NHL Expansion Draft - Anaheim Ducks

For those who don't know, last fall the NHL approved the 31st franchise to be located in Las Vegas and will begin playing in the 2017-18 season.  This is the first time the NHL has added a team since 2000 when Minnesota and Columbus were granted franchises.  This time around, however, the NHL wants to do everything possible to give Vegas a competitive team from the start, largely a result of how expensive franchise fees are in 2016 compared to the late 1990s.  The league has done everything possible to ensure that the existing franchises are forced to expose players of value and that Vegas will have the opportunity to create a roster with the potential to be successful from the start or to focus on the future by taking team's young players.

I figured it could be a fun exercise to do my own Expansion Draft simulator by using CapFriendly.com and then publishing the results in a team-by-team format.  I will start with Anaheim and finish with Winnipeg before ultimately writing a Vegas post.

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
RW	31	NMC – Corey Perry	$8,625,000	UFA – 2021	X
C	31	NMC – Ryan Getzlaf	$8,250,000	UFA – 2021	X
C	32	NMC – Ryan Kesler	$6,875,000	UFA – 2022	X
C	23	Rickard Rakell	$3,789,444	UFA – 2022	X
RW	26	Jakob Silfverberg	$3,750,000	UFA – 2019	X
LW	29	Andrew Cogliano	$3,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	34	Antoine Vermette	$1,750,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	32	Nate Thompson	$1,600,000	UFA – 2017	X
RW	32	Patrick Eaves	$1,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
LW	23	Nicolas Kerdiles	$925,000	RFA – 2017	35GR
RW	30	Jared Boll	$900,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	31	Ryan Garbutt	$900,000	UFA – 2017	X
RW	22	Nick Sorenson	$803,333	RFA – 2017	35GR
LW	24	Emerson Etem	$775,000	RFA – 2017	9GR
RW	24	Logan Shaw	$650,000	RFA – 2018	X
C	25	Chris Wagner	$637,500	UFA – 2018	X
RW	27	Corey Tropp	$625,000	UFA – 2018	39GR
RW	24	Max Gortz	$616,667	RFA – 2017	40GR
LW	28	Spencer Abbott	$575,000	UFA – 2017	39 GR
C	25	Sam Carrick	$575,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	23	Hampus Lindholm	$5,205,556	UFA – 2022	X
D	25	Sami Vatanen	$4,875,000	UFA – 2020	X
D	25	Cam Fowler	$4,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	35	NMC – Kevin Bieksa	$4,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	25	Simon Despres	$3,700,000	UFA – 2021	30GR
D	32	Clayton Stoner	$3,250,000	UFA – 2018	5GR
D	25	Josh Manson	$825,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	24	Jaycob Megna	$786,667	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	29	Korbinian Holzer	$700,000	UFA – 2017	3GR
D	34	Nate Guenin	$600,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	31	Jeff Schultz	$575,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	28	Jonathan Bernier	$4,150,000	UFA – 2017
G	23	John Gibson	$2,300,000	RFA - 2019
G	28	Jhonas Enroth	$750,000	UFA – 2017
G	27	Dustin Tokarski	$650,000	UFA – 2018
G	27	Matt Hackett	$600,000	UFA – 2017

• At forward, Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Ryan Kesler all have no-move clauses so they have to be protected.  I think that they will ultimately move at least one of their defensemen before the Expansion Draft in order to be able to protect 7 forwards and 3 defensemen.  I would trade Sami Vatanen as he is likely the least valuable to Anaheim out of he, Hampus Lindholm, and Cam Fowler.  I would also ask Kevin Bieksa to waive his NMC and if he doesn't, I would simply buy him out.  He only has one year left on his contract so it wouldn't be too costly to do so.  Therefore, I am protecting the three forwards with NMCs, plus Jakob Silfverberg, Andrew Cogliano, and Antoine Vermette.  On defense, I am protecting Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, and Josh Manson.  In net ,I am protecting John Gibson.
• If Anaheim were to follow my plan, they won't be leaving much exposed in terms of value. They will leave forwards Jared Boll and Corey Tropp exposed.  Exposed defensemen are Simon Despres and Clayton Stoner and they will leave Dustin Tokarski exposed in net.  These don't include any restricted or unrestricted free agents that they have however.
• The Ducks should be fine in the Expansion Draft if they move Vatanen and aren't required to protect Bieksa.   The most talented player they could lose is probably Simon Despres but the Ducks wouldn't miss him very much.

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