Official expansion protection lists revealed at 8:30AM MT

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Nm

[Love]

Adam Pelech was protected over De Haan? NYI also left Brock Nelson unprotected.

David Perron could also be a target

[iloveicedhockey]

I like lehtera from the blues too, nice bit of potential.

Edit: not necessarily at that salary I don't.

I ended up with:
Eakin, Neal, ward, Nelson, raffl, gaunce, dano, pacquette, Marchessault, carrier, Bennett, burmistov, Hudson, rychel and rattie.

Methot, Vatanen, dumba, McNabb, Davidson, kulak, Miller, dahlbeck, TVR and reinhart (lolz).

MAF, mrazek, raanta, Pickard, korpisalo and Grubauer.

Cap hit $53m, $20m space, stayed away from UFA's, I think.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Wow @ James Neal from the preds being available. Crazy a player of his caliber is up for the taking. Flames made out pretty good, but expansion blows for some teams...

This is true, but my concern is that there will likely be another expansion draft in another two or three years which will almost certainly hurt the Flames much more than this one. No longer will Tkachuk and Jankowski be exempt, and I would expect that the Flames would by that time also have four defensemen that they would be anxious to protect.

[getbak]

On TSN, Button thinks Vegas will take Kulak from the Flames.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is true, but my concern is that there will likely be another expansion draft in another two or three years which will almost certainly hurt the Flames much more than this one. No longer will Tkachuk and Jankowski be exempt, and I would expect that the Flames would by that time also have four defensemen that they would be anxious to protect.

Based on the lists, the only teams that really stand to lose a significant player on a fair value contract are bonafide heavyweight cup contenders.

I look forward to a day where we can expose a Frolik or Lazar and not bat an eyelash because it means we're protecting a Jankowski or Tkachuk.

[Love]

Didn't even realize that the Ducks exposed Josh Manson? If you were Tre, what would you offer to LV that would be more appealing than what Anaheim is?

16th ++?

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Manson
Kulak - Andersson/Stone

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Could probably substitute this for a few teams, but saw this on twitter and laughed.

Manny‏ @MannyElk
The Golden Knights drafting from Vancouver's exposed players.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Steve Carp‏@stevecarprj
Not a lot from GMGM today. He's calling the shots and teams have to come to him to deal. Says he's listening to all offers is courting FAs.

Steve Carp‏@stevecarprj
One interesting thing McPhee said: Team will wait until late to make their 30 selections in the event potential deals crop up.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Based on the lists, the only teams that really stand to lose a significant player are bonafide heavyweight cup contenders.

I look forward to a day where we can expose a Frolik or Lazar and not bat an eyelash because it means we're protecting a Jankowski or Tkachuk.

I don't know if I would characterize either Ottawa or Columbus as "heavyweight cup contenders"—both are teams that stand to lose a very good player. I see no reason to think that the Flames will not be a very good team in the near furture, and yes, even in spite of how successful they might be in three years, I expect it will sting to lose a player like Backlund, Giordano, Ferland, Frolik, or an unknown second pairing defenseman.

[Mony]

Lots of decent players Vegas could take here. They'll be more competitive than anyone would think.

As a shot in the dark guess I'll say they have four 1st round picks loaded up at least.

[OzSome]

Just for the fun of it. Here's what I think Vegas Golden Knights should pick BUT I am sure they won't follow my pick.

* in front of the player means I will consider trading.

Goaltenders:
* Marc-Andre Fleury(PIT) - 5.75M
Louis Domingue (ARI) - 1.050M
Anton Khudodin(BOS) - 1.20M
Calvin Pickard(COL) - 1M
Carter Hutton(STL) - 1.125M
Philipp Grubauer(WSH) - 0.750M

*** I picked 6 goalies and trade some of them. I can keep Fleury and trade 3 or 4 them for draft picks or current players in the NHL. Any of the other 5 goalies are ready to be a starter.

Defense:
Derek Engelland(CGY) 2.9M UFA
Griffin Reinhart(EDM) 0.863M
* Marc Methot(OTT) 4.9M
Roman Polak(TOR) 2.25M UFA
Philip Larsen(VAN) 1.025 UFA
* Toby Enstrom(WPG) 5.750M
* Sami Vatanen(ANA) 4.875M
* Jack Johnson(CBJ) 4.557M
* Matt Dumba(MIN) 2.55M
Andrej Sustr(TB) 1.45M RFA

*** Methot, Vatanen, Johnson, Enstrom and Dumba are tradeable and the best way to stock up Vegas draft picks in this coming draft or the next few seasons. I chose Engelland over Brouwer, Stajan or Bouma from the Flames because I think he'll be able to help the D and his leadership. He is a 3rd pairing defensemen but can count on playing big minutes as well if needed. Reinhart is still young and maybe spending another whole season in the AHL helps him. He is also cheap.

Offense:
Centre
Marcus Kruger(Chi) 3.083MCody Eakin(Dal) 3.85M
Darren Helm(Det) 3.85M
Jonathan Marchessault(Fla) 0.750M
Trevor Lewis(LA) 2.0M

Right Wing
* James Neal(Nsh) 5.0M
Beau Bennett (NJ) 0.725M
* Josh Bailey(NYI) 3.3M
Michael Grabner(NYR) 1.65M
Matt Read(Phi) 3.625M
Joel Ward(SJ) 3.275M

Left Wing
Charles Hudon(Mtl) 0.650M
Matt Moulson(Buf) 5.0M
Joakim Nordstrom(Car) 1.275M

-- not the best looking forward rosters but most of them came cheap. Overall, that will provide the team to trade for some draft picks and pick up players with huge expiring contracts in order to hit the minimum salary cap limit.

[united]

Some good defencemen to be had for the 4-6 slots should the Flames value one enough to spend the assets required for Vegas not to just hold on the them:

Jason Demers
29-year-old right-shooting defenceman. Underrated year after year, he would be perfect with Brodie and a big upgrade on Stone. Only issue is 4 more years at $4.5 might be out of budget, but he would be worth it without question. Great guy off the ice, too.

Brayden McNabb
26-year-old left-shooting defenceman. Offers little offence but is a 6'4 stay-at-home defenceman. A good option for the 5/6 slot. Issue is he is one year from UFA so could lose him for nothing.

Matt Dumba
22-year-old right-shooting defenceman. Smooth skater and a bit of a defensive liability, but he's only 22 so has plenty of room for growth as a defender - years still from his prime. Local kid, too, attending Edge. One year left at $2.55 but RFA after.

David Schlemko
A known commodity to us. Left-shooting and 30 years old. Would be great in the 5/6 slot but with three years left at $2.1, may be a touch high for the Flames' liking. But, it was reported they wanted him back but couldn't move someone else in time, so maybe there is still interest.

Martin Marincin
25-year-old left-shooting defenceman. Continuously underrated due to being 6'4 but playing like he's much smaller. Would be great in the 5/6 slot also. One season left at $1.25 followed by RFA.

Andrej Sustr
26-year-old right-shooting defenceman. A giant at 6'7, but concerns with his mobility. Thought RH, probably not good enough for Brodie's pairing. As a 5/6 he could be a candidate. Current RFA.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

Could probably substitute this for a few teams, but saw this on twitter and laughed.

Manny‏ @MannyElk
The Golden Knights drafting from Vancouver's exposed players.

Funny yeah but not sure if accurate.

Brendan Gaunce may be a more appealing asset than anything the Flames left exposed.

[Enoch Root]

It's always interesting to see how things actually play out, vs how we expected them to.

Now that we're here, I don't think Vegas will take as many goalies as I originally expected. The problem is that if they do, they kind of kill their own trade market.

If they are sitting on half a dozen goalies, all of which are NHLers, they are basically hooped because they have to move them. They can't hold on to more than two, or three at the very most.

So the value of those goalies would plummet. If they have to move 3 or 4 goalies, the other GMs are going to offer them peanuts.

For Treliving, getting Smith prior to the expansion draft may well have been a shrewd move. If he hadn't, he would need a goalie, and Vegas could play hardball. Now, he isn't desperate, and if Vegas ends up with a bunch of tenders, he may be able to grab one on the cheap.

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by Par

TSN:"Islanders will give up first rounder to keep Vegas from taking forwards."

http://www.tsn.ca/islanders-will-giv...wards-1.782255


The 15th overall pick.

lol cuz their forwards are amazing

[Beninho]

Originally Posted by Love

Didn't even realize that the Ducks exposed Josh Manson? If you were Tre, what would you offer to LV that would be more appealing than what Anaheim is?

16th ++?

Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Manson
Kulak - Andersson/Stone

Gross

[TheIronMaiden]

Originally Posted by getbak

On TSN, Button thinks Vegas will take Kulak from the Flames.

This is interesting. In my minds eye there will be a debate between taking Kulak and Brouwer with an outside shot at Chaisson being selected.

It is likely that the LVGK will select from Calgary next to last since more fruitful players will be available on other teams. Vegas will probably choose a player from Calgary based on which spots they have left to fill after 20 players have been highlighted already.

I am just spitting in the wind though, its hard to say what LVGK's strategy actually looks like. hopefully we get a nice article talking about internal decisions when its over.

[iloveicedhockey]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

It's always interesting to see how things actually play out, vs how we expected them to.

Now that we're here, I don't think Vegas will take as many goalies as I originally expected. The problem is that if they do, they kind of kill their own trade market.

If they are sitting on half a dozen goalies, all of which are NHLers, they are basically hooped because they have to move them. They can't hold on to more than two, or three at the very most.

So the value of those goalies would plummet. If they have to move 3 or 4 goalies, the other GMs are going to offer them peanuts.

For Treliving, getting Smith prior to the expansion draft may well have been a shrewd move. If he hadn't, he would need a goalie, and Vegas could play hardball. Now, he isn't desperate, and if Vegas ends up with a bunch of tenders, he may be able to grab one on the cheap.

He can balance the ones he wants for Vegas and ones other teams want through trade before he picks though right? So he knows exactly what the demand is and sets supply accordingly. If people play hardball he just won't pick that player.

I still think the Smith move is pretty savvy, and that Treliving knew the acquisition cost and salary of the other options and deemed them not appropriate for our situation. I just think mcphee doesn't draft additional unless he knows for certain he can flip straight away.

[iloveicedhockey]

Originally Posted by Beninho

lol cuz their forwards are amazing

Relative to what else is out there, you are correct.