Blueshirt Banter Expansion Draft: Metropolitan Division Protection Lists
Next up, we continue our protection lists for the Blueshirt Banter Expansion Draft with the Metropolitan Division.
The Blueshirt Banter team of writers are serving as general managers for the NHL, creating protection lists in preparation for the inaugural Blueshirt Banter NHL Expansion Draft. For a refresher on the rules of play, click here.
Next up, the Metropolitan Division.
Metropolitan Division
Carolina Hurricanes (GM: Eric Kohn)
- Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Sebastian Aho (NMC)
- Nikolaj Ehlers (NMC)
- Taylor Hall (NMC)
- Jordan Staal (NMC)
- William Carrier (NMC)
- Andrei Svechnikov
- Seth Jarvis
- Defensemen
- Jacob Slavin (NMC)
- Jalen Chatfield (NMC)
- K’Andre Miller
- Goaltender
- Fredrik Andersen
The amount of no-movement clauses doled out by the Hurricanes made coming up with this protection list equal parts easy and painful. (And going with the 8 skaters-1 goalie format is no help, since there are seven total skaters that must be protected). So, going with the 7-3-1 protection plan, there are five (5!) forwards have NMCs—Sebastian Aho, Nikolaj Ehlers, Taylor Hall, Jordan Staal, and William Carrier—leaving only two slots for the remaining forwards on the roster. I went with Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis. That means Logan Stankoven is left unprotected, which is brutal. On defense, Jacob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield have NMCs, leaving one protection spot left that went to K’Andre Miller. I don’t need to rehearse the issues with Miller here. But after what the Hurricanes gave up to get him, there’s no way I could leave him unprotected. My goalie decision was made for me, as Freddy Andersen has a NMC. I might have chosen to protect Pyotr Kochetkov over Andersen, but Kochetkov hasn’t been good enough for me to lose much sleep over this.
Columbus Blue Jackets (GM: Chris Feldman)
- Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Sean Monahan (NMC)
- Charlie Coyle (NMC)
- Kent Johnson
- Adam Fantilli
- Yegor Chinakhov
- Kirill Marchenko
- Dmitri Voronkov
- Defensemen
- Zach Werenski (NMC)
- Ivan Provorov (NMC)
- Damon Severson
- Goaltender
- Jet Greaves
Columbus is a that has a lot of young talent and simply needs guys who want to be there. Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Yegor Chinakhov, Kirill Marchenko, and Dmitri Voronkov all fall in the young talent category and are the easy choices. Sean Monahan fits the 'simply wants to be there' category, and Charlie Coyle doesn’t really have a choice but to follow a similar mindset, as both have NMCs. On defense, you kind of have to go with Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson and Zach Werenski on account of trade protection. Lastly, Elvis Merzlikins needed out of Columbus a long time ago and desperately needs a change of scenery. For that reason, mixed with Jet Greaves showing some promise, I’m keeping Greaves.
Philadelphia Flyers (GM: Jake DiBlasio)
- Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Sean Couturier (NMC)
- Travis Konecny (NMC)
- Trevor Zegras
- Noah Cates
- Owen Tippett
- Bobby Brink
- Tyson Foerster
- Defensemen
- Travis Sanheim
- Cam York
- Jamie Drysdale
- Goaltender
- Samuel Errson
The Philadelphia Flyers get to see the benefits of players within their first two seasons being exempt from an expansion draft, as Matvei Michkov is automatically protected. Aside from Michkov, the Flyers forward group has good veteran forwards like Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, and Owen Tippet. The team also has young talent like Trevor Zegras, Tyson Foerster, and Bobby Brink. Picking which forwards to protect seemed straightforward, but picking the defenseman was even easier. Travis Sanheim, Cam York, and Jamie Drysdale are a very good core of defensemen to keep.
Pittsburgh Penguins (GM: Chip)
- Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Sidney Crosby (NMC)
- Evgeni Malkin (NMC)
- Tomas Novak
- Bryan Rust
- Rikard Rakell
- Philip Tomasino
- Anthony Mantha
- Defenseman
- Kris Letang (NMC)
- Erik Karlsson (NMC)
- Parker Wortherspoon
- Goaltender
- Arturs Silvos
While most teams fret over who to leave exposed, the Penguins probably wish they could leave MORE players exposed. They’ll protect Parker Wortherspoon, Anthony Mantha, and Philip Tomasino and hope that one of the teams take overpaid players like Connor Clifton, Kevin Hayes, Matt Dumba, Tristan Jarry, or Ryan Graves.
New Jersey Devils (GM: Jake DiBlasio)
- Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Timo Meier (NMC)
- Jack Hughes
- Jesper Bratt
- Nico Heisher
- Dawson Mercer
- Ondrej Palat
- Stefan Nosen
- Defenseman
- Luke Hughes
- Brenden Dillion
- Brett Pesce
- Goaltender
- Jacob Markstrom
The New Jersey Devils have done a good job of shaping out the roster, which made some of these choices on the defense very tough. The most notable player not protected is defenseman Dougie Hamilton. This offseason rumors have circulated that the Devils want to trade Hamilton for cap-related purposes. Leaving him unprotected in an expansion draft would be the perfect way to move off his cap hit. I also choose to protect Luke Hughes despite him being an unsigned restricted free agent. It seems likely a deal will get done before the start of the season.
New York Islanders (Jake DiBlasio)
- Protection Plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Mathew Barzal
- Bo Horvat
- Kyle Palmieri
- Anders Lee
- Simon Holmstrom
- Jean-Gabriel Pageau
- Jonathan Drouin
- Defenseman
- Alexander Romanov
- Adam Pelech
- Ryan Pulock
- Goaltender
- Ilya Sorokin (NMC)
Even after making three first-round picks this year, the New York Islanders still have a very veteran-heavy team. Mathew Barzal, Bo Horvat, Kyle Palmieri, and Anders Lee are all top six options for the team. However, the Islanders strength is their defense. Alexander Romanov, Adam Pelech, and Ryan Pulock are all good options to have. I even considered protecting Tony DeAngelo after having a bounce-back season, but it did not seem worth it, as a new franchise wouldn’t likely gamble on someone with his past.
New York Rangers (GM: Jake DiBlasio)
- Protection plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Artemi Panarin (NMC)
- Mika Zibanejad (NMC)
- J.T. Miller
- Alexis Lafrenière
- Will Cuylle
- Vincent Trocheck
- Brennan Othmann
- Defenseman
- Adam Fox (NMC)
- Vadislav Gavirkov (NMC)
- Scott Morrow
- Goaltender
- Igor Shesterkin (NMC)
For the Rangers, five of the players had no-movement clauses, but apart from Mika Zibanejad, I would have chosen to protect the other four players anyway. After that, protecting J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafrenière were easy choices. While some may say not protecting Lafrenière is an easy way to move off his contract after a down year, I still have faith in the former first overall pick. I also chose to protect Scott Morrow over other defensemen like Will Borgen or Carson Soucey. The Rangers aren’t a cup-contending team this year, and Morrow strengthens the prospect pool, which the Rangers greatly need. I also debated who the last forward should be, but ultimately I settled on Brennan Othmann, as there is a chance he serves in a top-six role this season, and Gabe Perrault is exempt due to playing fewer than two seasons.
Washington Capitals (GM: Eric Kohn)
- Protection plan: 7F-3D-1G
- Forwards
- Alex Ovechkin (NMC)
- Pierre-Luc Dubois (NMC)
- Dylan Strome
- Connor McMichael
- Tom Wilson
- Hendrix Lapierre
- Aliaksei Protas
- Defenseman
- Jacob Chychrun (NMC)
- Rasmus Sandin
- Martin Fehervary
- Goaltender
- Logan Thompson
Three of these choices were made for me because of no-movement clauses. But if I didn’t have that requirement, and my hand were forced by a multitude of other NMC's like the problem I had with the Hurricanes, I’d have given some serious consideration to not protecting Alex Ovechkin and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Dubois had a good season, but the reason for leaving him unprotected is probably obvious. Beyond that: I know, I know. How could you now protect Ovechkin? The answer is also obvious. Because he’s almost 40, close to retirement, and while he’s an absolute legend, you don’t want to lose a talented younger player just to protect a guy who might be in his last season of pro hockey. The good news is that it still works out just fine.
The forwards to protect here seem fairly obvious: Dylan Strome is top-line center in the prime of his career; Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre are highly touted young talent and the future of this franchise; and, Aliaksei Protas is coming off an incredible season and is only 24. If Ryan Leonard weren’t exempt since he’s only played nine games, I’d have left Tom Wilson unprotected, largely because my personal preference is to fire Tom Wilson into the sun. And while I’d really like to be free of that contract that is going to take him into his age 37 season, he’s just too productive of a player for me to leave exposed, and there’s no one else I can justify protecting over him. On defense, Jacob Chychrun has an NMC, and Rasmus Sandin and Martin Fehervary are young, promising defenders. The Capitals have a timeshare in net, but Logan Thompson seems to be the better of the two, so he gets protected over Charlie Lindgren.
Next up, we move to the Western Conference and take a look at the players protected in the Central Division.
