Thirty NHL franchises were required to send in their protected lists before Seattle’s expansion draft on Wednesday. The Bruins list came without any real surprises.
PROTECTED:
FORWARDS
Patrice Bergeron, C
Brad Marchand, LW
David Pastrnak, RW
Charlie Coyle, C
Craig Smith, RW
Jake DeBrusk, LW
Trent Frederic, C
DEFENSEMEN
Charlie McAvoy
Matt Grzelcyk
Brandon Carlo
GOALTENDER
Dan Vladar
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The Seattle Kraken will have one pick from each NHL team, except for one. They will get 30 from each of the other teams, except for the Golden Knights. Vegas made an agreement with the NHL that they would be exempt from the expansion draft, as they just had theirs a few years ago.
The Bruins did not have to protect UFAs, so don’t freak out about the likes of Taylor Hall, Tuukka Rask, and David Krejci. A common misconception among fans also includes Jeremy Swayman, who is automatically protected — first and second year players cannot be selected in expansion drafts. The best available player from Boston has to be Conor Clifton, though Nick Ritchie and Curtis Lazar are also good options. Other Bruins available include Lauzon, Kase, Wagner, and Zboril.
Some complained about the protection of Jake DeBrusk, but he is far better trade bait than any other Bruins that went unprotected. His salary is not a huge one to pickup, so if he continues to falter, Boston could move him easily. Big name players across the league that could be taken include Carey Price, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Flames captain Mark Giordano.
Though, Seattle will have some tough decisions make as far as the $81M cap space available to them, in their selections abiding by the minimum of their new 14 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders. Conor Clifton is definitely the most worrisome player to lose for Boston, anyone else would not be a massive loss for the B’s.
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)