NHL Expansion Draft - Detroit Red Wings

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	36	Henrik Zetterberg	$6,083,333	UFA – 2021	X
C	32	NMC – Frans Nielsen	$5,250,000	UFA – 2022	X
RW	27	Gustav Nyquist	$4,750,000	UFA – 2019	X
LW	30	Justin Abdelkader	$4,250,000	UFA – 2023	X
C	30	Darren Helm	$3,850,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	26	Tomas Tatar	$2,750,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	25	Riley Sheahan	$2,075,000	RFA – 2018	X
LW	33	Drew Miller	$1,025,000	UFA – 2017	X
RW	22	Anthony Mantha	$863,333	RFA – 2018	X
LW	28	Eric Tangradi	$650,000	UFA – 2018	40GR
RW	23	Martin Frk	$639,167	RFA – 2017	38GR
C	22	Andreas Athanasiou	$628,333	RFA – 2017	X
C	27	Luke Glendening	$1,800,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	24	Tomas Nosek	$612,500	RFA – 2018	29GR
RW	25	Mitch Callahan	$600,000	UFA – 2017	36GR
C	30	Ben Street	$600,000	UFA – 2017	34GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	31	Mike Green	$6,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	27	Danny DeKeyser	$5,000,000	UFA – 2022	X
D	36	Niklas Kronwall	$4,750,000	UFA – 2019	X
D	33	Jonathan Ericsson	$4,250,000	UFA – 2020	X
D	24	Dylan McIlrath	$800,000	UFA – 2017	29GR
D	23	Xavier Oullet	$715,000	RFA – 2017	X
D	26	Brian Lashoff	$650,000	RFA – 2017	35GR
D	24	Ryan Sproul	$625,000	RFA – 2018	13GR
D	26	Nick Jensen	$812,500	UFA – 2019	X

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	33	Jimmy Howard	$5,291,667	UFA – 2019
G	25	Petr Mrazek	$4,000,000	RFA – 2018
G	25	Jared Coreau	$612,500	RFA – 2018
G	26	Edward Pasquale	$575,000	UFA – 2017

Exempt List

• RW Johan Franzen
• C Joe Vitale
• C Dylan Larkin
• LW Evgeni Svechnikov
• LW Dylan Dadowy
• LW Givani Smith
• C Axel Holmstrom
• C Dominc Turgeon
• LW Tyler Bertuzzi
• RW Zach Nastasiuk
• LW Matt Lorito
• D Daniel Renouf
• D Filip Hronek
• D Vili Saarijarvi
• D Robbie Russo
• D Joe Hicketts
• G Jake Paterson

Explanation of my Protection List

• Detroit is a tough team to figure out because they are clearly on the verge of a tear down and rebuild.  They missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years and have an older core. They do have some attractive pieces, however, whom Detroit will still want to protect in the Expansion Draft.  Frans Nielsen is their only forward with a NMC so he must be protected.  They will also certainly want to protect Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou, two of their young, talented forwards.  I think they will also protect Gustav Nyquist and Justin Abdelkader, both of whom they have signed to extensions and it is clear the team believes in.  For the last two positions, I think they protect 26-year old Tomas Tatar and Henrik Zetterberg, who I don't think Vegas would be interested in either way but Detroit owes this much to him.  On defense, they have have no one with NMCs but will still have decisions to make.  I think they will protect Mike Green, Danny DeKeyser, and Xavier Oullet, one of their younger defensemen who has shown promise.  In net, Detroit will have to choose between Jimmy Howard and Petr Mrazek.  Howard is the older of the two, has the longer contract, and who has performed the best out of the two. Mrazek, on the other hand, appears to be the goaltender of the future and I think is the one Detroit will protect.  
• I believe Detroit will leave forwards Darren Helm, Riley Sheahan, and Luke Glendening unprotected and all with term left.  At the blue line, I think that Niklas Kronwall will be left exposed despite being a franchise piece over the past decade and that Jonathan Ericsson and Nick Jensen will be left alone as well.  At the goaltender position, they will leave Jimmy Howard and Jared Coreau unprotected.
• I think that there is a good chance that Detroit will lose one of their defensemen, most likely Nick Jensen, who is 26 and has two years left on his contract.  If not him, then perhaps Vegas will take Jared Coreau as one of their goaltenders.  He is cheap and young, and I don't think that they want to take on Jimmy Howard's contract.  However, I think there is a chance that Vegas is interested in Riley Sheahan and see if they can help him re-develop his scoring touch.

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