Mock NHL Expansion Draft
Among all the talk about the current CBA negotiations, the thought has arisen that part of the final result of the process would see the NHL expand to 32 teams. While the prospect is unlikely at this point, obviously Quebec City is ripe for expansion and markets like Seattle, southern Ontario, and to a lesser extent; Kansas City would be vying for the 32nd slot. Expansion would mean the NHL would be able to keep the money pit intact in the desert while collecting large expansion fees and increasing league revenue in the future as well. Everyone is happy! Well...maybe not everyone.
The thing is, with an expansion comes an expansion draft. GMs and scouting staff have to take hards looks at their rosters and decide who are priorities to keep safe and who can be left vulnerable to be snatched up by the new teams. Today, I decided to play the part of the head offices of all current 30 NHL franchises and make these decisions myself. Here are the rules:
-Teams can protect either 1 goalie, 5 defensemen and 9 forwards OR 2 goalies, 3 defensemen and 7 forwards.
-For teams protecting two goalies, they must least unprotected at least one goalie who appeared in 10 games last season OR 25 games in the last two seasons combined.
-Each team must leave unprotected at least one defenseman who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.
-Each team must leave unprotected at least two forwards who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.
-Players who have not played 50 NHL games are automatically exempt.
-No team may lose more than 1 goaltender OR 1 defenceman and no team may lose more than 2 players.
-The two expansion teams may pick 26 players including at least 3 goaltenders, 8 defencemen, and 13 forwards.
With all this in mind, let's have a look at the likely protected rosters of all the NHL teams and who's at risk of getting poached:
(Note that eligible unprotected players of little or no value will not appear in the following list)
Anahaim
Protected: Hiller, Souray, Beauchemin, Fowler, Allen, Sbisa, Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne, Koivu, Cogliano, Winnik, Bonino, ______
At Risk: Deslauriers, Lydman, Staubitz, Beleskey
Boston
Protected: Rask, Chara, Boychuk, Seidenberg, Mcquaid, Ference, Krejci, Bergeron, Lucic, Horton, Seguin, Peverley, Kelly, Marchand, Campbell
At Risk: A.Johnson, Caron, Paille, Thornton
Buffalo
Protected: Miller, Enroth, Myers, Ehrhoff, Sekera (protected over Regehr and Leopold due to contract), Vanek, Pominville, Stafford, Ott, Hodgson, Ennis, Adam
At Risk: FA Goalie signed in order to be able to protect Enroth, Regehr, Leopold, Gerbe, Leino
Calgary
Protected: Kiprusoff, Jay Bo, Wideman, Giordano, Sarich, Brodie, Iginla, Cammalleri, Hudler, Tanguay, Glencross, Stempniak, Backlund, Stajan, Comeau
At Risk: Babchuk, Butler, Jones, Jackman
Carolina
Protected: Ward, Pitkanen, Gleason, Mcbain, Faulk, Harrison, E.Staal, Semin, Ruutu, J.Staal, J.Jokinen, Larose, Skinner, Tlusty, Boychuk
At Risk: Boucher, Corvo, Dwyer, Nodl, A.Stewart
Chicago
Protected: Crawford, Seabrook, Keith, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Leddy, Kane, Toews, Sharp, Hossa, Bolland, Frolik, Shaw, Stalberg, Kruger
At Risk: Emery, Montador, Brookbank, Hayes, Carcillo, Bickell
Colorado
Protected: Varlamov, E.Johnson, Hejda, Wilson, Zanon, O'Brien, Stastny, Duchene, Jones, Parenteau, Landeskog, Downie, Hejduk, Mcginn, O'Reilly
At Risk: Giguere, O'Byrne, Hunwick, Mcleod, Kobasew
Columbus
Protected: S.Mason, Bobrovsky, J.Johnson, Wisniewski, Nikitin, Ryan Johansen, Umberger, Dubinsky, Brassard, Foligno, Dorsett, Anisimov
At Risk: FA Goalie signed in order to be able to protect Enroth, Tyutin (awful contract), Moore, Prospal, Letestu
Dallas
Protected: Lehtonen, Goligoski, Robidas, Daley, Larsen, Rome, Jagr, Whitney, Eriksson, Morrow, Roy, Ryder, Fiddler, Wandell, Benn
At Risk: Fistric, Nystrom, Vincour, Petersen
Detroit
Protected: Howard, Kronwall, Quincey, Ericsson, White, Kindl, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Helm, Tootoo, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson
At Risk: Macdonald, Gustavsson, FA dman signed in order to protect White, Eaves, Miller
Edmonton
Protected: Dubnyk, Whitney, N.Schultz, Smid, Petry, Potter, RNH, Hemsky, Hall, Gagner, Smyth, Eberle, Jones, Petrell, Belanger
At Risk: Khabibulin, Sutton, Peckham, Horcoff, Eager
Florida
Protected: Theodore, Campbell, Kuba, Kulikov, Ellerby, Gudbranson, Fleischmann, Versteeg, Upshall, Weiss, Kopecky, Bergenheim, Mueller, Goc, Santorelli
At Risk: Clemmensen, Jovanovski (awful contract), Weaver, Parros, Matthias, Skille
Los Angeles
Protected: Quick, Doughty, Voynov, Mitchell, Greene, Martinez, Kopitar, M.Richards, Carter, Williams, Stoll, Brown, Penner, Gagne, Fraser
At Risk: Andrei Loktionov, Scuderi, Drewiske, Richardson, Lewis
Minnesota
Protected: Backstrom, Harding, Suter, Spurgeon, Scandella, Parise, Heatley, Koivu, Setoguchi, Bouchard, Clutterbuck, Brodziak
At Risk: FA goalie signed in order to be able to protect Harding, Gilbert,
Falk, Stoner, Mitchell, Cullen
Montreal
Protected: Price, Gorges, Emelin, Diaz, Subban, Markov, Plekanec, Gionta, Cole, Prust, Moen, Pacioretty, Eller, Desharnais, Bourque
At Risk: Budaj, Kaberle (please), Bouillon, Y.Weber, Gomez (pretty please), Armstrong, White
Nashville
Protected: Rinne, Weber, Klein, Josi, Blum, Hannan, Erat, Legwand, Fisher, Gaustad, Hornqvist, Kostitsyn, Wilson, C.Smith, Halischuk
At Risk: C.Mason, Gill, Spaling, Yip
New Jersey
Protected: Brodeur, Volchenkov, Tallinder, Salvador, Greene, Larsson, Kovalchuk, Elias, Zajac, Zubrus, Clarkson, Henrique, Josefson, Gionta, Carter
At Risk: Hedberg, Zidlicky, Fayne, Bernier, Barch
New York (Islanders)
Protected: Nabokov, Streit, Carkner, Hamonic, Macdonald, Visnovsky, Tavares, Moulson, Grabner, Okposo, Niederreiter, Nielsen, Bailey, Martin, Boyes
At Risk: DiPietro (as if anyone would pick him), Wishart, Reasoner, Boulton
New York (Rangers)
Protected: Lundqvist, M.Staal, Girardi, McDonagh, Del Zotto, Stralman, Nash, Gaborik, B.Richards, Callahan, Boyle, Rupp, Stepan, Hagelin, Pyatt
At Risk: Biron, Sauer, Bickel, Asham, Halpern
Ottawa
Protected: Anderson, Karlsson, Phillips, Methot, Cowen, Gonchar, Spezza, Alfredsson, Michalek, Latendresse, Neil, Turris, Greening, Smith, Regin
At Risk: Lundin, Condra, Daugavins
Philadelphia
Protected: Bryzgalov, Timonen, Coburn, Meszaros, L.Schenn, Grossman, Briere, Voracek, Hartnell, Giroux, B.Schenn, Couturier, Talbot, Simmonds, Read
At Risk: Leighton, Pronger, Gervais, Lilja, Fedotenko, Rinaldo
Phoenix
Protected: Smith, Yandle, OeL, Michalek, Morris, Klesla, Vermette, Doan, Hanzal, Vrbata, Sullivan, Moss, Korpikoski, Boedker, Gordon
At Risk: Labarbera, Schlemko, Torres, Bissonnette, N.Johnson
Pittsburgh
Protected: MAF, Martin, Orpik, Letang, Niskanen, Engelland, Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Neal, Sutter, Kennedy, Dupuis, Cooke, Vitale
At Risk: Vokoun, Lovejoy, Glass, Adams,
San Jose
Protected: Niemi, Boyle, Burns, Stuart, Vlasic, Braun, Thornton, Marleau, Havlat, Pavelski, Clowe, Couture, Handzus, Burish, ______
At Risk: D.Murray, Demers, Desjardins, Galiardi
St Louis
Protected: Halak, Elliott, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Jackman, Backes, Oshie, Perron, Steen, Berglund, Mcdonald, Stewart
At Risk: FA goalie signed in order to be able to protect Elliott, Polak, Cole, D'Agostini, Langenbrunner, Sobodka
Tampa Bay
Protected: Garon, Carle, Hedman, Brewer, Salo, Ohlund, Lecavalier, Stamkos, St Louis, Malone, Purcell, Pouliot, Brett Connolly, Thompson, Hall
At Risk: Bergeron, Lee, Pyatt, Crombeen, Wyman, Tyrell
Toronto
Protected: Reimer, Phaneuf, Liles, Gunnarsson, Jake Gardiner, Franson, Grabovski, Kessel, Connolly, Lupul, JVR, Bozak, Macarthur, Kulemin, Kadri
At Risk: Komisarek, Lombardi, Frattin
Vancouver
Protected: Schneider, Luongo, Bieksa, Edler, Hamhuis, D.Sedin, H.Sedin, Kesler, Booth, Raymond, Burrows, Hansen
At Risk: FA goalie signed in order to be able to protect Luongo, Tanev, Gragnani, Garrison, Malhotra, Higgins, Lapierre
Washington
Protected: Holtby, Green, Alzner, Orlov, Carlson, J.Schultz, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Ribiero, Laich, Ward, Brouwer, Chimera, Perreault, Johansson
At Risk: Neuvirth, Hamrlik, Poti, Hillen, Wolski, Hendricks
Winnipeg
Protected: Pavelec, Byfuglien, Enstrom, Bogosian, Clitsome, Stuart, Kane, Wheeler, Laad, O.Jokinen, Little, Ponikarovsky, Wellwood, Burmistrov, Slater
At Risk: Montoya, Hainsey, Miettinen, Antropov
No one can predict the future, but with such slim pickings available for the newbies, expansion teams are clearly destined to bottom-dwell for a while before joining the ranks of the contenders. Additionally, it's clear that the deeper a team is, the more the thought of expansion should worry them. The end result is even more parity in the league than there currently is. To all those in possible expansion markets praying for a team, I wish you the best of luck.
Thnx for reading it took a while to put this together so I appreciate it if anyone found it enjoyable.
Feel free to provide input/corrections and/or post your predictions for possible expansion draft results.
5th Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO
C: J.Spezza, A.Galchenyuk, E.Kuznetsov, M.Hanzal, V.Rask, S.Couturier
LW: Z.Parise, M.Gaborik, T.Vanek, J.Skinner
RW: C.Perry, J.Pavelski, P.Hornqvist, V.Nichushkin
D: E.Karlsson, P.K Subban, J.Muzzin, R.Ristolainen
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, D.Dubnyk
Prospects: Matthews, Kapanen, Vrana, Scherbak, Zadorov, Grubauer, Pickard, Aittokallio, Makarov, Reway, Guryanov, McCarron, Samsonov, Aho, Montour, Bowey