the Flyers. The bad news? All that roster depth means that they’re most likely going to lose a good player to the Seattle Kraken at this summer’s Expansion Draft. Fletcher has some work to do and multiple paths he can choose to walk down when it comes to handling his roster.
Fletcher doesn’t have a lot of cap space – less than a million dollars – and while the Flyers are in a ‘win now’ mode, he will need to find space for the near future. Will he look to unload some cap at the trade deadline? Will he try to hold on to those expensive vets to take advantage of the window he has now?
Those answers are yet to be revealed but a reason to keep an eye on how Philadelphia fares this season. Whatever choice they make, it will impact the Kraken.
Assumptions
Flyers forward Scott Laughton is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and if he’s re-signed prior to the Expansion Draft he may end up protected. Laughton, 26, is a glue type player for the Flyers. He provides solid minutes and works hard despite not lighting up the stat pages.
His salary is palpable at $2.3 million per year and while he would most likely get a raise, he would still be affordable to Fletcher. If Laughton is not re-signed by the Expansion Draft then Seattle general manager Ron Francis could negotiate with him during the Kraken’s 48-hour free agency window prior to the draft.
We are going to assume that Francis won’t do that, considering the other players that should be available from Philadephia. While Laughton has some value, he would most likely be a guy for the bottom of the lineup. Therefore, for this exercise, we will assume that Laughton is not an option for Seattle.
Philadelphia Flyers protected list
Forwards
Claude Giroux (NMC)
Kevin Hayes (NMC)
Travis Konecny
Sean Couturier
Oskar Lindblom
Nolan Patrick
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
There is a ton of depth with the Flyers forwards. Among those guys, Jakub Voracek will be a lynchpin in how Fletcher proceeds with his protected list.
Voracek, 31, has four years left on an $8.25 million-per-year contract and the Flyers could use some relief. He’s only a couple of seasons removed from 2017-2018 when he scored 20 goals along with a career-best 85 points in 82 games. His cap hit puts him a tier under the highest paid players in the league and an argument could be made its too much for a player of his caliber.
Fletcher has a major choice to make here.
He could try to move Voracek this year, but that cap hit could be tough with a flat salary cap, and the additional complexities of trading during Covid would limit suitors. Fletcher could also protect Voracek and look for cap space elsewhere – like not signing UFA’s Laughton and/or Eric Gustafsson.
The Flyers may also leave Voracek unprotected and hope that his salary would be too rich for Francis. While Seattle will need to hit the required cap minimum, the term on Voracek may not be something the Kraken want to entertain.
Further motivation to do something with Voracek is that Philadelphia will have Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier become UFA’s after the 2022-2023 and if they want to re-sign both, will have to clear room.
For this exercise we will go with the theory that Fletcher is willing to leave Voracek unprotected in the hopes that Seattle doesn’t take him. If the Kraken pass, it allows Fletcher to protect a younger player, like 24-year-old Nicolas Aube-Kubel who was a standout for Philadelphia in the playoffs after a couple of solid AHL seasons.
Fletcher will most likely leave veteran James van Riemsdyk unprotected. Van Riemsdyk, 31, has three years left on a contract that pays $7 million per year and is coming off one of his least productive full seasons in the NHL.
Defense
Ivan Provorov
Travis Sanheim
Philippe Myers
Fletcher has an easier decision when it comes to his defense. Both Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim are former first-round draft picks who are talented and young. They’re not going anywhere.
Veteran Shayne Gostisbehere may end up on the outside looking in. The 27-year-old has been a productive, puck-moving defenseman but was limited last season with injuries and started this year on the injured list, although appears close to returning. His $4.5 million yearly cap hit makes the younger and cheaper Philippe Myers a better long-term option for Philadelphia.
Goalie
Carter Hart
Carter Hart is one of the best, and youngest, up-and-coming goaltenders, and despite the best wishes of some Northwesterners hoping for a return to the area for the former Everett Silvertip, Hart will be protected. Veteran Brian Elliot is Hart’s backup this year but is a free agent to be so there will be no need to protect him. Philadelphia has to expose an eligible goalie, and that honor will fall to 24-year-old Felix Sandstrom who has yet to play a game in the NHL.
Philadelphia Flyers Expansion Draft targets
Forwards
Jakub Voracek
Scott Laughton
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
James van Riemsdyk
Defensemen
Shayne Gostisbehere
Justin Braun
Robert Hagg
Goalie
Felix Sandstrom
Thoughts
Francis has good choices with the Flyers roster. If Voracek is exposed the Kraken will have to consider adding a guy who has been productive, is a leader on and off the ice and would add instant credibility to the top-six. His salary is high, and Seattle would have him on the books for three seasons.
If the Kraken want to go with a defenseman, Gostisbehere would be an interesting selection. He’ll by 28 when the Expansion Draft happens and just three seasons ago turned in a 13-goal and 65-point season. Injuries have surfaced lately so his progress this season will need to be monitored closely.
Seattle would also have solid options in veterans like van Riemsdyk and Justin Braun.
Philadelphia Flyers side deal scenarios
Any team with the combination of limited cap space and high salaries brings side deals into the picture. The Philadelphia Flyers fit that description. Would Seattle be able to pull draft picks or prospects in exchange for taking high salaries like Voracek, van Riemsdyk, or Gostibehere off the Flyers hands? They might be interested in those players without a side deal but if Francis can get a player he wants plus say, a draft pick, it could end up being a great haul for the Kraken.
Led by exciting, young hockey stars such as Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks look like they could be a dangerous team for many years to come. But Seattle has a chance to knock its geographic rival down a peg when the Kraken plucks one Canuck in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
Thankfully for the Canucks (ranked No. 3 in The Athletic’s organizational rankings in September), they have some more good prospects – Nils Hoglander, Vasily Podkolzin, Jack Rathbone and Jett Woo – in the pipeline. Like Hughes, these youngsters won’t have to be protected in the Expansion Draft.
Hoglander is already making an impact early this season. Whether they’re ready or not, Podkolzin, Rathbone and Woo will probably be pressed into action in 2021-22 because of salary cap issues.
Although the Canucks will get some help from a number of expiring contracts, Pettersson and Hughes are in the final year of their entry level deals and will get huge raises. Canucks general manager Jim Benning needs to get those two deals locked up before summer because the pending restricted free agents will surely attract the rarely used offer sheets from other teams.
These all add intriguing twists to the Canucks’ new rivalry before we find out which club will conquer Cascadia in 2021-22. (And let’s be clear, it should be called the “I-5-BC-99 rivalry,” not the “I-5 rivalry.” We wouldn’t want any of you getting stuck in Blaine.)
Assumptions
Forwards Tanner Pearson, Brandon Sutter, Sven Baertschi, and Tyler Graovac and defensemen Alex Edler, Jordie Benn, Travis Hamonic, and Ashton Sautner are due to be unrestricted free agents this summer. Most of them won’t be back, and maybe none will be re-signed before new deals for Pettersson and Hughes are ironed out.
If their current roster holds, the Canucks will have trouble complying with the NHL’s minimum requirements for exposing players in the Expansion Draft. Each team must expose at least one defenseman and two forwards who are under contract in 2021-22 and will have each played at least 40 NHL games this season or will have played in at least 70 NHL games in the previous two seasons.
Even if the league adjusts those game totals to account for the two COVID-19 abbreviated campaigns, Vancouver will be forced to expose defenseman Tyler Myers unless it acquires another defenseman who meets the requirements or re-signs someone like Edler or Hamonic to an extension. Our guess is the Canucks will get another veteran blue-liner under contract through 2021-22 before the draft.
Vancouver Canucks protected list for Expansion Draft
Forwards
Elias Pettersson (Lock)
Brock Boeser (Lock)
Bo Horvat (Lock)
J.T. Miller (Lock)
Adam Gaudette
Jake Virtanen
Tyler Motte
Patience is running low on Virtanen, 24, but as of now he’s a more valuable asset to keep as a trade chip rather than losing him for nothing to Seattle.
Motte is a good penalty killer, works hard, blocks shots and has decent skills, as shown with his four goals last postseason. Despite being a bottom-six forward, he gives the Canucks excellent value ($1.225 million per year through 2021-22) that they won’t want to let get away without having someone ready to capably perform those roles.
Defense
Nate Schmidt (Lock)
Tyler Myers
Olli Juolevi
After Schmidt, predicting which other defensemen the Canucks protect gets a little iffy. Vancouver might protect unproven prospect Brogan Rafferty instead of Juolevi or Myers.
Juolevi is finally getting some NHL action after numerous injuries slowed the progress of the 2016 fifth overall draft pick. It’s not quite make-or-break time, but his performance and how much playing time he gets this season will determine where he fits into the Canucks’ future plans.
Myers is an important part of Vancouver’s blue line, averaging the third most minutes per game on the team last season when he also killed penalties and was on the second-unit power play. Based on his impact and 6-8 frame, he should be protected. The physically dominant Vegas Golden Knights wore down the Canucks in the Western Conference semifinals last year. With that in mind, the Canucks can’t afford to lose another defenseman with size, especially with the uncertain futures of Edler, Hamonic, and Benn.
But Myers is due to receive $6 million per season through 2023-24, so Vancouver could leave him unprotected in the hope that his contract deters the Kraken. The consolation for losing him will be freeing up a good chunk of cap space.
Goalie
Thatcher Demko (Lock)
Demko, 25, stepped in when former Canuck Jacob Markstrom was injured and nearly single-handedly upset the Golden Knights last postseason. That had Kraken fans optimistic the 6-4 San Diego native could be bound for Seattle. But those hopes were dashed when Markstrom signed a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames.
Vancouver Canucks targets for Expansion Draft
Forwards
Kole Lind
Zack MacEwen
Antoine Roussel
Lind, a 2017 second-round draft pick, has improved in the minors and will start this third pro season in Utica of the American Hockey League next month. Without the defensive attributes of Motte and with offensively gifted prospects Hoglander and Podkolzin ahead of him on the depth chart, Lind should be exposed.
MacEwen, 24, had five goals in 17 games last season and earned a spot on the Canucks fourth line this season because of his rugged, physical game. At 6-3 and 205 pounds, he’d be a project the Kraken should consider. Not star material, but the type of player who can help a team be difficult to play against.
Roussel is that type of player now: he’s a tough competitor and has underrated skills to go along with his grit. But at 31 and a year after coming back from major knee surgery, he’s wearing down and wouldn’t be a long-term option for the Kraken.
Defense
Brogan Rafferty
Jalen Chatfield
Rafferty, 25, is on the Canucks’ six-man taxi squad and the 6-0, 195-pound D-man has just two NHL games under his belt after three years at Quinnipiac University. His first pro season was impressive, scoring seven goals and 45 points in 57 games at Utica while making the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2019-20.
Chatfield, a 24-year-old rookie, made it onto the Canucks’ roster out of training camp but hasn’t yet made his NHL debut. He’s played three seasons in AHL Utica, where the 6-1, 188-pound blue-liner has made an impression with his strong skating and aggressiveness, not his scoring (two goals and 17 points in 142 games).
Unless the Canucks lose two core defensemen to injuries over an extended period of time, it’s doubtful Rafferty or Chatfield will get significant minutes in the NHL this season. Besides Rafferty and Chatfield’s stunted development from getting mostly practice time with the Canucks, the Kraken’s scouting staff will be hard-pressed to fully evaluate these two before the Expansion Draft.
Goalie
Braden Holtby
Holtby, 31, signed a two-year, $8.6 million contract with the Canucks last offseason after spending the previous 10 seasons with the Washington Capitals. Although his statistics have dipped a bit, his credentials are impeccable: 2015-16 Vezina Trophy, 2016-17 Jennings Trophy and the No. 1 goalie for the 2018 Stanley Cup champions.
A solid bounce-back season with the Canucks would likely mean Holtby and his tortoises will be headed back south this offseason.
Side deal scenarios
The quality of Canucks youngsters exempt from protection combined with pending UFAs will help Vancouver GM Jim Benning avoid much angst when he has to submit his Expansion Draft protection list. So there shouldn’t be any need for Benning to pursue any trades with Kraken GM Ron Francis, nor should we expect Francis to consider dealing any other Expansion Draft selections to his cross-border rival.
Neither GM will be doing any favors for the other just a couple of months before the Kraken’s inaugural season and the start of the I-5-BC-99 rivalry. It just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?
Previous Sound of Hockey Expansion Draft team previews
Jim Wilkie is a longtime Northwest journalist, former NHL editor and NHL Insider writer for ESPN.com, onetime GSHL All-Star, and SJHA hockey dad. Follow him on Twitter @jimwilkie.
