I suspect regardless of what happens, we're going to be one of those teams spending assets to protect a player this time around.
It's still pretty far out to be predicting who is/isn't on the roster in 2 years from now, but for now you're looking at the following guys who will require protection.
Landy, Mack, Rants, JTC, Jost, Kerfoot, Greer, Kamenev, Andrighetto, Toninato
EJ, Barrie, Girard, Zadorov, Nemeth, Meloche, Barbeiro
Now, of that list... I dont think it's a big deal if Toni, Barbeiro, and Nemeth are exposed. Not unless they take huge steps in the next couple of years. Even Andrighetto is probably a guy you hope you can keep around but if you lose him it's not a massive loss with the forward depth we have.
But after that there's a lot of wild cards for the next two years. Especially at the forward position. Between JTC, Jost, Kerfoot, Greer, and Kamenev, that's 5 forwards and only 4 spots for protection. With 3/5 already established as solid NHLers this year, and the other 2 having solid upside. We could absolutely find ourselves in a situation where we need to spend a pick or sacrifice a prospect to protect one of Kamenev or Greer.
And then on Defense. Barrie is a complete wild card because we dont know if he'll even be on the team by then. If he is I dont think he'll be the impending UFA that he currently is for that summer. Meloche will require protection and that could be very tricky if his development continues along the right path.
If things go well for this organization over the next two years. We're going to have to spend a decent asset or two in order to keep our guys protected. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as that's a strong sign that we've got a deep team and are probably a playoff contender at that point which is exactly where we want to be. I could see us sending off a 2nd round pick + leaving a guy like Matt Nieto exposed to be selected in the draft to protect all of our kids. Nieto is the kind of guy that reminds me a lot of Karlsson/Smith/Haula and what they're doing in Vegas now. Not that I think Nieto has 30+ goal/50+ point upside that Karlsson and Smith are having. More so that I think he's a guy that could perform above expectations on an expansion club with an increased role, and would be a good target for Seattle to get if we're making a trade to protect our guys.
All that said, I still really believe it's way to early and a bit silly as fans to be worrying about expansion that's still 2 full years out. Sakic and management just need to continue doing what's best for this organization both now and long term. If in 2 years that means have a welcomed issue of quality depth at risk of being taken away by Seattle, that's a great problem to have and we'll work our way around it just like Columbus, Anaheim, Minnesota, etc. etc. did last time around with expansion.
