NHL Expansion Draft - Dallas Stars

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	33	NMC – Jason Spezza	$7,500,000	UFA – 2019	X
LW	35	Patrick Sharp	$5,900,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	25	Tyler Seguin	$5,750,000	UFA – 2019	X
LW	27	NMC – Jamie Benn	$9,500,000	UFA – 2025	X
RW	33	Ales Hemsky	$4,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	25	Cody Eakin	$3,850,000	UFA – 2020	X
LW	27	Antoine Roussel	$2,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	33	Jiri Hudler	$2,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
RW	23	Brett Ritchie	$875,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	23	Radek Faksa	$863,333	RFA – 2017	X
LW	26	Curtis McKenzie	$700,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	22	Gemel Smith	$645,000	RFA – 2017	23GR
C	26	Justin Dowling	$625,000	UFA – 2017	31GR
RW	31	Adam Cracknell	$675,000	UFA – 2018	X
RW	24	Mark McNeill	$600,000	RFA – 2017	39GR
C	33	Travis Morin	$575,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
RW	23	Matej Stransky	$575,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
RW	22	Valeri Nichushkin	-	-	X

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	24	John Klingberg	$4,250,000	UFA – 2022	X
D	34	Dan Humhuis	$3,750,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	24	Jamie Oleksiak	$918,750	RFA – 2017	X
D	25	Patrick Nemeth	$900,000	RFA – 2017	X
D	26	Greg Pateryn	$800,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	22	Ludwig Bystrom	$775,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	24	Mattias Backman	$750,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	22	Esa Lindell	$745,833	RFA – 2017	X
D	24	Stephen Johns	$725,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	28	Andrew Bodnarchuk	$725,000	UFA – 2018	33GR
D	22	Nick Ebert	$691,667	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	23	Justin Hache	$640,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	27	Dustin Stevenson	$600,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

  Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	30	NMC – Ben Bishop	$4,916,667	UFA – 2023
G	33	Kari Lehtonen	$5,900,000	UFA – 2018
G	33	Antti Niemi	$4,500,000	UFA – 2018
G	23	Henri Kiviaho	$611,667	RFA – 2017
G	24	Maxime Lagace	$600,000	RFA – 2017
G	30	Justin Peters	$600,000	UFA – 2017

Exempt List

• LW Denis Gurianov
• C Jason Dickinson
• C Devin Shore
• LW Remi Elie
• C Mattias Janmark
• LW Cole Ully
• D Julius Honka
• D Dillon Heatherington
• D Niklas Hansson
• D Chris Martenet
• D Ondrej Vala
• D Gavin Bayreuther
• G Philippe Desrosiers
• G Landon Bow

Explanation of my Protection List

• Dallas is a team that I thought may consider protecting eight skaters, dividing their spots between four forwards and four defensemen.  However, I think that they have too many talented forwards to protect and will go the seven forwards/three defensemen route.  Forwards Jason Spezza and Jamie Benn both have NMCs so they have to be protected.  They will also certainly protect Tyler Seguin and Radek Faksa.  I also think that they will protect Antoine Roussel and then have to make decisions about their final two spots about Cody Eakin, Brett Ritchie, and Valeri Nichushkin.  I think with Ritchie's age (23) he it important to the franchise and will be protected.  Nichushkin is currently playing in his native Russia but still has to be protected for Dallas to ensure that they can keep him.  I have read that perhaps Dallas keeps him regardless of this but I think that there is no guarantee that he returns to America to play and Dallas should protect the known commodity of Eakin.  On defense, they have more than four defensemen I'm certain they would like to keep, but will only have three spots available.  They will protect John Klingberg and Esa Lindell right away and I think they will protect Stephen Johns with their final spot.  In net, they have to protect newly-acquired Ben Bishop since he has a NMC.
• Curtis McKenzie and Adam Cracknell will both be left exposed as forwards with term left on their contracts.  They will also leave four forwards exposed who are RFAs.  On defense, veteran Dan Hamhuis will be left exposed as will Greg Pateryn, who has another year left on his contract.  They will also leave five defensemen aged 25 or younger who are RFAs exposed.  As I referenced above, I think that Dallas leaves both Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi exposed, both veteran goaltenders with experience and one year left on their contracts.  They will also leave Maxime Legace unprotected but he will be an RFA this offseason.
• I think that the most attractive option for Vegas would be to draft one of Dallas' young defensemen who are RFAs.  However, I believe what will actually happen is that the Stars GM will offer Vegas something in order for them to take one of Lehtonen and Niemi.  That way, Dallas will be free from one of their contracts and they get to keep all of their young players.

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