Which teams/players are vulnerable ?

[Purple Phart]

With the NHL expansion draft approaching, another element will be introduced that will potentially affect some teams & players as to their placement. The existing teams have made moves to shield their most desirable players from exposure to being claimed by the new team. They've also made some players available who will be claimed. Those will have to be replaced, whether they were veterans, or prospects in their depth charts. There will also be deals made whereby some prospects could very well be traded, so some OHL prospects could find themselves in an entirely different organization than the one who originally drafted them.

Players who were not expected to get a roster spot in the NHL could suddenly find that their circumstance has changed significantly, and they now have a better chance than what they previously had. They could be gone SOONER.

There are some " borderline players" who were returned to their Junior teams, after a pretty good showing last season. A player like Windsor's Sergachev is one who might be affected....either as a replacement for a player that Montreal lost to the expansion...or perhaps Montreal opts to trade his rights to another team as part of an expansion draft day deal. I'm sure there are others, and that this expansion draft will add yet another element that OHL GM's will have to deal with soon. When new jobs are added, it has a ripple effect that will be felt right down to the Junior level.

Is your team vulnerable, and which player might leave earlier than expected ?

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[OMG67]

With the NHL expansion draft approaching, another element will be introduced that will potentially affect some teams & players as to their placement. The existing teams have made moves to shield their most desirable players from exposure to being claimed by the new team. They've also made some players available who will be claimed. Those will have to be replaced, whether they were veterans, or prospects in their depth charts. There will also be deals made whereby some prospects could very well be traded, so some OHL prospects could find themselves in an entirely different organization than the one who originally drafted them.

Players who were not expected to get a roster spot in the NHL could suddenly find that their circumstance has changed significantly, and they now have a better chance than what they previously had. They could be gone SOONER.

There are some " borderline players" who were returned to their Junior teams, after a pretty good showing last season. A player like Windsor's Sergachev is one who might be affected....either as a replacement for a player that Montreal lost to the expansion...or perhaps Montreal opts to trade his rights to another team as part of an expansion draft day deal. I'm sure there are others, and that this expansion draft will add yet another element that OHL GM's will have to deal with soon. When new jobs are added, it has a ripple effect that will be felt right down to the Junior level.

Is your team vulnerable, and which player might leave earlier than expected ?

I don't think you will see a situation that would change for Junior aged players. Either they are good enough to play in the NHL or they aren't. The expansion shouldn't affect that and if it does, it would only be for two or three players that are spread over the whole CHL. The exception may be the 1st round pick for Las Vegas. They may keep their first rounder int he NHL for promotional purposes.

Where you will most likely see the impact is in OA players. With as many as 60-70 spots getting chewed up by a new organization from NHL-AHL-ECHL, you may see a few players that would normally play an OA year get a better opportunity in the Pro ranks, especially the undrafted players that may get offers from Las Vegas to fill their minor league rosters.