Player Discussion An Early Look at the 2021 Seattle Expansion Draft

YouTakeTheVan

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They do have salary cap requirements to meet, which may lean them more towards Gryz than say Lauzon or Clifton.
Best player with most contractual control, imo.

I'd be surprised if they have to work to get to the Cap floor. There are plenty of bad, or subpar, contracts around the league that teams wish they could unload, plus free agents.
 

Fenian24

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Too far out to predict. Who knows how Kase does next year much less Lauzon who looks like a top 4 D right now.
 

ON3M4N

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Nor will they be licking their chops for the likes of Bjork, Kuhlman, Senyshyn, Frederic, etc. Face it, once you get past the top 5 guys, there isn't much to choose from out of the next group, so you gotta pick 2 more. And Kase and Ritchie are the most established of that next group of players, and offer the most unique skill-sets (right-shot scoring ability in Kase and power-winger in Ritchie).

Yeah I'm going with his most recent level of production this season, I really don't care about the previous years, doesn't really mean anything, were not negotiating a new contract here. I'm only concerned about what he is today, not two years ago.

Sounds like we'll agree to disagree then. Looking at less than year of production seems like a poor way to evaluate a player, but to each their own.
 

BruinDust

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Best player with most contractual control, imo.

I'd be surprised if they have to work to get to the Cap floor. There are plenty of bad, or subpar, contracts around the league that teams wish they could unload, plus free agents.

It's not the floor, they have to salary requirements to meet for the expansion draft itself. Has nothing to do with free agents signed later on.

Not to mention, after seeing how quickly Vegas became a playoff team, they will likely expect to be decent quickly, and less inclined to take on a bunch of bad contracts. Look at Vegas, they had salary issues by Year 2.
 

BruinDust

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Sounds like we'll agree to disagree then. Looking at less than year of production seems like a poor way to evaluate a player, but to each their own.

I don't know, looking at what a guy did 2-3 years ago seems far more inconsequential to me in terms of evaluating young players, especially when talking about players in the age range that Ritchie has been. Little different if your talking 27 -28-29 year olds.
 

wintersej

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The reality is that it's too early to be making projections. We need to see what happens in free agency first, and then where the line-up is next year.

I think the forward locks are Bergeron, Pastrnak, Marchand, Coyle, and DeBrusk. Then, on defense, it's McAvoy and Carlo.

The other two forward spots and defense spot are up for grabs. Currently, it's probably between Kase, Bjork, Ritchie, and maybe Frederic at forward, and then Krug, Grzelcyk, and maybe Lauzon on defense.

Kase is a lock. Even if he didn't deserve to be, they just gave up a 1st for him (yes I know, Backes, but still).
 

wintersej

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So you're just going to use a sample size of 45 games and ignore everything else he's done in his career?

The guy played Adam Henrique (45-50pt center) and Ondrej Kase (39pt winger) for ANH this year, lets not pretend like he was playing with garbage players.

SEA isn't going to be licking its chops to select Ritchie.

Seattle is building a team, not just taking BPA. A guy like Ritchie is a useful guy to have.
 
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Kegs

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Kase is a lock. Even if he didn't deserve to be, they just gave up a 1st for him (yes I know, Backes, but still).
Meh doubt it. If I’m the gm I wouldn’t be concerned about losing kase. I think kase is a win now player. I’d be surprised if he lasts long in the nhl with the head injuries. He looks ahead of his age in hockey iq and he is fast. The first was to see if the bruins could get rid of backes while retaining a guy who can help the roster right now. Who knows where kase will be at in the long term. I can’t wait to see it pan out. He has a nice ceiling. And maybe who knows I’m wrong and they are forced to protect him. But i still think we losing D unless they go with the 8 player option.
 

Dr Hook

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If you don't want to lose Grizz to Seattle, you give him a one year NMC in his next contract this summer. Problem solved.
 

YouTakeTheVan

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It's not the floor, they have to salary requirements to meet for the expansion draft itself.
Thanks, I wasn't thinking of that. But there are so many ways to hit that - depending who is available.

Vegas succeeded at least in part by piling up a ton of assets. If Seattle can't pull of some of the sweet pre-draft deals I'm thinking they will want other ways to add pieces, including drafting players to flip (as Vegas did), and taking on salary + assets. It's hard to imagine our 8th most valuable forward, whoever that proves to be, will be more valuable than our 4th best D.
 

BruinDust

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Thanks, I wasn't thinking of that. But there are so many ways to hit that - depending who is available.

Vegas succeeded at least in part by piling up a ton of assets. If Seattle can't pull of some of the sweet pre-draft deals I'm thinking they will want other ways to add pieces, including drafting players to flip (as Vegas did), and taking on salary + assets. It's hard to imagine our 8th most valuable forward, whoever that proves to be, will be more valuable than our 4th best D.

Totally, I assume at this point one of Gryz/Lauzon/Clifton/Zboril is getting claimed by Seattle.
 

Alberta_OReilly_Fan

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I was contemplating making this thread in the offseason since there still are some unknowns as to who will be on the roster next season (Chara, Krug, offseason trades, etc.), but I think with the recent trade deadline acquisitions and the Bruins most likely going the 7-3-1 route, I think there are some interesting discussions to be made. Plus, I have seen some of you discuss it in some of the other threads.

As we all know, a year and three months from now, the Seattle Expansion draft will take place. As of right now, Marchand, Bergeron, and Coyle are the only players on the roster that will need to be protected. The expectation going into this season seemed to be that the Bruins were going to lose a defenseman, however, with the recent additions of Ritchie and Kase, could that lead to the Bruins losing a forward instead? Here is a list of forwards and defensemen that will be exposed in the draft.

NOTE:
I will not be including Krejci or Kuraly since their deals expire in the 2021 offseason which makes it less likely Seattle claims either since they can still technically sign with anyone. I will also only be listing forwards and defensemen that I think could make an impact on the roster long term for the Bruins but feel free to talk about any of the players that are not listed.

Who would you protect (keep in mind 2F, 1D, and 1G need to be exposed)? Do you think the Bruins should make a trade with Seattle or just bite the bullet and lose a player?


Forwards (4): Pastrnak (UFA 2023), Kase (RFA 2021), Nick Ritchie (RFA 2021), Wagner (UFA 2023), Frederic (RFA 2021), Bjork (RFA 2020), DeBrusk (RFA 2020), Senyshyn (RFA 2020), Kuhlman (RFA 2020)

Defensemen (3): Chara? (UFA 2020), Krug? (UFA 2020), McAvoy (RFA 2022), Carlo (RFA 2021), Moore (UFA 2023), Grzelcyk (RFA 2020), Zboril (RFA 2020), Lauzon (RFA 2022), Clifton (UFA 2023)

we protect
bergeron
marchand
pastrnak
coyle
debrusk
kase
ritchie
mcavoy
carlo
krug {im going to assume he gets a NMC if he stays with us}
rask {assuming hes still with us}

grzelyck and lauzon stand out as the two most likely targets for seattle. they are roughly equal to us to keep so we likely cant protect both... just bite the bullet and let one walk
 

Number8

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If the Bruins do not protect Pastrnak, yes, Seattle can draft him. However, I would bet a large sum the Bruins will protect Pastrnak.
Anyone willing to take@Absurdity up on the Pasta bet........ I would just like to say I will surpass his bet limit by $1 AND give odds! Sorry, Absurdity! :laugh:
 
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Number8

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Seems pretty straight-forward based on what we have today and assuming Krug is extended.

Protect - Bergeron, Marchand, Pastrnak, Coyle, Debrusk. Kase, Ritchie, McAvoy, Carlo, Krug.

Quality players exposed:

F - Wagner, Bjork, Kuhlman, Senyshyn, Frederic

D - Moore, Gryz, Lauzon, Clifton, Zboril

G - Vlader (assuming Rask is extended).

Extremely good chance Seattle takes a D.
I, sadly, think this is on the money.

If Krug comes back I expect we lose Gryz or Lauzon. If Krug doesn’t come back Boston chooses between Gryz and Lauzon and Seattle takes the other.

That is if we don’t cut some sort of deal.
 

wintersej

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Bergeron
Pastrnak
Marchand
Coyle
DeBrusk
Kase
Ritchie/Frederic/Senyshyn/Bjork ... pick 1

McAvoy
Carlo
Krug/Gryz/Lauzon/Zboril ... pick 1

Don't sleep on Zboril. A week ago no one was talking about protecting Lauzon, we still have a year to go.

They also have the option of not signing Rask again until after the draft and protecting Vladar.

Bruins are going to lose a good player. We need to get over it. And the team will be fine. If they lose their 8th best forward, they will be fine. If they lose one of their million LD they will be fine.
 

Dr Hook

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then you must waste a protection spot on him and you lose a guy like carlo or McAvoy whom you would rather protect... that doesnt seem like any problem solved to me

Can't do it anyway- But I don't see it as "wasting" a spot if it is someone you want to keep? As of right now, I'd protect Carlo, McAvoy, and Grizz if I had to choose, so problem solved from my perspective were it allowed under the CBA.
 

Number8

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Too far out to predict. Who knows how Kase does next year much less Lauzon who looks like a top 4 D right now.
It is and it isn’t.

I say that because any moves between now and then will be at least partially influenced by the Expansion draft. Not dictated, but certainly influenced. Including re signing Krug.

If Krug can be signed at what is considered a good deal, I expect they sign him. If it gets to borderline whether they want to spend the money, the the draft will be an influence.

Let’s say Krug truly wants $8M+ as has been at least rumored and suppose Gryz then has to be exposed and turns out to be the expected pick for Seattle (just for arguments sake - substitute any player you’d want to protect but can’t, if you protect Krug). Then it’s kind of like a trade:

- Keep Krug costs you $8M plus Gryz.
- Let Krug go. Saves you $8M and lets you keep Gryz.
- Or maybe you give Krug $8M but for that price tell him he can’t have any kind of NMC. Then hope that is too rich for Seattle. Keep Gryz and Krug.

Not espousing one view or the other. Just stating my opinion that the E Draft is very much in play now and will be for all moves between now and then.
 
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