NHL Expansion Draft - New York Rangers

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 – Rick Nash	$7,800,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	26	Derek Stepan	$6,500,000	UFA – 2021	X
LW	25	Chris Kreider	$4,625,000	UFA – 2020	X
RW	29	Mats Zuccarello	$4,500,000	UFA – 2019	X
C	24	J.T. Miller	$2,750,000	RFA – 2018	X
C	23	Mika Zibanejad	$2,625,000	RFA – 2017	X
C	24	Kevin Hayes	$2,600,000	RFA – 2018	X
RW	29	Michael Grabner	$1,650,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	33	Tanner Glass	$1,450,000	UFA – 2017	1GR
C	25	Brandon Pirri	$1,100,000	RFA – 2017	X
RW	24	Jesper Fast	$950,000	RFA – 2017	X
LW	24	Matt Puempel	$900,000	RFA – 2017	2GR
C	25	Oscar Lindberg	$650,000	RFA – 2017	X
LW	25	Taylor Beck	$650,000	RFA – 2017	37GR
RW	25	Marek Hrivik	$600,000	UFA – 2017	24GR
RW	24	Nicklas Jensen	$600,000	RFA – 2017	33GR
C	24	Daniel Catenacci	$575,000	RFA – 2017	40GR
C	26	Chris Brown	$575,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	30	NMC – Marc Staal	$5,700,000	UFA – 2021	X
D	27	Ryan McDonagh	$4,700,000	UFA – 2019	X
D	32	Kevin Klein	$2,900,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	28	Brendan Smith	$2,750,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	29	Nick Holden	$1,650,000	UFA – 2018	X
D	24	Tommy Hughes	$632,500	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	28	Steven Kapfer	$612,500	UFA – 2017	12GR
D	24	Adam Clendening	$600,000	RFA – 2017	9GR
D	29	Chris Summers	$600,000	UFA – 2017	40GR
D	24	Michael Paliotta	$600,000	RFA – 2017	40GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	35	NMC – Henrik Lundqvist	$8,500,000	UFA – 2021
G	27	Antti Raanta	$1,000,000	UFA – 2018
G	22	Mackenzie Skapski	$663,333	RFA – 2017
G	26	Magnus Hellberg	$625,000	UFA – 2017

Exempt List

• LW Pavel Buchnevich
• LW Jimmy Vesey
• LW Ryan Gropp
• C Adam Tambellini
• RW Robin Kovacs
• RW Adam Chapie
• LW Christoval Nieves
• C Steven Forgarty
• RW Malte Stromwall
• LW Tim Gettinger
• C Vinni Lettieri
• D Brady Skjei
• D John Gilmour
• D Sergey Zborovskiy
• D Troy Donnay
• D Ryan Graves
• D Vince Pedrie
• D Sean Day
• G Brandon Halverson
• G Chris Nell

Explanation of my Protection List

• Defenseman Marc Staal, forward Rick Nash, and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist all have NMCs as well, taking up three additional protection spots.  Because they have to protect two defensemen already and won't be able to protect the defensemen they would probably like to, I think that the Rangers will protect seven forwards and three defensemen.  In addition to Nash, I would also protect Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, and Michael Grabner.  The last spot came down to Grabner and Kevin Hayes but I went with Grabner because of how well he has scored this season.  On defense, I am giving the last protection spot to team captain Ryan McDonagh.  And in net Henrik Lundqvist has to be protected.
• Kevin Hayes will be the only forward with term left exposed but Brandon Pirri, Jesper Fast, and Oscar Lindberg are all notable RFAs who will be available.  As a result of the two NMCs the Rangers have given to defensemen, they will leave some talent exposed at the position.  Kevin Klein and Nick Holden are both exposed defensemen under contract after this season.  In net, Antti Raana will be left exposed and he is under contract for another season with just a $1 million cap hit.
• I think that Vegas could get a player with quite a bit of value out of the Rangers if they want to. I firmly believe that Antti Raanta could be Vegas' starting goaltender next season and will keep the team competitive following the excellent season he is having right now.  

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