The Expansion Draft
This is on everyone’s minds, so instead of narrowing down on the Tampa Bay Lightning this morning, I’ll head straight to the heart of the news. Michael Russo elaborated on the expansion draft announcement during the NHL awards, explaining that Vegas Golden Knights players will be revealed in the reverse order of standings (worst team to best team). The Bolts were 14th in standings, and therefore the player will be announced 15th.
Periodically throughout awards show, players will be announced in reverse order of standings of team they’re taken from – Avs to Caps https://t.co/vmZKKmv4s5
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) June 17, 2017
The NHL Awards and expansion draft will take place this coming Wednesday night (June 21) at 8 PM. We’ll be watching for any news of Victor Hedman winning the Norris trophy; sadly, after the playoff run that Erik Karlsson had, it’s kind of his to lose.
Joe Smith wrote a nice guide to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s expansion draft moves and (as yet unrevealed but most likely) protected list. “Who could the Lightning lose? It will likely lose a defenseman. The candidates include Braydon Coburn, Slater Koekkoek, Jason Garrison and Andrej Sustr. Bottom-six forwards J.T. Brown and Cedric Paquette could be plucked as role players. Or Vegas could sign forward Yanni Gourde, who can be an unrestricted free agent July 1, during its exclusive negotiation window.” [Tampa Bay Times]
Puck Prose wrote up their best guess about the protected list too. [Fansided]
Yesterday, Justin took us on a nostalgic spin through players that the Tampa Bay Lightning has lost to expansion in the past. “It hasn’t always been that way. In their history, the Lightning have gone through four other expansion drafts that have seen a total of six teams pluck players from them. Over that time I would venture it was harder for the Lightning to find players worth protecting then it was for them to worry about who they would lose.” [Raw Charge]
If you haven’t read it yet, @TheRevTy wrote out his thoughts about the Jonathan Drouin trade. [Raw Charge]
And if you only read one Syracuse Crunch story today, make it Allovimo’s. “It was clear from the beginning that the final piece of the puzzle also felt that the Syracuse fan base deserved a winning, dedicated team. Coach Groulx dived into the Syracuse community headfirst, and immediately set a high standard of required conduct and effort for his team on and off the ice. The team respected him and rose to his demands time and time again.” [Raw Charge]
Back to the expansion. More fun: tracking the currently unprotected players. As rumors emerge, SBNation has been compiling these players into a tidy list. Please note a young left-shot defenseman (Xavier Ouellet) has been left exposed by the Red Wings, because of course. [SBNation]
The Jackets are wheeling and dealing with Vegas to keep their young talent pool. “Sources around the NHL have indicated to The Dispatch that the Blue Jackets have reached agreement with the Vegas Golden Knights on a trade that will be announced during the expansion draft Wednesday in Las Vegas. With this trade the Blue Jackets will pay dearly to dissuade the Golden Knights from taking Anderson, Korpisalo or one of the veteran defensemen — Jack Johnson or David Savard — that they would have exposed.” [Columbus Dispatch]
And! Here’s Raw Charge’s expansion draft list of protected and exposed players.
