NHL Expansion Draft - Minnesota Wild

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	32	NMC – Zach Parise	$7,538,462	UFA – 2025	X
C	34	NMC – Mikko Koivu	$6,750,000	UFA – 2018	X
RW	34	NMC – Jason Pominville	$5,600,000	UFA – 2019	X
C	32	Eric Staal	$3,500,000	UFA – 2019	X
C	25	Charlie Coyle	$3,200,000	UFA – 2020	X
C	24	Mikael Granlund	$3,000,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	24	Nino Niederreiter	$2,666,667	RFA – 2017	X
LW	25	Jason Zucker	$2,000,000	RFA – 2018	X
C	30	Martin Hanzal	$1,550,000	UFA – 2017	X
RW	29	Chris Stewart	$1,150,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	29	Ryan White	$1,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	26	Erik Haula	$1,000,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	23	Brady Brassart	$836,667	RFA – 2017	40GR
RW	23	Kurtis Gabriel	$666,667	RFA – 2017	27GR
C	26	Jordan Schroeder	$650,000	RFA – 2017	3GR
C	23	Tyler Graovac	$625,000	RFA – 2018	X
RW	24	Zack Mitchell	$615,000	RFA – 2017	29GR
C	30	Patrick Cannone	$600,000	UFA – 2017	37GR
C	33	Ryan Carter	$575,000	UFA – 2017	8GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	32	NMC – Ryan Suter	$7,538,462	UFA – 2025	X
D	27	Jared Spurgeon	$5,187,500	UFA – 2020	X
D	23	Jonas Brodin	$4,166,667	UFA – 2021	X
D	27	Marco Scandella	$4,000,000	UFA – 2020	X
D	22	Matt Dumba	$2,550,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	22	Gustav Olofsson	$795,000	RFA – 2017	27GR
D	26	Christian Folin	$725,000	RFA – 2017	X
D	29	Victor Bartley	$650,000	UFA – 2018	40GR
D	30	Nate Prosser	$625,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	22	Alexander Gudbranson	$610,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
D	23	Guillaume Gelinas	$596,667	RFA – 2017	40GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	30	Devan Dubnyk	$4,333,333	UFA – 2021
G	26	Darcy Kuemper	$1,550,000	UFA – 2017
G	29	Alex Stalock	$650,000	UFA - 2019

Exempt List

• RW Alex Tuch
• C Joel Eriksson Ek
• LW Mario Lucia
• C Sam Anas
• C Christoph Bertschy
• C Adam Gilmour
• RW Chase Lang
• C Pavel Jenys
• C Justin Kloos
• C Luke Kunin
• D Mike Weber
• D Mike Reilly
• D Nick Seeler
• D Gustav Bouramman
• D Dylan Labbe
• D Zach Palmquist
• D Hunter Warner
• G Adam Vay
• G Steve Michalek

Explanation of my Protection List

• Minnesota could be in some trouble since three of their forwards have NMCs (Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu, and Jason Pominville) and will require the team to go with protecting seven forwards and three defensemen.  In addition to these three, I would also protect Charlie Coyle, Mikael Granlund, Nino Neiderreiter, and Jason Zucker, all young players who are key pieces to the team's future.  On defense, only Ryan Suter has a NMC, so he must be protected.  The Wild front office will have several decisions to make regarding their last two defensive spots.  They have four more defensemen under contract after this season and all could be considered vital to the team's success.  I think that I will protect Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba as Spurgeon is the Wild's best puck-moving defensemen and Dumba may be their defenseman with the highest upside.  At the goalie position Devan Dubnyk is the team's franchise goaltender and will be protected.
• After protecting their seven forwards, Chris Stewart and Tyler Graovac are forwards who still have term left and who will be left exposed.  In regards to their defensemen, as I mentioned above, Minnesota will be letting at least two vital defensemen exposed.  The way that I chose my protection list, these two are Jared Spurgeon and Marco Scandella, both making at least $4 million per season and who are each 27 years old.  In net, Alex Stalock will be the goaltender Minnesota exposes.
• Like any team with numerous quality defensemen, Minnesota could deal with problems at the Expansion Draft.  Ideally, they would choose to not lose any of their talented blueliners but it seems like a foregone conclusion that they will lose one of them unless they can work out a deal with Vegas.  I think that there is a strong chance that Minnesota trades one of their defensemen before the Draft in order to make their protection list more manageable.  If I am the team's GM I am also asking Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville to consider waiving their NMCs for the Expansion Draft, considering that Vegas probably wouldn't want to take on those large contracts for aging forwards.  There is a bright side to Minnesota's situation in that losing one of their bigger contracts would give the team enough money to re-sign Mikael Granlund and Nino Niederreiter.

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