Here is my Take;
Forwards
1) Gallagher (Forced protection)
2) Kotkaniemi
3) Tofoli
4) Anderson
5) Danault (Contract extension)
6) Armia (Contract extension)
7) Evans
(if his latest concussion to the hands of Sheifele is the last straw for him, then protect Lekhonen instead. However I don't think we'll know enough about the fallout of his concussions in time for the entry draft, so i'd go with Evans, knowing that he might end up not playing or coming back a different player)
Defensemen
1) Petry
2) Chiarot
3) Edmonson
Goaltender
1) Price
Noteworthy unprotected players
Note: Rule states the need to expose at least 2 forwards and 1 defensemen that are still under contract for the 21-22 season
1) Drouin:
His extended leave of absence makes him incredibly risky to draft. That grants him a sort of protection on its own. If he does not get picked up, we cross our fingers that he can return in force next season or be flipped for assests/RFA extensions/etc.
2) Weber:
Age 36 with 5 years remaining at 8M per. I think that is deterrant enough for him to be relatively safe. If he does get picked up, it leaves a massive gap on the D core for the next 2 years that will need to be immediately fixed (i.e. Seth Jones?), but if that happens, you just saved 8M$ to address that. While this may hurt short term, it does allow us to dodge the bullet of having a 40 year old past-his-prime Defensemen eating 10% of your cap space in 4 years. Would Francis decide to overlook the time bomb to make Weber the team's first captain?
3) Byron:
Love the guy, but can't really justify protecting him, especially with his cap hit. Would love him to stay as you can plug him on most lines in a pinch for short amount of times for added speed. He's had great playoffs so far.
4) Lekhonen: (Not contracted next year)
Love the guy as well, but him and Armia fill similar shoes. I actually think you can swap Armia with Lekhonen on my protection list. Just depends on if you prefer speed or strong board play. At the end of the day, we need offensive output, so while a team of Armias and Lekhonen is serviceable, you don't need 12 of them.
4) Kulak:
Great 3rd pairing guy. Nothing spectacular, I doubt he gets picked. If he does well we have other young D's coming up.
5) Allen:
The guy was likely extended to make him attractive for the draft. Odds of him being one of the 3 Kraken goalies are high, I think.
6)Tatar:
He's not getting re-signed after being benched in favor of Evans. Good guy, but too much of a perimeter player for the team make-up.
With this setup I think the most likely scenario is that Allen gets picked up. It does require the ballsy move of not protecting Weber, though. If Bergevin does not do so, we will loose one of Chiarot or Edmonson.
