NHL Expansion Draft - Calgary Flames

Expansion Draft Rules

All information from NHL.com

Protected Lists

• Clubs can protect one of two options:
• Seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender
• Eight skaters and one goaltender
• All players with No-Movement clauses in their contract have to be protected unless they waive their clauses
• All first- and second-year pro players will be exempt from selections and don't have to be protected

Player Exposure Requirements

• Clubs must meet minimum requirements for exposure in the Expansion Draft:
• One defenseman who is under contract in 2017-18 and played in 40 or more games in 2016-17 or played in 70 or more games in two prior seasons.
• Two forwards who meet the same requirements as above
• One goaltender who is under contract in 2017-18 or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current contract immediately prior to 2017-18.

Vegas Requirements

• Must select one player from each existing club for a total of 30 players
• Must select at least 14 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders
• Must have a minimum 20 players under contract for the 2017-18 season
• Must reach the salary cap floor and cannot exceed the cap ceiling
• May not buy out any players selected in the Expansion Draft before the first summer following their first full season

Protection List

• NMC= No Movement Clause
• NTC= No Trade Clause
• Red = Who I would protect

Forwards

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
LW	23	Johnny Gaudreau	$6,750,000	UFA – 2022	X
C	22	Sean Monahan	$6,375,000	UFA – 2023	X
RW	31	Troy Brouwer	$4,500,000	UFA – 2020	X
RW	29	Michael Frolik	$4,300,000	UFA – 2020	X
C	28	Michael Backlund	$3,575,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	33	Matt Stajan	$3,125,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	27	Lance Bouma	$2,200,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	30	Brandon Bollig	$1,250,000	UFA – 2017	16GR
LW	30	Kris Versteeg	$950,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	20	Sam Bennett	$925,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	22	Curtis Lazar	$894,167	RFA – 2017	X
LW	22	Emile Poirier	$863,333	RFA – 2018	40GR
C	22	Hunter Shinkaruk	$863,333	RFA – 2018	33GR
LW	24	Micheal Ferland	$825,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	26	Alex Chiasson	$800,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	25	Linden Vey	$700,000	RFA – 2017	25GR
C	25	Freddie Hamilton	$612,500	RFA – 2018	13GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	33	Mark Giordano	$6,750,000	UFA – 2022	X
D	23	Dougie Hamilton	$5,750,000	UFA – 2021	X
D	34	Dennis Wideman	$5,250,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	26	T.J. Brodie	$4,650,000	UFA – 2020	X
D	34	Deryk Engelland	$2,916,667	UFA – 2017	X
D	26	Michael Stone	$2,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	31	Michael Kostka	$800,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	23	Brett Kulak	$656,667	RFA – 2017	19GR
D	23	Ryan Culkin	$656,667	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	24	Tyler Wotherspoon	$625,000	RFA – 2017	36GR
D	28	Matt Bartkowski	$612,500	UFA – 2018	X

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	31	Brian Elliott	$2,500,000	UFA – 2017
G	30	Chad Johnson	$1,700,000	UFA – 2017
G	27	Tom McCollum	$612,500	RFA – 2018

Exempt List

• C Daniel Pribyl
• C Mark Jankowski
• LW Matthew Tkachuk
• LW Morgan Klimchuk
• C Brett Pollock
• LW Andrew Mangiapane
• RW Hunter Smith
• RW Garnet Hathaway
• RW Austin Carroll
• C Dillon Dube
• LW Ryan Lomberg
• D Ladislav Smid
• D Kenney Morrison
• D Rasmus Andersson
• D Oliver Kylington
• D Keegan Kanzig
• G Jon Gillies
• G David Rittich
• G Mason McDonald
• G Nick Schneider
• G Tyler Parsons

Explanation of my Protection List

• Calgary is another team I think that will go the seven forwards/three defensemen route and picking the first four forwards to protect are easy: Johnny Gaureau, Sean Monahan, Michael Frolik, and Michael Backlund.  Where I get a little torn are the final three forward spots.  I think that they will protect Hunter Shinkaruk, a young prospect who is a former first round pick and who was supposedly off the table at the trade deadline.  I also think that they will protect  Michael Ferland and for the last spot, I would protect Curtis Lazar.  They gave up someone of value in Jyrki Jokipakka to get him and I don't think they will let him go for nothing.  On defense, there are really only three choices to protect which are Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, and T.J. Brodie.  Lastly, neither of the two Flames' regular netminders have contracts after this season so they don't need protected so I am choosing to protect their third goaltender, Tom McCollum, simply because every team is give the right to protect a goaltender.
• Exposed forwards will be Troy Brouwer, Matt Stajan, Lance Bouma, Emile Poirier, and Freddie Hamilton.  They only have one defense under contract who is left exposed, Matt Bartkowski, whom the Flames signed to a two-year contract for this specific purpose.  In net, the Flames won't have any players with term exposed.
• I think that the Flames could end up losing a valuable forward in the Expansion Draft, but it could benefit Calgary, especially if Vegas picks Brouwer, who has three years remaining at $4.5 million per season.  Regardless, it doesn't seem like the Flames will be harmed much by the draft.

*All cap and salary information come from CapFriendly.com*