NHL Expansion Draft - Edmonton Oilers

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	26	Jordan Eberle	$6,000,000	UFA – 2019	X
LW	28	NMC – Milan Lucic	$6,000,000	UFA – 2023	X
C	23	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	$6,000,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	30	Benoit Pouliot	$4,000,000	UFA – 2019	X
C	30	David Desharnais	$2,800,000	UFA – 2017	X
LW	35	Matt Hendricks	$1,850,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	32	Mark Letestu	$1,800,000	UFA – 2018	X
RW	26	Zack Kassian	$1,500,000	RFA – 2017	X
LW	28	Patrick Maroon	$1,500,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	25	Anton Lander	$987,500	RFA – 2017	X
C	21	Leon Draisaitl	$925,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	23	Henrik Samuelsson	$984,167	RFA – 2017	40GR
LW	22	Jujhar Khaira	$875,000	RFA – 2017	30GR
C	22	Bogdan Yakimov	$842,500	RFA – 2017	40GR
RW	25	Iiro Pakarinen	$725,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	25	Tyler Pitlick	$725,000	RFA – 2017	9GR
LW	23	Zachary Pochiro	$663,333	RFA – 2017	40GR
RW	29	Justin Fontaine	$600,000	UFA – 2017	6GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	30	NMC – Andrej Sekera	$5,500,000	UFA – 2021	X
D	23	Oscar Klefbom	$4,167,000	UFA – 2023	X
D	24	Adam Larsson	$4,166.667	UFA – 2018	X
D	29	Mark Fayne	$3,625,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	29	Kris Russell	$3,100,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	28	Eric Gryba	$950,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	23	Griffin Reinhart	$863,333	RFA – 2017	39GR
D	24	Dillon Simpson	$836,667	RFA – 2017	37GR
D	23	David Musil	$600,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	24	Jordan Oesterle	$585,000	UFA – 2017	38GR
D	30	Mark Fraser	$575,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	29	NMC – Cam Talbot	$4,166,667	UFA – 2019
G	32	Jonas Gustavsson	$800,000	UFA – 2017
G	24	Laurent Brossoit	$750,000	RFA – 2018

Exempt List

• RW Patrick Russell
• RW Jesse Puljujarvi
• LW Anton Slepyshev
• C Connor McDavid
• C Drake Caggiula
• LW Tyler Benson
• LW Jere Sallinen
• RW Kyle Platzer
• C Gregory Chase
• LW Braden Christoffer
• C Joseph Gambardella
• D Andrew Ference
• D Matthew Benning
• D Ryan Mantha
• D Joey Laleggia
• D Darnell Nurse
• D Ethan Bear
• D Caleb Jones
• D Ben Betker
• G Nick Ellis
• G Eetu Laurikainen

Explanation of my Protection List

• As a result of their high draft picks over the past almost decade, the Oilers have a lot of young players on their roster, many of whom are forwards and I'm certain they would like to protect in the Expansion Draft.  They will certainly go with the seven forwards/three defensemen plan considering they have at least five forwards who are guaranteed to be protected.  Milan Lucic has a NMC in his contract so he has to be protected.  They will also protect Jordan Eberle, just because of how much they have invested in him, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Leon Draisaitl. If I'm the team's GM I am also protecting Benoit Pouliot, who has revitalized his career in Edmonton, Zack Kassian, who is finally living up to his potential, and Patrick Maroon, who has found a home on Connor McDavid's wing.  On defense, Andrej Sekera is the only player with a NMC so he will be protected, as will Oscar Klefbom, and Adam Larsson, all of which are pretty easy decisions.  There is also no decision to make at goal as Cam Talbot has a NMC.
• Edmonton won't be exposing any forwards of much value since several of their young players are exempt.  Mark Letestu will probably be the only forward exposed who has term left on his country, but young forwards Anton Lander and Iiro Pakarinen will also be left unprotected as RFAs.  Mark Fayne will be the only goaltender left exposed who has term left on his contract, but they will also leave Griffin Reinhart, Dillon Simpson, and David Musil unprotected who are all RFAs.  For goaltenders, it seems like the Oilers signed Laurent Brossoit for this purpose as he is their only other goaltender besides Talbot with a contract beyond 2017.
• Edmonton is extremely lucky that Connor McDavid, Jesse Puljujarvi, Drake Caggiula, and Darnell Nurse are all exempt from the Expansion Draft.  All four of them would likely be protected by the team, meaning that Pouliot, Kassian, Maroon, and they would probably have to figure out something to do with Andrej Sekera so as to not expose Klefbom or Larsson.

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