Speculation: Expansion draft protected list

[Birko19]

All players with NMCs must be protected

Players with NTCs do not have to be

Nielsen has to be protected

That makes more sense, in that case it's either Sheahan or Abby, preferably exposing Abdelkader due to his contract. So protect Zetterberg, Mantha, Nielson, Athanasiou, Nyquist, Tatar, and Sheahan.

 

[PelagicJoe]

I'd protect Glendening before Sheahan. He at least has uses.

 

[TheMule93]

I'd protect Glendening before Sheahan. He at least has uses.

I think Sheahan is absolutely better than Glendening. Sheahan showed a lot of potential earlier on - had a 36 pt sophomore season centering the 3rd line. Completely tanked when Babcock left. I'd like to see what he does with a new coach, unfortunately after his season I'm not sure he'll ever be given the opportunity again regardless of the coach. New coach comes in, looks at stats, leaves him on 4th line forever.

Glendening is gonna be good for 20 pts max

 

[Henkka]

I'd protect Glendening before Sheahan. He at least has uses.

That would be stupid. Protecting Glendening means you are not protecting Helm.

Helm is better than both and you protect the best players.

 

[Heaton]

That would be stupid. Protecting Glendening means you are not protecting Helm.

Helm is better than both and you protect the best players.

Nah, Helm is too injury prone and his usefulness won't last throughout his contract. I would also protect Glendening over Helm, but hopefully neither get protected.

 

[Syckle78]

Doesn't kronner have the recapture thing attached to him? Won't they have to keep him and ltiretire him at some point?

 

[Winger98]

That would be stupid. Protecting Glendening means you are not protecting Helm.

Helm is better than both and you protect the best players.

Helm is better than both but we also don't like his contract. A lot rests on what exactly Holland's goals are for next season and if he's able to make some other moves (like moving Howard).

I'd protect Glendening before Sheahan. He at least has uses.

I think Sheahan is the better player, but maybe more importantly I think Sheahan has more trade value.

 

[RedWingsfan55]

I think the wings will protect.

Goalie:mrazek
Defense: kronwall, ericsson, and DK.
Forward: z, larkin, nielson, tatar, nyquist, abby, helm


I personally would go with
Goalie: mrazek
Defense: green dk and oullette
Forward: larkin, Martha(if he needs to be im not sure), and AA(if he needs to be), and basically anyone else cause it don't matter maybe Z just cause wings and loyalty yada yada yada. But for the love of God don't protect helm or abby.


In fact isn't there an,option to protect more defense and less forwards? I may wanna do that honestly...

 

[KJoe88]

Protecting Sproul is a absolutely terrible idea.

Over Green too?

I like Henkka's list.

 

[Big Poppa Puck]

What I think will happen:

F:
Z
Nielsen
Nyquist
Tatar
AA
Mantha
Abdelkader

D:
Green
DeKeyser
Ouellet

G:
Mrazek


Personally I'd protect Sheahan over Abdelkader because I think Sheahan would get taken before Helm, Howard or Ericsson would and I want to lose a bad contract, plus Sheahan still has some trade value. I'd keep Helm before Abdelkader too, but Abdelkader wears an A so I can't see Holland leaving him unprotected.


I have a feeling we won't be lucky enough that Vegas takes one of our bad contracts though. I think they wind up taking either Sheahan, Glendening or whoever is left unprotected between Jensen/Ouellet.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

Isn't Green still under his NTC so he'd have to be protected?

Nope only players with NMC need to be protected, Players with NTC can be left unprotected.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

mrazek

green
dekeyser
ouellet

zetterberg
nielsen
mantha
nyquist
athansiaou
abdelkader(he will be protected before helm because of the style of play he brings and NOBODY else we have brings it)
sheahan/tatar

one of tatar or sheahan will be traded before the draft as 100% guaranteed if either are left unprotected LV will take them without thinking twice

no chance LV takes kronwall(too old and injured) so he will be left unprotected

we want LV to take a bad contract(that is multiple years left and higher salary)
-howard
-helm
-ericsson

all 3 of these guys will be left unprotected with the actual HOPES LV takes one of them

glendening has no real value to anyone in the NHL so why protect him?

jensen/sproul are young enough LV may look at taking one of them so we have to hope they dont

 

[Winger98]

About Gator and his unique value to our lineup...how hard would it be to sign a few fourth line types for a fraction of what we pay Abdelkader and who will go out and take the body with regularity?

Just sign guys like Thorburn, Cracknell, or Andreas Martinsen and put them around Glendening for our fourth line. It shouldn't be as difficult as this team makes it to find a few guys to play ten minutes a night and having those be ten heavy minutes.

 

[SirloinUB]

mrazek

green
dekeyser
ouellet

zetterberg
nielsen
mantha
nyquist
athansiaou
abdelkader(he will be protected before helm because of the style of play he brings and NOBODY else we have brings it)
sheahan/tatar

one of tatar or sheahan will be traded before the draft as 100% guaranteed if either are left unprotected LV will take them without thinking twice

no chance LV takes kronwall(too old and injured) so he will be left unprotected

we want LV to take a bad contract(that is multiple years left and higher salary)
-howard
-helm
-ericsson

all 3 of these guys will be left unprotected with the actual HOPES LV takes one of them

glendening has no real value to anyone in the NHL so why protect him?

jensen/sproul are young enough LV may look at taking one of them so we have to hope they dont

I'd prefer the wings keep Helm over Abdelkader however, I doubt Vegas would claim #8. If the goal is to unload a contract, its more likely that Helm is claimed so I see where you are coming from.


I'm pretty torn on the third d-man to protect. Ouellet has the lead but Jensen has came on strong. I went to the games in Calgary and Edmonton and was very impressed with Jensen. He will make this decision real difficult if he keeps this up.

Sproul has a tantalizing skill set, but continually leaves me wanting more. Based off reports I had actually expected him to be a better skater. Maybe the way he reads the game is a bigger issue but either way he always seems to be playing catch up on the ice. I'm perfectly okay exposing him even with the higher potential.

About Gator and his unique value to our lineup...how hard would it be to sign a few fourth line types for a fraction of what we pay Abdelkader and who will go out and take the body with regularity?

Just sign guys like Thorburn, Cracknell, or Andreas Martinsen and put them around Glendening for our fourth line. It shouldn't be as difficult as this team makes it to find a few guys to play ten minutes a night and having those be ten heavy minutes.

Say what you will about the Abdelkader contract but he is much better than 4th line replacement level guys you are mentioning. He has a higher pedigree and has shown himself to be a better player in the NHL. Guys like Thorburn, Cracknell (fun fact: Cracknell is my cousin!), etc. don't have much of an ability to play up your lineup and chip in offensively. Abdelkader does. His worst seasons are better than the best of those guys and their ilk.


Abdelkader didn't get the big contract because he is the only tough/physical guy on the team. He got the contract because he is tough/physical and can chip in with top 9 level offence and bring some grit to the top 6.

(FYI I'm still not a fan of the contract. Im just pointing out that he is expected and has the ability to be more than a 4th line agitator.)

 

[Frk It]

About Gator and his unique value to our lineup...how hard would it be to sign a few fourth line types for a fraction of what we pay Abdelkader and who will go out and take the body with regularity?

Just sign guys like Thorburn, Cracknell, or Andreas Martinsen and put them around Glendening for our fourth line. It shouldn't be as difficult as this team makes it to find a few guys to play ten minutes a night and having those be ten heavy minutes.

I think the thought process behind the value of Gator was that he is a guy that is physical and has the skill to play up the lineup and complement guys like Nyquist and Tatar. Our top 6 was/is full of perimeter players, and he adds a different dimension in that regard.

A lot harder to find physical guys that can play 15-18 minutes and keep up with skilled players, as opposed to finding grinders that can play 10-12 minutes.

I think they overestimated Gator in this regard, but I think that was their thinking there.

 

[SirloinUB]

The real questions when it comes to the expansion list are which contracts does Holland ACTIVELY want out of? And to what extent does he want out of these contracts (ie. how far will he go to get out of them)?

Expansion aside, I'm not sure Holland wants to get rid of Helm, Abdelkader, Ericsson or Howard. Even if he would like a redo on those signings, I don't believe Holland sees the situation with these guys as dire as the rest of you.

 

[Dead Thing Fan]

Expansion draft

Just read a story by LeBrun from TSN. He's talking with Vegas GM McPhee about deals that the Knights can now make. McPhee, referring to the deals that will occur before the ED, stated that "they are basically inducements to claim certain players or lay off certain players"(italics mine).

So all Holland has to do is ascertain who he wants Vegas to take (i.e. Howard/Ericisson/Abby etc.) and then figure out what he would pay in either picks, prospects and/or minor leaguers.

As much as I would love for the Knights to pick Ericsson, that just ain't going to happen. Therefore I am willing to send the 2 lowest(likely Chicago and NYR) of our third round picks for them to take Howard.

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

I think the wings will protect.

Goalie:mrazek
Defense: kronwall, ericsson, and DK.
Forward: z, larkin, nielson, tatar, nyquist, abby, helm


I personally would go with
Goalie: mrazek
Defense: green dk and oullette
Forward: larkin, Martha(if he needs to be im not sure), and AA(if he needs to be), and basically anyone else cause it don't matter maybe Z just cause wings and loyalty yada yada yada. But for the love of God don't protect helm or abby.


In fact isn't there an,option to protect more defense and less forwards? I may wanna do that honestly...

No way will Holland protect both Kronwall and Ericsson that would be very foolish neither one is going to get claimed so it would be foolish to protect them. And Larkin is exempt don't need to protect him.

 

[Frk It]

Just read a story by LeBrun from TSN. He's talking with Vegas GM McPhee about deals that the Knights can now make. McPhee, referring to the deals that will occur before the ED, stated that "they are basically inducements to claim certain players or lay off certain players"(italics mine).

So all Holland has to do is ascertain who he wants Vegas to take (i.e. Howard/Ericisson/Abby etc.) and then figure out what he would pay in either picks, prospects and/or minor leaguers.

As much as I would love for the Knights to pick Ericsson, that just ain't going to happen. Therefore I am willing to send the 2 lowest(likely Chicago and NYR) of our third round picks for them to take Howard.

I'd rather keep the picks and stink. Then give away our picks to get rid of stinky players.

 

[Wingsfan 4 life]

Probably. Sheahan or Helm, is my guess. Depends who the Wings protect. One of them is gone, though.

Seeing as the Wings just passed on trading Sheahan this deadline, maybe they'll protect him.

Sheahan or Glendening for me. I think Helm gets protected.

I really can't see Vegas picking a D from us, there should be alot more better proven ones available from other teams.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Just read a story by LeBrun from TSN. He's talking with Vegas GM McPhee about deals that the Knights can now make. McPhee, referring to the deals that will occur before the ED, stated that "they are basically inducements to claim certain players or lay off certain players"(italics mine).

So all Holland has to do is ascertain who he wants Vegas to take (i.e. Howard/Ericisson/Abby etc.) and then figure out what he would pay in either picks, prospects and/or minor leaguers.

As much as I would love for the Knights to pick Ericsson, that just ain't going to happen. Therefore I am willing to send the 2 lowest(likely Chicago and NYR) of our third round picks for them to take Howard.

If you leave them with nothing but trash Vegas will be forced to take a bad contract.

We don't have many cheap young players that we will have to expose, just depth old rookies (Jensen,sproul) or actual NHL players with bad deals

 

[Bench]

Sheahan or Glendening for me. I think Helm gets protected.

Typically I'd agree, but we just saw Holland pass on trading Sheahan at the deadline. You have to wonder if he's still in their plans or if they try to move him before the draft.

If Sheahan is unprotected and plucked away by Vegas, I'll be disappointed he wasn't moved earlier.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

Typically I'd agree, but we just saw Holland pass on trading Sheahan at the deadline. You have to wonder if he's still in their plans or if they try to move him before the draft.

If Sheahan is unprotected and plucked away by Vegas, I'll be disappointed he wasn't moved earlier.

Agreed

You don't leave guys unprotected who have value around the league to which sheahan clearly does

You try and use this as an opportunity to dump a contract.

 

[Winger98]

Say what you will about the Abdelkader contract but he is much better than 4th line replacement level guys you are mentioning. He has a higher pedigree and has shown himself to be a better player in the NHL. Guys like Thorburn, Cracknell (fun fact: Cracknell is my cousin!), etc. don't have much of an ability to play up your lineup and chip in offensively. Abdelkader does. His worst seasons are better than the best of those guys and their ilk.

Abdelkader didn't get the big contract because he is the only tough/physical guy on the team. He got the contract because he is tough/physical and can chip in with top 9 level offence and bring some grit to the top 6.

(FYI I'm still not a fan of the contract. Im just pointing out that he is expected and has the ability to be more than a 4th line agitator.)

I get the reasoning and expectations behind handing him the contract he got, but I guess it depends what we think of him going forward. If we think he's a ~25 point guy going forward rather than that ~40 point guy...well, sign me up for Cracknell and Thorburn.

Also, we're maybe getting to a situation where we don't want him in the top6. I mean, we have Z, Nielsen, Nyquist, Tatar, Mantha, Larkin, and Athanasiou. Svech is knocking on the door. We have Helm. We had Vanek (and will probably pursue him again). Not a lot of bangers in that group, but I have a hard time slotting Gator into the top6 ahead of them, and the top9 starts to become a squeeze next season.

I think the thought process behind the value of Gator was that he is a guy that is physical and has the skill to play up the lineup and complement guys like Nyquist and Tatar. Our top 6 was/is full of perimeter players, and he adds a different dimension in that regard.

A lot harder to find physical guys that can play 15-18 minutes and keep up with skilled players, as opposed to finding grinders that can play 10-12 minutes.

I think they overestimated Gator in this regard, but I think that was their thinking there.

I don't disagree with that being their thinking at all, and I defended it a bit at the time. I agree, in a huge way, about them overestimating Gator. With how this team is shaping up and where Gator's play has went...replacing him with some fourth line bangers gets easier.

At this point, I'd be looking at the guys I listed above, re-signing Vanek, and rolling them in our top9. At this point, I think the guy is replaceable with some bottom half of the lineup guys.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Realistically it doesn't really matter who Vegas takes we have plenty of guys we are hoping to move out and the list of exposed players are all guys we should be fine seeing leave.

I would take two of our third round picks and make sure it was Ericsson or Howard, or heck I would give both over....

Of course the Howard ship seems to have sailed as I fully expect MAF to be the face of the Golden Knights and their #1 goalie.

On Gator I don't think he is all that healthy for most of the year. He has a lot to do this summer. He doesn't strike me as that kind of player, but he makes Team USA, gets his big contract, and a letter then stinks up the joint. Not a good look, hoping he bounces back in a big way next year. He should be pretty miserable about how bad he has been this year. As a long time fan of his, I didn't see this one coming at all.