NHL Expansion Draft - Boston Bruins

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
C	30	NMC – David Krejci	$7,250,000	UFA – 2021	X
C	31	NMC – Patrice Bergeron	$6,875,000	UFA – 2022	X
C	32	NMC – David Backes	$6,000,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	28	Brad Marchand	$6,125,000	UFA – 2025	X
RW	31	Drew Stafford	$4,350,000	UFA – 2017	X
LW	28	Matt Beleskey	$3,800,000	UFA – 2020	X
RW	27	Jimmy Hayes	$2,300,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	25	Ryan Spooner	$950,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	20	David Pastrnak	$925,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	27	Riley Nash	$900,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	36	Dominic Moore	$900,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	26	Zac Rinaldo	$850,000	UFA – 2017	18GR
RW	24	Brian Ferlin	$725,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
C	26	Tim Schaller	$600,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	25	Tyler Randell	$600,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	40	NMC – Zdeno Chara	$4,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	25	Torey Krug	$5,250,000	UFA – 2020	X
D	30	Adam McQuaid	$2,750,000	UFA – 2019	X
D	29	Kevan Miller	$2,500,000	UFA – 2020	X
D	36	John-Michael Liles	$2,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	24	Colin Miller	$1,000,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	22	Linus Arnesson	$817,500	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	24	Joe Morrow	$800,000	RFA – 2017	15GR
D	25	Chris Casto	$650,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	28	Alex Grant	$600,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	27	Tommy Cross	$600,000	UFA – 2017	39GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	30	Tuukka Rask	$7,000,000	UFA – 2021
G	30	Anton Khudobin	$1,200,000	UFA – 2018
G	23	Malcolm Subban	$863,333	RFA – 2017

Exempt List

• LW Jake DeBrusk
• RW Zach Senyshyn
• C Danton Heinen
• C Austin Czarnik
• C Sean Kuraly
• RW Justin Hickman
• LW Frank Vatrano
• C Nowl Acciari
• LW Anton Blidh
• LW Jesse Gabrielle
• LW Peter Cehlarik
• LW Colton Hargrove
• C Colby Cave
• C Ryan Fitzgerald
• D Rob O'Gara
• D Jakub Zboril
• D Matt Grzelcyk
• D Brandon Carlo
• D Jeremy Lauzon
• D Emil Johansson
• G Zane McIntyre
• G Daniel Vladar

Explanation of my Protection List

• David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron, and David Backes all have no-move clauses so they must be protected, taking up three of their forward spots already.  There is no way that the Bruins let Brad Marchand or David Pastrnak go (even if Pastrnak is an RFA this offseason), so they will protect seven forwards and three defensemen.  The two other forward spots I think go to Jimmy Hayes and Ryan Spooner.  On defense, Zdeno Chara has a no-move clause, taking up one of their three valuable defense spots.  I think that the Bruins will also choose to pick Torey Krug and Colin Miller and, in net, there really isn't any choice but to protect Tuukka Rask.
• At forward, the Bruins are going to let Matt Beleskey and Riley Nash exposed, both players who are valuable to the team but can be replaced easily enough.  On defense, they will leave Adam McQuaid and Kevan Miller unprotected as well as Anton Khudobin and Malcolm Subban in net.  Khudobin as one more year left on his contract while Subban is an RFA this summer.
• The Bruins could be in a tough spot with the Expansion Draft because there are almost guaranteed to lose a player of value.  I think that they are most likely to lose a defenseman such as Adam McQuaid or Kevan Miller, but luckily they are set up to overcome such a loss with Brandon Carlo emerging this season and with Charlie McAvoy leaving college hockey this season.  I actually think that there is a chance that Vegas takes Malcolm Subban in the draft despite him being an RFA.  Pursuing young goaltenders is a very attractive plan for the team since they are easy to be traded or could be center pieces in the future.

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