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Thread: Mock NHL Expansion Draft

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    Post 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

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    Curious to know where you got the criteria. Are they inspired from what happened in the past? Because those would be some pretty awful teams!

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    Excellent article which is likely realistic. I appreciate the effort you put into this.

    The problem is that the NHL already needs to lose at least ten teams. I am getting tired of being a fan of a rich team (Leafs) which is held hostage by teams in poor markets that can not make money.

    I wonder how many fans even in good markets, would pay top dollars to see expanson teams with that kind of rosters.

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    Coldsquad, this kind of problem is why expansion is unlikely at this point in time. Relocation of failing franchises makes a lot more sense (namely Phoenix and Columbus), but we've seen some crazy moves by the league so if something like this happened in the next year or two I wouldn't be all that surprised.

    And Thunder, the rules for expansion were taken from the past expansion drafts.
    Last edited by Bnhershy; September 9, 2012 at 7:35 PM.
    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

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bnhershy View Post
    Coldsquad, this kind of problem is why expansion is unlikely at this point in time. Relocation of failing franchises makes a lot more sense (namely Phoenix and Columbus), but we've seen some crazy moves by the league so if something like this happened in the next year or two I wouldn't be all that surprised.

    And Thunder, the rules for expansion were taken from the past expansion drafts.
    I agree with that completly. However, some markets may have been able to make it if they had been managed correctly. For instance Columbus. I do not know their accounting details but the constant losing can not help.

    Thus putting new teams with brutal rosters destroys markets before they can even have a chance to be successfull.

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    i started to do an expansion draft then realized i hadnt followed the rules properly hahah harder then you think
    Straight Points keeper league. Keep 5 Forwards,3 defence,1 goalie.

    F: Nicklas Backstrom, Joe Thornton, Henrik Zetterberg, Zach Parise, Logan Couture

    D: Erik Karlsson, Alex Pietrangelo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson

    G: Sergei Bobrovsky

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    haha it's a tough proposition. and like always, the final rosters end up being very underwhelming. but when you look at the expansion teams of the mid-late 90's, most have sound rosters today. although i'm sure it took a while to get there.
    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

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    just watched espn 30:30's "a king's ransom" which detailed "The Trade" of Gretzky from the Oilers to the Kings and how it ended up being a key variable in the growth of hockey in the states and especially California. Thought it was relevant in the whole "expansion" realm.

    anyone who hasn't seen it should look it up. it's free online (found it through google)
    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

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    Excited the expansion talk is gaining steam. The draft would make for some interesting moves/speculation.
    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

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bnhershy View Post
    haha it's a tough proposition. and like always, the final rosters end up being very underwhelming. but when you look at the expansion teams of the mid-late 90's, most have sound rosters today. although i'm sure it took a while to get there.
    Just looked at the roster of the 92-93 Senators... Underwhelming is an understatement! Lol... this is what their depth chart must have resembled:

    C - Baker, Lamb, Brady, Boschman
    LW - S. Turgeon, Peluso, Freer, Lazaro
    RW - Kudelski, J. Hull, McBain, Archibald
    D - MacIver, Shaw, Rumble, Luongo, Hammond, Dineen
    G - Sidorkiewicz, Berthiaume

    Of course, that was a different time. There were a lot of veterans on that team. I would think you'd see a lot more kids play on an expansion team of today.

    10th year Keeper League, Fantrax

    14 teams, H2H, keep 10, daily starts
    G (3), A (2), +/- (1), PIM (0.1), PPP (1), FOW (0.1), FOL (-0.1), BLK (0.5), HAT (3), W (5), SO (3), SV (0.1), GA (-0.5)

    C (3) - Schmaltz (LW, RW), Mercer (RW), Norris (IR), Domi (LW), T. Johnson (RW), Nosek (LW)
    LW (3) - Keller (RW), Hagel, McCann (C), Zacha (LW), Kubalik (RW), N. Foligno (IR)
    RW (3) - Fiala (LW), Vilardi (C), Ehlers (LW), Kakko
    D (4) - Theodore, Orlov, Grzelcyk, T. van Riemsdyk, Clifton, Skjei, Weegar
    Util (1)
    G (1) - Montembault, Allen, Halak



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    The Sens screwed up a lot in their expansion draft. Their computer went dead or something. I think they ended up trying to draft guys that were either already drafted, or they couldn't draft.

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    One question to throw in because I'm not sure this was an issue the last time an expansion draft took place. Are players with NTC's protected? I would assume NMC's are protected but not sure about how the NTC comes into play ...

    Also awesome job on the breakdown!

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