Expansion Draft: Who Will the Detroit Red Wings Protect?
By Chris Giles
Chris’ Protected List
Dylan Larkin-F
Tyler Bertuzzi-F
Jakub Vrana-F
Robby Fabbri-F
Michael Rasmussen-F
Adam Erne-F
Givani Smith-F
Filip Hronek-D
Troy Stecher-D
Dennis Cholowski-D
Thomas Greiss-G
Chris’ Rationale
Protecting the forwards was fairly easy. Larkin, Bertuzzi, Vrana, and Fabbri are Detroit’s best forwards and had to be protected. Rasmussen was the most improved player and has a high ceiling of continuing to improve and be a significant net front presence on the power play. Erne played his way onto the protected list by playing a high energy game every shift and chipping in with timely goals. The biggest decision was protecting Smith. If given ample ice time, Smith can be the power forward that has been missing from the Detroit lineup for some time.
On defense, Hronek and Stecher were the top defensemen all year and had to be protected. Both are right shot defensemen so it only made sense to protect the best left shot defenseman with the highest upside. That is why Cholowski was selected over Lindstrom.
The decision to protect Thomas Greiss was easy. He is the only NHL caliber goaltender under contract for next year. Jonathan Bernier should be signed to an extension after the Expansion Draft.
Chris’ Unprotected List
Frans Nielsen-F
Evgeny Svechnikov-F
Richard Panik-F
Vladislav Namestnikov-F
Danny DeKeyser-D
Gustav Lindstrom-D
Kaden Fulcher-G
Chris’ Rationale
Frans Nielsen was an easy decision to leave unprotected. He has one year left on his contract at $5.25 million. If he is not selected by Seattle, he will most likely be bought out by the July 29th deadline for buyouts. I would like to see Svechnikov stay in Detroit full time to see what he can do with a full year in the NHL. He passed through waivers twice last year and I believe Seattle will pass on him. Namestnikov or Panik will most likely be selected by Seattle. I left Namestnikov unprotected because he can be replaced by a younger player like Joe Veleno. Panik was left unprotected because he doesn’t fit into the long term plans of the re-build.
Danny DeKeyser could have easily been protected ahead of Cholowski. I think that Cholowski is more important to the re-build for Detroit. DeKeyser made it through waivers last year so in all likelihood, Seattle will pass on DeKeyser and his $5.0 million cap hit for one year. Lindstrom is a right shot defenseman. With Moritz Seider moving into the Red Wings lineup next year, Detroit can afford to lose Lindstrom if he is selected by Seattle.
Leaving Fulcher unprotected was easy. He has only played one game in a Detroit uniform in the last three years and is the only goaltender left on the roster who meets the criteria for the Expansion Draft.