Expansion Draft Rules
All information from NHL.com
Protected Lists
- Clubs can protect one of two options:
- Seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender
- Eight skaters and one goaltender
- All players with No-Movement clauses in their contract have to be protected unless they waive their clauses
- All first- and second-year pro players will be exempt from selections and don’t have to be protected
Player Exposure Requirements
- Clubs must meet minimum requirements for exposure in the Expansion Draft:
- One defenseman who is under contract in 2017-18 and played in 40 or more games in 2016-17 or played in 70 or more games in two prior seasons.
- Two forwards who meet the same requirements as above
- One goaltender who is under contract in 2017-18 or will be a restricted free agent at the expiration of his current contract immediately prior to 2017-18.
Vegas Requirements
- Must select one player from each existing club for a total of 30 players
- Must select at least 14 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders
- Must have a minimum 20 players under contract for the 2017-18 season
- Must reach the salary cap floor and cannot exceed the cap ceiling
- May not buy out any players selected in the Expansion Draft before the first summer following their first full season
Protection List
- NMC= No Movement Clause
- NTC= No Trade Clause
- Red = Who I would protect
Forwards
| POS |
Age |
Name |
Cap Hit |
Expiration |
40/70 |
| C |
37 |
Joe Thornton |
$6,750,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
X |
| LW |
37 |
Patrick Marleau |
$6,666,667 |
UFA – 2017 |
X |
| C |
28 |
Logan Couture |
$6,000,000 |
UFA – 2019 |
X |
| C |
32 |
Joe Pavelski |
$6,000,000 |
UFA – 2019 |
X |
| LW |
27 |
Mikkel Boedker |
$4,000,000 |
UFA – 2020 |
X |
| RW |
36 |
Joel Ward |
$3,375,000 |
UFA – 2018 |
X |
| C |
23 |
Tomas Hertl |
$3,000,000 |
RFA – 2018 |
X |
| RW |
31 |
Jannik Hansen |
$2,000,000 |
UFA – 2018 |
X |
| C |
26 |
Melker Karlsson |
$1,650,000 |
RFA – 2017 |
X |
| RW |
25 |
Buddy Robinson |
$750,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
36GR |
| C |
22 |
Chris Tierney |
$711,667 |
RFA – 2017 |
X |
| RW |
24 |
Barclay Goodrow |
$626,667 |
RFA – 2017 |
37GR |
| C |
31 |
Michael Haley |
$625,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
X |
| C |
26 |
Ryan Carpenter |
$600,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
29GR |
| RW |
31 |
Zack Stortini |
$600,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
40GR |
Defensemen
| POS |
Age |
Name |
Cap Hit |
Expiration |
40/70 |
| D |
32 |
Brent Burns |
$8,000,000 |
UFA – 2025 |
X |
| D |
36 |
Paul Martin |
$4,850,000 |
UFA – 2019 |
X |
| D |
30 |
Marc-Edouard Vlasic |
$4,250,000 |
UFA – 2018 |
X |
| D |
30 |
Justin Braun |
$3,800,000 |
UFA – 2020 |
X |
| D |
26 |
Brenden Dillon |
$3,270,000 |
UFA – 2020 |
X |
| D |
29 |
David Schlemko |
$2,100,000 |
UFA – 2020 |
X |
| D |
23 |
Dylan DeMelo |
$650,000 |
RFA – 2018 |
1GR |
| D |
27 |
Dan Kelly |
$575,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
40GR |
Goaltenders
| POS |
Age |
Name |
Cap Hit |
Expiration |
| G |
27 |
Martin Jones |
$3,000,000 |
UFA – 2018 |
| G |
27 |
Aaron Dell |
$625,000 |
UFA – 2018 |
| G |
27 |
Troy Grosenick |
$600,000 |
UFA – 2017 |
Exempt List
- RW Joonas Donskoi
- LW Marcus Sorensen
- RW Timo Meier
- C Danny O’Regan
- C Jonathon Marin
- RW Kevin Labanc
- RW Alex Schoenborn
- LW Adam Helewka
- C Rourke Chartier
- LW Nikita Jevpalovs
- C Noah Rod
- C Tim Clifton
- D Jeremy Roy
- D Patrick McNally
- D Michael Brodzinski
- D Tim Heed
- D Julius Bergman
- D Joakim Ryan
- D Cavan Fitzgerald
- D Nick DeSimone
- G Mantas Armalis
Explanation of my Protection List
- With my protection picks for the Sharks, I ran into a problem because I thought there were more than three defensemen who should be protected but couldn’t cut my forward group down to four. So, as a result, I’m going to protect seven forwards and three defensemen. At forward, I am protecting Logan Couture, Joe Pavelski, Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward, Tomas Hertl, Jannik Hansen, and Chris Tierney despite Tierney being an RFA after this season. I thought it was okay to leave Ward exposed but wasn’t comfortable exposing any of the other forwards under contract. On defense, I am simply protecting the three most important players: Brent Burns, Paul Martin, and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. In net, Martin Jones must be protected.
- The Sharks are another team who are going to have to re-sign forwards, in their case two of them, in order to meet exposure requirements. At the blueline, Justin Braun, Brenden Dillon, and David Schlemko are all going to be exposed with term left. Finally, Aaron Dell will be the goaltender left exposed.
- I am pretty certain that the Sharks will end up losing one of their defensemen in the Expansion Draft. Most likely, it will end up being Brenden Dillon, who is 26 and still has three seasons left under contract.
*All cap and salary information come from CapFriendly.com*
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