NHL Expansion Draft - Columbus Blue Jackets

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	24	Brandon Saad	$6,000,000	UFA – 2021	X
C	30	NMC – Brandon Dubinsky	$5,850,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	29	NMC – Nick Foligno	$5,500,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	34	NMC – Scott Hartnell	$4,750,000	UFA – 2019	X
RW	27	Cam Atkinson	$3,500,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	23	Boone Jenner	$2,900,000	RFA – 2018	X
LW	27	Matt Calvert	$2,200,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	30	Lauri Korpikowski	$1,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	24	William Karlsson	$1,000,000	RFA – 2018	X
C	22	Alexander Wennberg	$925,000	RFA – 2017	X
LW	28	Brett Gallant	$750,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
RW	22	Josh Anderson	$687,333	RFA – 2017	X
RW	22	Daniel Zaar	$667,667	RFA – 2017	40GR
C	27	Sam Gagner	$650,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	24	Alex Broadhurst	$600,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
C	27	Zac Dalpe	$600,000	UFA – 2017	31GR
C	24	Lukas Sedlak	$825,000	RFA – 2019	X
C	25	T.J. Tynan	$600,000	UFA – 2017	37GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	22	Seth Jones	$5,400,000	UFA – 2022	X
D	30	Jack Johnson	$4,357,143	UFA – 2018	X
D	26	David Savard	$4,250,000	UFA – 2021	X
D	23	Ryan Murray	$2,825,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	31	Kyle Quincey	$1,250,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	24	Scott Harrington	$675,000	RFA – 2017	15GR
D	34	Jaime Sifers	$625,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	26	John Ramage	$612,500	UFA – 2018	40GR
D	27	Ryan Stanton	$600,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	28	NMC – Sergei Bobrovsky	$7,425,000	UFA – 2019
G	23	Oscar Dansk	$775,833	RFA – 2017
G	22	Joonas Korpisalo	$742,500	RFA – 2017
G	24	Anton Forsberg	$650,000	RFA – 2017

Exempt List

• RW NMC - David Clarkson
• LW Pierre-Luc Dubois
• LW Sonny Milano
• C Jordan Maletta
• LW Paul Bittner
• LW Vitaly Abramov
• RW Justin Scott
• C Calvin Thurkauf
• C Dante Salituro
• C Kole Sherwood
• LW Markus Hannikainen
• RW Keegan Kolesar
• C Nick Moutrey
• RW Oliver Bjorkstrand
• C Sam Vigneault
• D Gabriel Carlsson
• D Zach Werenski
• D Markus Nutivaara
• D Dean Kukan
• D Jacob Graves
• D Blake Siebenaler
• D Marc-Andre Bergeron
• D Oleg Yevenko

Explanation of my Protection List

• Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno, and Scott Hartnell are all forwards with NMCs and there are at least two more forwards whom I would like to protect so I think Columbus will go with seven forwards/three defensemen.  The Blue Jackets will also protect Brandon Saad, Cam Atkinson, and Boone Jenner leaving one spot open.  Matt Calvert, William Karlsson, Alexander Wennberg, and Josh Anderson are all viable candidates for that last protection spot.  I think that Columbus will use it on Karlsson because he and Calvert are the only two of the list with term left on their deals but Karlsson has more upside.  However, I would ask Hartnell if he would waive his NMC, just to gain an extra protection spot, and if he wouldn't, I would consider buying him out.  There are no Blue Jacket defensemen with NMCs so all three spots are open.  Seth Jones is an absolute guarantee to be protected and I think that David Savard and Ryan Murray will also be protected because they are younger and more valuable to the franchise.  In net, Sergei Bobrovsky has an NMC so there's no debate at that position.
• At forward, Columbus will leave some talent available for Vegas to choose from including Matt Calvert with a year left on his deal.  There are also Alexander Wennberg and Josh Anderson available and both are quite important to Columbus.  Both are also RFAs after this season so I think the Blue Jackets will hope that Vegas won't draft either of them, instead choosing to pursuit players with contracts as much as possible.  On defense, they will leave Jack Johnson, Scott Harrington, and John Ramage exposed and I think are banking on the idea that Vegas wants young players not veterans like Johnson.  In net, Columbus has to leave a duo of young and talented goaltenders exposed in Oscar Dansk and Joonas Korpisalo.  Neither have contracts for next season, however, and both are RFAs so perhaps Vegas will leave them alone.  
• I think Columbus could be in trouble with the Expansion Draft.  Losing one of Matt Calvert, Alexander Wennberg, or Josh Anderson will hurt them and if Vegas decides to take one of their two goaltenders it could affect long-term plans at the position.  This seems like one of those situations destined for a behind-the-scenes trade between clubs to keep Vegas from taking one of Columbus' more prized possessions.

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