NHL Expansion Draft - Toronto Maple Leafs

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	33	Joffrey Lupul	$5,250,000	UFA – 2018	24GR
C	33	Brooks Laich	$4,500,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	26	Nazem Kadri	$4,500,000	UFA – 2022	X
LW	27	James van Riemsdyk	$4,250,000	UFA – 2018	X
C	31	Tyler Bozak	$4,200,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	32	Milan Michalek	$4,000,000	UFA – 2017	20GR
C	30	Leo Komarov	$2,950,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	31	Colin Greening	$2,650,000	UFA – 2017	39GR
LW	27	Matt Martin	$2,500,000	UFA – 2020	X
C	32	Brian Boyle	$2,000,000	UFA – 2017	X
C	31	Eric Fehr	$2,000,000	UFA – 2018	X
LW	22	Kerby Rychel	$863,333	RFA – 2018	38GR
RW	23	Connor Brown	$686,667	RFA – 2017	X
RW	28	Ben Smith	$675,000	UFA – 2017	X
LW	22	Brendan Leipsic	$653,333	RFA – 2017	40GR
RW	24	Seth Griffith	$625,000	RFA – 2017	16GR
LW	23	Josh Leivo	$612,500	RFA – 2018	27GR

Defensemen

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration	40/70
D	23	Morgan Rielly	$5,000,000	UFA – 2022	X
D	26	Jake Gardiner	$4,050,000	UFA – 2019	X
D	30	Roman Polak	$2,250,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	25	Alexey Marchenko	$1,450,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	24	Martin Marincin	$1,250,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	31	Matt Hunwick	$1,200,000	UFA – 2017	X
D	22	Connor Carrick	$750,000	RFA – 2018	X
D	31	Steve Oleksy	$575,000	UFA – 2017	29GR
D	29	Andrew Campbell	$575,000	UFA – 2017	40GR

Goaltenders

POS	Age	Name	Cap Hit	Expiration
G	27	Frederik Andersen	$5,000,000	UFA – 2021
G	33	Curtis McElhinney	$800,000	UFA – 2017
G	22	Antoine Bibeau	$655,000	RFA – 2017
G	23	Garret Sparks	$575,000	RFA – 2017

Exempt List

• NMC INJ RW Nathan Horton
• LW Trevor Moore
• C Auston Matthews
• C Zach Hyman
• C William Nylander
• C Mitch Marner
• C Frederik Gauthier
• RW Kasperi Kapanen
• RW Sergei Kalinin
• LW Andreas Johnson
• RW Nikita Soshnikov
• LW Tobias Lindberg
• LW Dmytro Timashov
• C Miro Aaltonen
• RW Jeremy Bracco
• INJ D Stephane Robidas
• D Nikita Zaitsev
• D Travis Dermott
• D Rinat Valiev
• D Justin Holl
• D Andre Nielsen
• G Kasimir Kaskisuo

Explanation of my Protection List

• Picking Toronto's protection list was really difficult for me and I have very little confidence in my picks largely because I don't know which players the front office value and who they are willing to leave exposed.  They have so many young players in addition to the ones who are exempt that I was uncertain who to pick, especially at defense, where they have quite a few young ones that they'd like to protect.  Ultimately, I am choosing to protect eight total skaters in order to keep the maximum amount of defensemen that I can, understanding that there are more young forwards waiting to get the call up to the NHL team.  For my four forwards, I am protecting Nazem Kadri, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, and Leo Komarov.  On defense, I am going with Morgan Rielly, Jake Gardiner, Martin Marincin, and Connor Carrick but struggled between Marincin and Alexey Marchenko.  I don't have a good feeling as far as how the team feels regarding their young defensemen but I'm more familiar with Marincin.  In net, Frederik Andersen is the only real choice here considering the contract the team gave him last offseason and how good he has been for Toronto this season.
• As might be evident with the struggle I had regarding who to protect, there will be some talent left exposed by Toronto.  I am choosing to leave Matt Martin, and Eric Fehr exposed as the only other forwards with term left.  There is also a good bit of talent available in their RFAs but I wouldn't be worried about losing them.  On defense, Alexey Marchenko is the only player with term left and they have no RFAs exposed.  At the goaltender position, the Maple Leafs will have to re-sign one of their free agents in order to meet exposure requirements.
• I feel pretty confident that Toronto is going to lose someone valuable in the Expansion Draft, the only question is whether they can control who they lose.  I had a very difficult time picking which forwards to expose and wouldn't want to lose Matt Martin.  He has been a great player in the locker room and has provided a lot of protection for their young, skilled forwards.  I would be willing to offer Vegas something to ensure that they don't touch Martin and take Marchenko or Eric Fehr, who is the most ideal player to lose.

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