Blueshirt Banter Expansion Draft: Atlantic Division Protection Lists

The Blueshirt Banter team of writers are serving as general managers for the NHL, creating protection lists in preparation for the Blueshirt Banter NHL Expansion Draft that will welcome franchises in Atlanta and Houstin into the NHL. For a refresher on the rules of play, click here.

We'll start things off in the Eastern Conference with the Atlantic Division.

Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins (GM: Roberto Solis-Byxbee)

• Protection Plan: 7-3-1
• Forwards
  • David Pastrnak (NMC)
  • Elias Lindholm (MNC)
  • Viktor Arvidsson (NMC)
  • Casey Mittelstadt
  • Matthew Poitras
  • Pavel Zacha
  • Morgan Geekie
• Defensemen
  • Charlie McAvoy (NMC)
  • Hampus Lindholm (NMC)
  • Nikita Zadorov
• Goaltender
  • Jeremy Swayman

Normally, I’d say teams could use this opportunity to try and get out of some contracts that I’d consider an abomination, and while a little bit of that is happening here (cough cough Tanner Jeannot cough cough), the Bruins fandom love Nikita Zadorov a bit too much to let go of him. Being a Rangers fan in Massachusetts has a lot of cons but a perk is being aware of who is a roster darling and Zadorov’s style of play has endeared himself to the city of Boston.

Buffalo Sabres (GM: Chris Feldman)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Tage Thompson 
  • Zach Benson 
  • Ryan McLeod
  • Josh Norris
  • Jiri Kulich
  • Jack Quinn 
  • Josh Doan
• Defensemen
  • Rasmus Dahlin (NMC)
  • Owen Power
  • Michael Kesselring
• Goaltender
  • Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Times are tough in Buffalo, so in the event of another expansion draft, they should put a great deal of focus on their decisions. Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Owen Power are givens. Zach Benson is someone I truly believe could be a face of the franchise for Buffalo, so he’s a lock, as well. Ryan McLeod and Josh Norris are recent acquisitions with term, so they’d be protected. They just made a big trade for Micahel Kesselring and Josh Doan, so lock them up, too. Jiri Kulich and Jack Quinn are younger players, and of the two, Quinn might raise some eyebrows. But he still has some upside, and therefore Buffalo would be wise to keep him. Lastly, Devon Levi was, until recently, an RFA who ended up signing a two-year bridge deal. There is a world where he leap frogs Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as the team’s number one goaltender, and there’s a case to be made to favor him. On the other hand, UPL is signed with some term and with partial trade protection. Right now, I’d say that decision could be a coin flip, but given the trade protection, UPL will stay. 

Detroit Red Wings (GM: Chip)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Dylan Larkin 
  • Patrick Kane 
  • Alex DeBrincat
  • Lucas Raymond
  • Michael Rasmussen
  • Mason Appleton
  • Jonaton Bergrren
• Defensemen
  • Moritz Seider
  • Erik Gustafsson
  • Simon Edvinsson
• Goaltender
  • John Gibson

The Red Wings are actually a pretty easy team to work with here. The fact that they have so many underperforming veterans with money that they can expose makes it easier to justify keeping younger, fringe guys like Rasmussen and Berggren. If the Expansion Teams want to take one of Compher or Copp or Chairot or Holl, Yzerman would be thrilled. In the end, there were three spots for four players (Rasmussen, Appleton, Berggren, and Solderblom). I decided to leave the 6-8 Solderblom as the odd man out given that the other three seem to have established themselves as more reliable NHL players. 

Florida Panthers (GM: Tim Dianora)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Aleksander Barkov (NMC)
  • Matthew Tkachuk (NMC)
  • Sam Reinhart (NMC)
  • Sam Bennett (NMC)
  • Carter Verhaeghe (NMC)
  • Brad Marchand (NMC)
  • Anton Lundell
• Defensemen
  • Seth Jones (NMC)
  • Aaron Ekblad (NMC)
  • Gustav Forsling (NMC)
• Goaltender
  • Sergei Bobrovsky

The Panthers have a ton of players with NMCs, so those made most of the decisions for me. Still, I don’t think I would have deviated much if at all from these, which shows that the Panthers have doled these out wisely. Maybe I would have left Brad Marchand unprotected solely because of his age. If so, I would have then protected Eetu Luostarinen. Sergi Bobrovsky was actually not a slam-dunk decision. While I ultimately chose to protect him, his age (36), high salary ($10 million AAV) and pending 2026-27 UFA status gave me some pause. But he still seems to have plenty left in the tank, which is somewhat remarkable after his first couple of years in Florida made it seem like his contract was an albatross that would only get worse.

Montreal Canadiens (GM: Chris Feldman)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Brendan Gallagher (NMC)
  • Nick Suzuki 
  • Cole Caufield 
  • Juraj Slafkovsky
  • Jake Evans
  • Zack Bolduc
  • Josh Anderson
• Defensemen
  • Noah Dobson 
  • Kaiden Guhle
  • Lane Hutson
• Goaltender
  • Sam Montembeault

The choices are easy on who to keep on defense for Montreal with Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, and Kaiden Guhle. The decisions are even easier with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. Jake Evans has the potential to be a really good value contract if he continues to be the type of player he’s shown he can be. Zac Bolduc is someone I’ve been super high on ever since his draft class, to the point where I wanted the Rangers to take him instead of Brennan Othmann, and still wish they did. As a result, I’d protect him over some other options. Lastly, Brendan Gallagher has a NMC and Josh Anderson has trade protection, which suggests he'd be protected, and I’m not too worried about potentially losing anyone else that would be available in Montreal. Carey Price has a NMC, but given that his playing career is over, there’s no reason for him to be adverse to waiving it in this scenario; if one of the teams wants to take him as salary cap ballast, bully for them.

Ottawa Senators (GM: Jake DiBlasio)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Brady Tkachuk (NMC)
  • Claude Giroux (NMC)
  • Tim Stutzle 
  • Dylan Cozens
  • Drake Batherson
  • Fabian Zetterlund
  • Shane Pinto
• Defensemen 
  • Jacob Sanderson
  • Artem Zub
  • Thomas Chabot 
• Goaltender
  • Linus Ullmark (NMC)

The Ottawa Senators were able to end their playoff drought and are looking to continue to build on the progress they have made. Even though the team does not have a single player with a no-movement clause, picking which players to protect was straightforward. The team has a competitive top six and is very talented on the blue line. The most difficult choice for me was leaving off Ridly Greig. I narrowly chose Shane Pinto over Greig because Pinto contributes more defensively. I also considered leaving off Claude Giroux due to his age, but the Senators are looking to compete, and Giroux can help the team win now. 

Tampa Bay Lightning (GM: Roberto Solis-Byxbee)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Brayden Point (NMC)
  • Jake Guentzel (NMC)
  • Nikita Kucherov
  • Brandon Hagel
  • Anthony Cirelli
  • Conor Geekie
  • Nick Paul
• Defensemen
  • Victor Hedman (NMC)
  • Ryan McDonagh
  • Erik Cernak
• Goaltender
  • Andrei Vasileveskiy

Raise your hand if you were shocked to learn Nikita Kucherov didn’t have a full NMC? There were a couple of tough decisions here. I retained Conor Geekie because of his age and promising future, and the third defenseman was between Erik Cernak and J.J. Moser, but I went with Cernak to have a right-shot defenseman on the roster with both Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh being lefties.

Toronto Maple Leafs (GM: Eric Kohn)

• Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
• Forwards
  • Auston Matthews (NMC)
  • William Nylander (NMC)
  • John Tavares (NMC)
  • Matthew Knies
  • Matias Maccelli
  • Dakota Joshua
  • Nicolas Roy
• Defensemen
  • Morgan Rielly (NMC)
  • Christopher Tanev (NMC)
  • Jake McCabe
• Goaltender
  • Joseph Woll

Once you get past the obvious top shelf talent, the Toronto Maple Leafs roster is more than a tad underwhelming. (Maybe I'll have to change my assessment from the last podcast that they're a lock for the playoffs?) NMC's mean Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares are automatically protected in the forward group, and two of those you'd obviously choose to protect. Tavares's NMC makes the decision here. But even considering his age, his team-friendly contract makes protecting him make sense anyway. Matthew Knies is another obvious choice. After that is where it gets underwhelming. I'm going with Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua, and Nicolas Roy. On the blueline, Morgan Reilly and Christopher Tanev and NMCs and are automatically protected. Jake McCabe completes the group, and is the pretty obvious choice among what's left. And then there's the goaltender. Both Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz are firmly in the good-but-not-great category, and I can't say that I completely trust either of them. But Woll is younger, and locked up for three more seasons at a very friendly price, so he stays.

Tomorrow, we'll continue our protection lists with the Metropolitan Division.