Who will Maple Leafs lose in Seattle Kraken expansion draft? - Sportsnet.ca
Here are some key expansion draft rules Gilman helped establish (and how they apply to Toronto in 2021):
• All players with no-movement clauses at the time of the draft, and who decline to waive those clauses, must be protected and will be counted toward their team’s applicable protection limits.
Captain John Tavares is the only Leaf holding a full no-move clause. Jake Muzzin and T.J. Brodie’s no-move clauses expire and become no-trade clauses after the 2020-21 season.
• All first- and second-year NHLers and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection and will not be counted toward protection limits.
Therefore, Toronto needn’t worry about protecting prized prospects like Nicholas Robertson, Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren, Mac Hollowell and Joseph Woll. Sophomore Ilya Mikheyev is also exempt.
• Any player heading toward unrestricted free agency does not need to be protected.
Toronto has a whopping 16 impending UFAs: Frederik Andersen, Zach Hyman, Wayne Simmonds, Jimmy Vesey, Joe Thornton, Jason Spezza, Travis Boyd, Alexander Barabanov, Zach Bogosian, Calle Rosen, Martin Marincin, Mikko Lehtonen, Aaron Dell, Kenny Agostino, David Warsofsky and Kalle Kossila.
What’s interesting here is that Dubas may re-sign some of these players prior to the draft, requiring protection. Further, an impending UFA could be re-signed with the purpose of meeting exposure requirements — which is our explanation for, say, Jake Allen’s extension in Montreal and the structure of Braden Holtby’s contract in Vancouver.
To minimize their loss in the Kraken’s culling, the first choice the Leafs’ brain trust will have to make is whether to protect seven forwards, three defenceman and one goaltender (7-3-1) or eight skaters and one goalie (8-1).
The majority of clubs opted for the first option in 2017 and should do so again because it protects 11 players in total. The second option, which only protects nine total, is a sensible route for rosters holding four or more valuable defencemen and few desirable forwards.
