Detroit Red Wings: Protection for Expansion Draft Finalized
The Detroit Red Wings have finalized their protection list for the upcoming Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. Teams had until Saturday at 5 p.m. ET to submit their lists to the league. The lists were revealed Sunday morning. The Expansion Draft will stock Seattle with 30 players. The draft will be broadcast at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2, SN, SN NOW). Detroit General Manager Steve Yzerman decided to protect seven forwards, three defensmen and one goaltender. Here is a look at Detroit’s 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
Gustav Lindstrom-D
Nick Leddy-D
Thomas Greiss-G
The Detroit Red Wings left seven players from their current roster unprotected for the Expansion Draft. Several other UFA’s were also left unprotected. Here is the list:
Frans Nielsen-F
Evgeny Svechnikov-F
Vladislav Namestnikov-F
Danny DeKeyser-D
Dennis Cholowski-D
Troy Stecher-D
Kaden Fulcher-G
The NHL today revealed the protected and un-protected lists for each team. Some of these players are RFA’s or UFA’s. Seattle must draft a minimum of 20 players currently under contract for next year. They have until July 21st to sign a free agent. If they sign a free agent by July 21st, it will count as a player selected from the team the player finished playing for last year. For the Expansion Draft on Wednesday night, Seattle can only draft players who are not free agents. Here are some of the most noteworthy players available to Seattle (Name/Team/Salary Cap Hit/Length of Contract):
Kevin Shattenkirk-Anaheim-$3,900,000 (22/23)
Taylor Hall-Boston-UFA
David Krejci-Boston-UFA
Tuukka Rask-Boston-UFA
Jeff Skinner-Buffalo-$9,000,000 (26/27)
Mark Giordano-Calgary-$6,750,000 (21/22)
Dougie Hamilton-Carolina-UFA
Nino Niederreiter-Carolina-$5,250,000 (21/22)
Nikita Zadorov-Chicago-RFA
Gabriel Landeskog-Colorado-UFA
Max Domi-Columbus-$5,300,000 (21/22)
Ben Bishop-Dallas-$4,916,666 (22/23)
James Neal-Edmonton-$5,750,000 (22/23)
Tyson Barrie-Edmonton-UFA
Adam Larsson-Edmonton-UFA
Chris Driedger-Florida-UFA
Jonathan Quick-LA-$5,800,000 (22/23)
Andreas Athanasiou-LA-RFA
Carey Price-Montreal-$10,500,000 (25/26)
Shea Weber-Montreal-$7,857,143 (25/26)
Tomas Tatar-Montreal-UFA
Jonathan Drouin-Montreal-$5,500,000 (22/23)
Matt Duchene-Nashville-$8,000,000 (25/26)
P.K. Subban-New Jersey-$9,000,000 (21/22)
Jordan Eberle-NYI-$5,500,000 (23/24)
Tony DeAngelo-NYR-$4,800,000 (21/22)
Matt Murray-Ottawa-$6,250,000 (23/24)
James van Riemsdyk-Philadelphia-$7,000,000 (22/23)
Jakub Voracek-Philadelphia-$8,250,000 (23/24)
Shayne Gostisbehere-Philadelphia-$4,500,000 (22/23)
Cody Ceci-Pittsburgh-UFA
Martin Jones-San Jose-$5,750,000 (23/24)
Mike Hoffman-St. Louis-UFA
Vince Dunn-St. Louis-RFA
Vladimir Tarasenko-St. Louis-$7,500,000 (22/23)
Tyler Johnson-Tampa Bay-$5,000,000 (23/24)
Blake Coleman-Tampa Bay-UFA
Alex Killorn-Tampa Bay-$4,450,000 (22/23)
Pat Maroon-Tampa Bay-$900,000 (21/22)
Nick Foligno-Toronto-UFA
Alex Galchenyuk-Toronto-UFA
Zach Hyman-Toronto-UFA
Wayne Simmonds-Toronto-$900,000 (22/23)
Zach Bogosian-Toronto-UFA
Braden Holtby-Vancouver-$4,300,000 (21/22)
Alex Ovechkin-Washington-UFA
Paul Stastny-Winnipeg-UFA
Troy Stecher is the Red Wings player most likely to be selected by Seattle. Some prognosticators believe Stecher was the best defenseman on the Red Wings last year. With the addition of Moritz Seider, it became apparent that a defenseman from the right side would be exposed. Obviously, Steve Yzerman believes that Gustav Lindstrom will be a larger part of the re-build compared to Stecher.
Final Thoughts
Seattle ownership has given General Manager Ron Francis permission to spend to the cap maximum of $81.5 million. It will be interesting to see who Francis selects from each team. When looking at the list of players available, it looks like Seattle will be a competitive team similar to Vegas during their inaugural season.