Kraken expansion draft: Protected, available lists for all 30 NHL teams

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The NHL released protected and available player lists for all 30 NHL teams heading into the Seattle Kraken’s expansion draft. (As a reminder, the Golden Knights do not need to expose a player to the Kraken.)

There isn’t much of a window for the Kraken to choose players from 30 NHL teams. The Kraken will announce their 30 player selections at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 21 (ESPN2 in the U.S. and Sportsnet, SN NOW and TVA Sports in Canada).

In choosing who to protect and who to expose in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, teams followed the same format with the Kraken that they did with the Golden Knights. Players could be protected in two alignments:

  • One option: protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie.
  • The other option: any eight skaters, plus one goalie. Generally, that would translate to four forwards and four defensemen, but not always. In particular, the Predators continue to approach the expansion draft in interesting ways.

Scroll for protected and available players from all 30 NHL teams involved in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. At the very bottom of this post, you can read more about the expansion draft rules.

[Teams should learn these lessons from the last expansion draft.]

Protected, available NHL players list for Kraken expansion draft

ANAHEIM DUCKS

Available

Andrew Agozzino (F)
David Backes (F)
Sam Carrick (F)
Chase De Leo (F)
Ryan Getzlaf (F)
Derek Grant (F)
Danton Heinen (F)
Adam Henrique (F)
Vinni Lettieri (F)
Sonny Milano (F)
Andrew Poturalski (F)
Carter Rowney (F)
Nick Sorensen (F)
Alexander Volkov (F)
Trevor Carrick (D)
Haydn Fleury (D)
Brendan Guhle (D)
Jacob Larsson (D)
Josh Mahura (D)
Kevin Shattenkirk (D)
Andy Welinski (D)
Ryan Miller (G)
Anthony Stolarz (G)

Protected

Nicolas Deslauriers (F)
Max Jones (F)
Isac Lundestrom (F)
Rickard Rakell (F)
Jakob Silfverberg (F)
Sam Steel (F)
Troy Terry (F)
Cam Fowler (D)
Hampus Lindholm (D)
Josh Manson (D)
John Gibson (G)

ARIZONA COYOTES

Available

Derick Brassard (F)
Michael Bunting (F)
Brayden Burke (F)
Michael Chaput (F)
Hudson Fasching (F)
Christian Fischer (F)
Frederik Gauthier (F)
John Hayden (F)
Dryden Hunt (F)
Andrew Ladd (F)
Lane Pederson (F)
Tyler Pitlick (F)
Blake Speers (F)
Tyler Steenbergen (F)
Jason Demers (D)
Cam Dineen (D)
Alex Goligoski (D)
Jordan Gross (D)
Niklas Hjalmarsson (D)
Ilya Lyubushkin (D)
Dysin Mayo (D)
Aaron Ness (D)
Jordan Oesterle (D)
Vili Saarijarvi (D)
Josef Korenar (G)
Marek Langhamer (G)
Antti Raanta (G)

Protected

Lawson Crouse (F)
Christian Dvorak (F)
Conor Garland (F)
Clayton Keller (F)
Phil Kessel (F)
Johan Larsson (F)
Nick Schmaltz (F)
Kyle Capobianco (D)
Jakob Chychrun (D)
Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D)
Darcy Kuemper (G)

BOSTON BRUINS

Available

Anton Blidh (F)
Paul Carey (F)
Peter Cehlarik (F)
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (F)
Taylor Hall (F)
Cameron Hughes (F)
Ondrej Kase (F)
Alex Khokhlachev (F)
Joona Koppanen (F)
David Krejci (F)
Karson Kuhlman (F)
Sean Kuraly (F)
Curtis Lazar (F)
Greg McKegg (F)
Nick Ritchie (F)
Zach Senyshyn (F)
Chris Wagner (F)
Linus Arnesson (D)
Connor Clifton (D)
Steven Kampfer (D)
Jeremy Lauzon (D)
Kevan Miller (D)
John Moore (D)
Mike Reilly (D)
Jarred Tinordi (D)
Jakub Zboril (D)
Callum Booth (G)
Jaroslav Halak (G)
Tuukka Rask (G)

Protected

Patrice Bergeron (F)
Charlie Coyle (F)
Jake DeBrusk (F)
Trent Frederic (F)
Brad Marchand (F)
David Pastrnak (F)
Craig Smith (F)
Brandon Carlo (D)
Matt Grzelcyk (D)
Charlie McAvoy (D)
Dan Vladar (G)

BUFFALO SABRES

Available

Drake Caggiula (F)
Jean-Sebastien Dea (F)
Cody Eakin (F)
Steven Fogarty (F)
Zemgus Girgensons (F)
Andrew Oglevie (F)
Kyle Okposo (F)
Tobias Rieder (F)
Riley Sheahan (F)
Jeff Skinner (F)
C.J. Smith (F)
Will Borgen (D)
Brandon Davidson (D)
Matt Irwin (D)
Jake McCabe (D)
Colin Miller (D)
Casey Nelson (D)
Michael Houser (G)
Carter Hutton (G)
Dustin Tokarski (G)

Protected

Rasmus Asplund (F)
Anders Bjork (F)
Jack Eichel (F)
Casey Mittelstadt (F)
Victor Olofsson (F)
Sam Reinhart (F)
Tage Thompson (F)
Rasmus Dahlin (D)
Henri Jokiharju (D)
Rasmus Ristolainen (D)
Linus Ullmark (G)

CALGARY FLAMES

Available

Byron Froese (F)
Glenn Gawdin (F)
Justin Kirkland (F)
Josh Leivo (F)
Milan Lucic (F)
Joakim Nordstrom (F)
Matthew Phillips (F)
Zac Rinaldo (F)
Brett Ritchie (F)
Buddy Robinson (F)
Derek Ryan (F)
Dominik Simon (F)
Mark Giordano (D)
Oliver Kylington (D)
Nikita Nesterov (D)
Alexander Petrovic (D)
Michael Stone (D)
Louis Domingue (G)
Tyler Parsons (G)

Protected

Mikael Backlund (F)
Dillon Dube (F)
Johnny Gaudreau (F)
Elias Lindholm (F)
Andrew Mangiapane (F)
Sean Monahan (F)
Matthew Tkachuk (F)
Rasmus Andersson (D)
Noah Hanifin (D)
Christopher Tanev (D)
Jacob Markstrom (G)

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Available

Morgan Geekie (F)
Steven Lorentz (F)
Jordan Martinook (F)
Max McCormick (F)
Brock McGinn (F)
Nino Niederreiter (F)
Cedric Paquette (F)
Sheldon Rempal (F)
Drew Shore (F)
Spencer Smallman (F)
Jake Bean (D)
Jake Gardiner (D)
Eric Gelinas (D)
Jani Hakanpaa (D)
Dougie Hamilton (D)
Maxime Lajoie (D)
Roland McKeown (D)
Joakim Ryan (D)
David Warsofsky (D)
Antoine Bibeau (G)
Jeremy Helvig (G)
Petr Mrazek (G)
James Reimer (G)
Dylan Wells (G)

Protected

Sebastian Aho (F)
Jesper Fast (F)
Warren Foegele (F)
Jordan Staal (F)
Andrei Svechnikov (F)
Teuvo Teravainen (F)
Vincent Trocheck (F)
Brett Pesce (D)
Brady Skjei (D)
Jaccob Slavin (D)
Alex Nedeljkovic (G)

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

Available

Ryan Carpenter (F)
Brett Connolly (F)
Josh Dickinson (F)
Adam Gaudette (F)
Vinnie Hinostroza (F)
Brandon Pirri (F)
John Quenneville (F)
Zack Smith (F)
Calvin de Haan (D)
Anton Lindholm (D)
Nikita Zadorov (D)
Collin Delia (G)
Malcolm Subban (G)

Protected

Henrik Borgstrom (F)
Alex DeBrincat (F)
Brandon Hagel (F)
David Kampf (F)
Patrick Kane (F)
Dylan Strome (F)
Jonathan Toews (F)
Caleb Jones (D)
Connor Murphy (D)
Riley Stillman (D)
Kevin Lankinen (G)

COLORADO AVALANCHE

Available

Travis Barron (F)
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (F)
Matt Calvert (F)
J.T. Compher (F)
Joonas Donskoi (F)
Sheldon Dries (F)
Vladislav Kamenev (F)
Gabriel Landeskog (F)
Ty Lewis (F)
Jayson Megna (F)
Liam O'Brien (F)
Brandon Saad (F)
Miikka Salomaki (F)
Kiefer Sherwood (F)
Carl Soderberg (F)
T.J. Tynan (F)
Mike Vecchione (F)
Kyle Burroughs (D)
Dennis Gilbert (D)
Erik Johnson (D)
Jacob MacDonald (D)
Patrik Nemeth (D)
Dan Renouf (D)
Devan Dubnyk (G)
Jonas Johansson (G)
Hunter Miska (G)

Protected

Andre Burakovsky (F)
Tyson Jost (F)
Nazem Kadri (F)
Nathan MacKinnon (F)
Valeri Nichushkin (F)
Logan O'Connor (F)
Mikko Rantanen (F)
Samuel Girard (D)
Cale Makar (D)
Devon Toews (D)
Philipp Grubauer (G)

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Available

Zac Dalpe (F)
Max Domi (F)
Nathan Gerbe (F)
Mikhail Grigorenko (F)
Ryan MacInnis (F)
Stefan Matteau (F)
Cliff Pu (F)
Kole Sherwood (F)
Kevin Stenlund (F)
Calvin Thurkauf (F)
Daniel Zaar (F)
Gavin Bayreuther (D)
Gabriel Carlsson (D)
Adam Clendening (D)
Michael Del Zotto (D)
Scott Harrington (D)
Dean Kukan (D)
Cameron Johnson (G)

Protected

Cam Atkinson (F)
Oliver Bjorkstrand (F)
Boone Jenner (F)
Patrik Laine (F)
Gustav Nyquist (F)
Eric Robinson (F)
Jack Roslovic (F)
Vladislav Gavrikov (D)
Seth Jones (D)
Zach Werenski (D)
Joonas Korpisalo (G)

DALLAS STARS

Available

Nick Caamano (F)
Andrew Cogliano (F)
Blake Comeau (F)
Justin Dowling (F)
Tanner Kero (F)
Joel L'Esperance (F)
Adam Mascherin (F)
Matej Stransky (F)
Taylor Fedun (D)
Ben Gleason (D)
Joel Hanley (D)
Niklas Hansson (D)
Julius Honka (D)
Jamie Oleksiak (D)
Mark Pysyk (D)
Andrej Sekera (D)
Sami Vatanen (D)
Ben Bishop (G)
Landon Bow (G)
Colton Point (G)

Protected

Jamie Benn (F)
Radek Faksa (F)
Denis Gurianov (F)
Roope Hintz (F)
Joe Pavelski (F)
Alexander Radulov (F)
Tyler Seguin (F)
Miro Heiskanen (D)
John Klingberg (D)
Esa Lindell (D)
Anton Khudobin (G)

DETROIT RED WINGS

Available

Riley Barber (F)
Kyle Criscuolo (F)
Turner Elson (F)
Valtteri Filppula (F)
Sam Gagner (F)
Luke Glendening (F)
Darren Helm (F)
Taro Hirose (F)
Vladislav Namestnikov (F)
Frans Nielsen (F)
Bobby Ryan (F)
Evgeny Svechnikov (F)
Dominic Turgeon (F)
Hayden Verbeek (F)
Alex Biega (D)
Dennis Cholowski (D)
Danny DeKeyser (D)
Christian Djoos (D)
Joe Hicketts (D)
Dylan McIlrath (D)
Marc Staal (D)
Troy Stecher (D)
Jonathan Bernier (G)
Kevin Boyle (G)
Kaden Fulcher (G)
Calvin Pickard (G)

Protected

Tyler Bertuzzi (F)
Adam Erne (F)
Robby Fabbri (F)
Dylan Larkin (F)
Michael Rasmussen (F)
Givani Smith (F)
Jakub Vrana (F)
Filip Hronek (D)
Nick Leddy (D)
Gustav Lindstrom (D)
Thomas Greiss (G)

EDMONTON OILERS

Available

Tyler Benson (F)
Alex Chiasson (F)
Adam Cracknell (F)
Tyler Ennis (F)
Joseph Gambardella (F)
Seth Griffith (F)
Dominik Kahun (F)
Jujhar Khaira (F)
Cooper Marody (F)
James Neal (F)
Alan Quine (F)
Patrick Russell (F)
Devin Shore (F)
Anton Slepyshev (F)
Kyle Turris (F)
Bogdan Yakimov (F)
Tyson Barrie (D)
Oscar Klefbom (D)
Slater Koekkoek (D)
Dmitry Kulikov (D)
William Lagesson (D)
Adam Larsson (D)
Kris Russell (D)
Mikko Koskinen (G)
Mike Smith (G)
Alex Stalock (G)

Protected

Josh Archibald (F)
Leon Draisaitl (F)
Zack Kassian (F)
Connor McDavid (F)
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (F)
Jesse Puljujarvi (F)
Kailer Yamamoto (F)
Ethan Bear (D)
Duncan Keith (D)
Darnell Nurse (D)
Stuart Skinner (G)

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Available

Noel Acciari (F)
Patrick Bajkov (F)
Juho Lammikko (F)
Ryan Lomberg (F)
Brad Morrison (F)
Aleksi Saarela (F)
Frank Vatrano (F)
Lucas Wallmark (F)
Alex Wennberg (F)
Scott Wilson (F)
Lucas Carlsson (D)
Kevin Connauton (D)
Tommy Cross (D)
Radko Gudas (D)
Noah Juulsen (D)
Brady Keeper (D)
Brandon Montour (D)
Markus Nutivaara (D)
Ethan Prow (D)
Anton Stralman (D)
Philippe Desrosiers (G)
Chris Driedger (G)
Sam Montembeault (G)

Protected

Aleksander Barkov (F)
Sam Bennett (F)
Anthony Duclair (F)
Patric Hornqvist (F)
Jonathan Huberdeau (F)
Mason Marchment (F)
Carter Verhaeghe (F)
Aaron Ekblad (D)
Gustav Forsling (D)
MacKenzie Weegar (D)
Sergei Bobrovsky (G)

LOS ANGELES KINGS

Available

Andreas Athanasiou (F)
Michael Eyssimont (F)
Martin Frk (F)
Carl Grundstrom (F)
Bokondji Imama (F)
Brendan Lemieux (F)
Blake Lizotte (F)
Matt Luff (F)
Drake Rymsha (F)
Austin Wagner (F)
Mark Alt (D)
Daniel Brickley (D)
Kale Clague (D)
Olli Maatta (D)
Kurtis MacDermid (D)
Jacob Moverare (D)
Austin Strand (D)
Christian Wolanin (D)
Troy Grosenick (G)
Jonathan Quick (G)

Protected

Lias Andersson (F)
Viktor Arvidsson (F)
Dustin Brown (F)
Alex Iafallo (F)
Adrian Kempe (F)
Anze Kopitar (F)
Trevor Moore (F)
Drew Doughty (D)
Matt Roy (D)
Sean Walker (D)
Calvin Petersen (G)

MINNESOTA WILD

Available

William Bitten (F)
Nick Bjugstad (F)
Nick Bonino (F)
Joseph Cramarossa (F)
Gabriel Dumont (F)
Marcus Johansson (F)
Luke Johnson (F)
Victor Rask (F)
Kyle Rau (F)
Mason Shaw (F)
Dmitry Sokolov (F)
Matt Bartkowski (D)
Louie Belpedio (D)
Ian Cole (D)
Brad Hunt (D)
Ian McCoshen (D)
Brennan Menell (D)
Dakota Mermis (D)
Carson Soucy (D)
Andrew Hammond (G)
Kaapo Kahkonen (G)

Protected

Joel Eriksson Ek (F)
Kevin Fiala (F)
Marcus Foligno (F)
Jordan Greenway (F)
Ryan Hartman (F)
Nico Sturm (F)
Mats Zuccarello (F)
Jonas Brodin (D)
Matt Dumba (D)
Jared Spurgeon (D)
Cam Talbot (G)

MONTREAL CANADIENS

Available

Brandon Baddock (F)
Joseph Blandisi (F)
Paul Byron (F)
Phillip Danault (F)
Laurent Dauphin (F)
Jonathan Drouin (F)
Michael Frolik (F)
Charles Hudon (F)
Corey Perry (F)
Michael Pezzetta (F)
Eric Staal (F)
Tomas Tatar (F)
Lukas Vejdemo (F)
Jordan Weal (F)
Cale Fleury (D)
Erik Gustafsson (D)
Brett Kulak (D)
Jon Merrill (D)
Gustav Olofsson (D)
Xavier Ouellet (D)
Shea Weber (D)
Charlie Lindgren (G)
Michael McNiven (G)
Carey Price (G)

Protected

Josh Anderson (F)
Joel Armia (F)
Jake Evans (F)
Brendan Gallagher (F)
Jesperi Kotkaniemi (F)
Artturi Lehkonen (F)
Tyler Toffoli (F)
Ben Chiarot (D)
Joel Edmundson (D)
Jeff Petry (D)
Jake Allen (G)

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Available

Michael Carcone (F)
Nick Cousins (F)
Matt Duchene (F)
Mikael Granlund (F)
Rocco Grimaldi (F)
Erik Haula (F)
Calle Jarnkrok (F)
Ryan Johansen (F)
Sean Malone (F)
Michael McCarron (F)
Rem Pitlick (F)
Anthony Richard (F)
Brad Richardson (F)
Colton Sissons (F)
Yakov Trenin (F)
Frederic Allard (D)
Matt Benning (D)
Mark Borowiecki (D)
Erik Gudbranson (D)
Ben Harpur (D)
Josh Healey (D)
Tyler Lewington (D)
Connor Ingram (G)
Kasimir Kaskisuo (G)
Pekka Rinne (G)

Protected

Filip Forsberg (F)
Tanner Jeannot (F)
Luke Kunin (F)
Alexandre Carrier (D)
Mattias Ekholm (D)
Dante Fabbro (D)
Roman Josi (D)
Philippe Myers (D)
Juuse Saros (G)

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Available

Nathan Bastian (F)
Christoph Bertschy (F)
Brandon Gignac (F)
A.J. Greer (F)
Andreas Johnsson (F)
Ivan Khomutov (F)
Nicholas Merkley (F)
Brett Seney (F)
Ben Street (F)
Marian Studenic (F)
Will Butcher (D)
Connor Carrick (D)
Josh Jacobs (D)
Ryan Murray (D)
David Quenneville (D)
Colby Sissons (D)
P.K. Subban (D)
Matt Tennyson (D)
Colton White (D)
Evan Cormier (G)
Aaron Dell (G)
Scott Wedgewood (G)

Protected

Jesper Bratt (F)
Nico Hischier (F)
Janne Kuokkanen (F)
Michael McLeod (F)
Yegor Sharangovich (F)
Miles Wood (F)
Pavel Zacha (F)
Ryan Graves (D)
Damon Severson (D)
Jonas Siegenthaler (D)
Mackenzie Blackwood (G)

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Available

Josh Bailey (F)
Cole Bardreau (F)
Kieffer Bellows (F)
Casey Cizikas (F)
Austin Czarnik (F)
Michael Dal Colle (F)
Jordan Eberle (F)
Tanner Fritz (F)
Joshua Ho-Sang (F)
Ross Johnston (F)
Otto Koivula (F)
Leo Komarov (F)
Kyle Palmieri (F)
Richard Panik (F)
Dmytro Timashov (F)
Travis Zajac (F)
Sebastian Aho (D)
Braydon Coburn (D)
Andy Greene (D)
Thomas Hickey (D)
Mitchell Vande Sompel (D)
Parker Wotherspoon (D)
Ken Appleby (G)
Cory Schneider (G)

Protected

Mathew Barzal (F)
Anthony Beauvillier (F)
Cal Clutterbuck (F)
Anders Lee (F)
Matt Martin (F)
Brock Nelson (F)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (F)
Scott Mayfield (D)
Adam Pelech (D)
Ryan Pulock (D)
Semyon Varlamov (G)

NEW YORK RANGERS

Available

Colin Blackwell (F)
Jonny Brodzinski (F)
Phillip Di Giuseppe (F)
Gabriel Fontaine (F)
Julien Gauthier (F)
Tim Gettinger (F)
Barclay Goodrow (F)
Anthony Greco (F)
Ty Ronning (F)
Anthony Bitetto (D)
Brandon Crawley (D)
Tony DeAngelo (D)
Nick DeSimone (D)
Mason Geertsen (D)
Jack Johnson (D)
Darren Raddysh (D)
Brendan Smith (D)
Keith Kinkaid (G)

Protected

Pavel Buchnevich (F)
Filip Chytil (F)
Chris Kreider (F)
Artemi Panarin (F)
Kevin Rooney (F)
Ryan Strome (F)
Mika Zibanejad (F)
Libor Hajek (D)
Ryan Lindgren (D)
Jacob Trouba (D)
Alexandar Georgiev (G)

OTTAWA SENATORS

Available

Vitaly Abramov (F)
Michael Amadio (F)
Artem Anisimov (F)
J.C. Beaudin (F)
Clark Bishop (F)
Evgenii Dadonov (F)
Jonathan Davidsson (F)
Ryan Dzingel (F)
Micheal Haley (F)
Jack Kopacka (F)
Zachary Magwood (F)
Matthew Peca (F)
Logan Shaw (F)
Derek Stepan (F)
Chris Tierney (F)
Josh Brown (D)
Cody Goloubef (D)
Mikael Wikstrand (D)
Joey Daccord (G)
Anton Forsberg (G)
Marcus Hogberg (G)
Matt Murray (G)

Protected

Drake Batherson (F)
Connor Brown (F)
Logan Brown (F)
Nick Paul (F)
Brady Tkachuk (F)
Austin Watson (F)
Colin White (F)
Thomas Chabot (D)
Victor Mete (D)
Nikita Zaitsev (D)
Filip Gustavsson (G)

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Available

Andy Andreoff (F)
Connor Bunnaman (F)
David Kase (F)
Pascal Laberge (F)
Samuel Morin (F)
German Rubtsov (F)
Carsen Twarynski (F)
James van Riemsdyk (F)
Jakub Voracek (F)
Mikhail Vorobyev (F)
Chris Bigras (D)
Justin Braun (D)
Shayne Gostisbehere (D)
Robert Hagg (D)
Derrick Pouliot (D)
Nate Prosser (D)
Tyler Wotherspoon (D)
Brian Elliott (G)
Alex Lyon (G)
Felix Sandstrom (G)

Protected

Nicolas Aube-Kubel (F)
Sean Couturier (F)
Claude Giroux (F)
Kevin Hayes (F)
Travis Konecny (F)
Scott Laughton (F)
Oskar Lindblom (F)
Ryan Ellis (D)
Ivan Provorov (D)
Travis Sanheim (D)
Carter Hart (G)

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Available

Pontus Aberg (F)
Anthony Angello (F)
Zach Aston-Reese (F)
Josh Currie (F)
Frederick Gaudreau (F)
Mark Jankowski (F)
Sam Lafferty (F)
Sam Miletic (F)
Evan Rodrigues (F)
Colton Sceviour (F)
Brandon Tanev (F)
Jason Zucker (F)
Cody Ceci (D)
Kevin Czuczman (D)
Mark Friedman (D)
Jesper Lindgren (D)
Andrey Pedan (D)
Marcus Pettersson (D)
Juuso Riikola (D)
Chad Ruhwedel (D)
Yannick Weber (D)
Casey DeSmith (G)
Maxime Lagace (G)

Protected

Teddy Blueger (F)
Jeff Carter (F)
Sidney Crosby (F)
Jake Guentzel (F)
Kasperi Kapanen (F)
Evgeni Malkin (F)
Bryan Rust (F)
Brian Dumoulin (D)
Kris Letang (D)
Mike Matheson (D)
Tristan Jarry (G)

SAN JOSE SHARKS

Available

Ryan Donato (F)
Kurtis Gabriel (F)
Dylan Gambrell (F)
Jayden Halbgewachs (F)
Maxim Letunov (F)
Patrick Marleau (F)
Matt Nieto (F)
Marcus Sorensen (F)
Alexander True (F)
Christian Jaros (D)
Nicolas Meloche (D)
Jacob Middleton (D)
Greg Pateryn (D)
Radim Simek (D)
Martin Jones (G)

Protected

Rudolfs Balcers (F)
Logan Couture (F)
Jonathan Dahlen (F)
Tomas Hertl (F)
Evander Kane (F)
Kevin Labanc (F)
Timo Meier (F)
Brent Burns (D)
Erik Karlsson (D)
Marc-Edouard Vlasic (D)
Adin Hill (G)

ST. LOUIS BLUES

Available

Sam Anas (F)
Sammy Blais (F)
Tyler Bozak (F)
Kyle Clifford (F)
Jacob de la Rose (F)
Mike Hoffman (F)
Tanner Kaspick (F)
Mackenzie MacEachern (F)
Curtis McKenzie (F)
Austin Poganski (F)
Zach Sanford (F)
Jaden Schwartz (F)
Nolan Stevens (F)
Vladimir Tarasenko (F)
Nathan Walker (F)
Robert Bortuzzo (D)
Vince Dunn (D)
Petteri Lindbohm (D)
Niko Mikkola (D)
Mitch Reinke (D)
Steven Santini (D)
Marco Scandella (D)
Jake Walman (D)
Evan Fitzpatrick (G)
Jon Gillies (G)
Ville Husso (G)

Protected

Ivan Barbashev (F)
Jordan Kyrou (F)
Ryan O'Reilly (F)
David Perron (F)
Brayden Schenn (F)
Oskar Sundqvist (F)
Robert Thomas (F)
Justin Faulk (D)
Torey Krug (D)
Colton Parayko (D)
Jordan Binnington (G)

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Available

Alex Barre-Boulet (F)
Blake Coleman (F)
Ross Colton (F)
Yanni Gourde (F)
Tyler Johnson (F)
Mathieu Joseph (F)
Boris Katchouk (F)
Alex Killorn (F)
Pat Maroon (F)
Boo Nieves (F)
Ondrej Palat (F)
Taylor Raddysh (F)
Gemel Smith (F)
Otto Somppi (F)
Mitchell Stephens (F)
Daniel Walcott (F)
Luke Witkowski (F)
Andreas Borgman (D)
Fredrik Claesson (D)
Sean Day (D)
Cal Foote (D)
Brian Lashoff (D)
Dominik Masin (D)
Jan Rutta (D)
David Savard (D)
Luke Schenn (D)
Ben Thomas (D)
Christopher Gibson (G)
Spencer Martin (G)
Curtis McElhinney (G)

Protected

Anthony Cirelli (F)
Nikita Kucherov (F)
Brayden Point (F)
Steven Stamkos (F)
Erik Cernak (D)
Victor Hedman (D)
Ryan McDonagh (D)
Mikhail Sergachev (D)
Andrei Vasilevskiy (G)

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Available

Kenny Agostino (F)
Joey Anderson (F)
Adam Brooks (F)
Pierre Engvall (F)
Nick Foligno (F)
Alex Galchenyuk (F)
Zach Hyman (F)
Alexander Kerfoot (F)
Kalle Kossila (F)
Denis Malgin (F)
Jared McCann (F)
Riley Nash (F)
Stefan Noesen (F)
Nic Petan (F)
Scott Sabourin (F)
Wayne Simmonds (F)
Jason Spezza (F)
Antti Suomela (F)
Joe Thornton (F)
Zach Bogosian (D)
Travis Dermott (D)
Ben Hutton (D)
Martin Marincin (D)
Calle Rosen (D)
Frederik Andersen (G)
Michael Hutchinson (G)
David Rittich (G)

Protected

Mitchell Marner (F)
Auston Matthews (F)
William Nylander (F)
John Tavares (F)
TJ Brodie (D)
Justin Holl (D)
Jake Muzzin (D)
Morgan Rielly (D)
Jack Campbell (G)

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Available

Sven Baertschi (F)
Justin Bailey (F)
Jay Beagle (F)
Travis Boyd (F)
Loui Eriksson (F)
Jonah Gadjovich (F)
Tyler Graovac (F)
Jayce Hawryluk (F)
Matthew Highmore (F)
Lukas Jasek (F)
Kole Lind (F)
Zack MacEwen (F)
Petrus Palmu (F)
Antoine Roussel (F)
Brandon Sutter (F)
Jimmy Vesey (F)
Jake Virtanen (F)
Madison Bowey (D)
Guillaume Brisebois (D)
Jalen Chatfield (D)
Alexander Edler (D)
Travis Hamonic (D)
Brogan Rafferty (D)
Ashton Sautner (D)
Josh Teves (D)
Braden Holtby (G)

Protected

Brock Boeser (F)
Jason Dickinson (F)
Bo Horvat (F)
J.T. Miller (F)
Tyler Motte (F)
Tanner Pearson (F)
Elias Pettersson (F)
Olli Juolevi (D)
Tyler Myers (D)
Nate Schmidt (D)
Thatcher Demko (G)

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Available

Daniel Carr (F)
Nic Dowd (F)
Shane Gersich (F)
Carl Hagelin (F)
Garnet Hathaway (F)
Axel Jonsson-Fjallby (F)
Alex Ovechkin (F)
Garrett Pilon (F)
Brian Pinho (F)
Michael Raffl (F)
Michael Sgarbossa (F)
Conor Sheary (F)
Zdeno Chara (D)
Brenden Dillon (D)
Nick Jensen (D)
Lucas Johansen (D)
Michal Kempny (D)
Paul LaDue (D)
Cameron Schilling (D)
Justin Schultz (D)
Craig Anderson (G)
Pheonix Copley (G)
Zach Fucale (G)
Vitek Vanecek (G)

Protected

Nicklas Backstrom (F)
Lars Eller (F)
Evgeny Kuznetsov (F)
Anthony Mantha (F)
T.J. Oshie (F)
Daniel Sprong (F)
Tom Wilson (F)
John Carlson (D)
Dmitry Orlov (D)
Trevor van Riemsdyk (D)
Ilya Samsonov (G)

WINNIPEG JETS

Available

Mason Appleton (F)
Marko Dano (F)
Jansen Harkins (F)
Trevor Lewis (F)
Skyler McKenzie (F)
Mathieu Perreault (F)
Paul Stastny (F)
CJ Suess (F)
Nate Thompson (F)
Dominic Toninato (F)
Nathan Beaulieu (D)
Jordie Benn (D)
Dylan DeMelo (D)
Derek Forbort (D)
Luke Green (D)
Sami Niku (D)
Nelson Nogier (D)
Tucker Poolman (D)
Mikhail Berdin (G)
Laurent Brossoit (G)
Eric Comrie (G)
Cole Kehler (G)

Protected

Kyle Connor (F)
Andrew Copp (F)
Pierre-Luc Dubois (F)
Nikolaj Ehlers (F)
Adam Lowry (F)
Mark Scheifele (F)
Blake Wheeler (F)
Josh Morrissey (D)
Neal Pionk (D)
Logan Stanley (D)
Connor Hellebuyck (G)

Seattle Kraken expansion draft rules refresher

Now, you might want a refresher on the Seattle Kraken expansion draft rules.

Each NHL team (except the Golden Knights) needed to choose to protect players under two alignment options:

  1. Protecting seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie.
  2. Protecting any combination of eight skaters (example: four forwards, four defensemen), and a goalie.

That said, not every NHL player is involved, so some prospects were not available to the expansion draft. Meanwhile, NHL teams were forced to protect certain players because of contract factors. As the NHL explains:

* 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.

* All first- and second-year professionals, and all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection and will not be counted toward protection limits.

So, the 30 NHL teams involved faced those considerations. What about some of the minimums and other factors for the Kraken in selecting players in the expansion draft? Here are some key details:

  • The Kraken must select at least: 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies. They’ll need to select one player from all 30 teams in the expansion draft.
  • At least 20 players must be under contract for the 2021-22 season. That part of the process once made it tougher to put together these PHT lists.
  • The total cap hit must fall somewhere between 60-percent and 100-percent of the upper limit of the salary cap.
  • Starting on Sunday (July 18), the Kraken open a window to exclusively negotiate with pending free agents who were not protected by NHL teams. If the Kraken signed one of those free agents, that player would count as Seattle’s pick for a given team.

Want even more detail? The NHL’s rules explained how injuries and other factors work.

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

Dellandrea scores twice in 3rd, Stars stay alive with 4-2 victory over Golden Knights

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
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LAS VEGAS — With Dallas’ season on the line, the Stars got two critical goals from a player who was a healthy scratch the first two games of the Western Conference Final.

Ty Dellandrea‘s goals came within a 1:27 span midway through the third period, and the Stars beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 to keep alive their hopes of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final to face the Florida Panthers.

“He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever played with,” said Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, who made 27 saves. “He deserves every opportunity he gets, and there’s no one happier for him than the guys in this room. It shows how special you are when you get taken out. He didn’t make it about him. He needed the opportunity to step up, and that’s what he did.”

The Stars escaped elimination for the second game in a row and head to Dallas for Game 6 down 3-2. Dallas is attempting to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after being down 3-0.

And look who’s back for the Stars? Captain Jamie Benn returns after a two-game suspension for his cross-check to the neck of Vegas captain Mark Stone in Game 3. That was the only game in this series that was decided early, and the Stars hadn’t even had a multigoal lead.

“I know our group, and we weren’t happy about being in the hole we were in, and they decided to do something about it,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “And now we’re rolling.”

The only problem for DeBoer was waiting two days to play Game 6.

“Drop the puck,” he said.

DeBoer said before the game if his team won, the pressure would shift to the Knights. Now it’s up to them to respond after twice being a period away from playing in the Stanley Cup Final and letting both opportunities slip away.

“I don’t think we brought our best the last two games,” Stone said. “We were still in a good spot to win the game. We’ve got to bring a little bit better effort and start playing a little more desperate.”

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said “it’s a very good question” why his team didn’t play with more desperation, but he also wasn’t thrilled with the Knights’ execution.

“We had 24 giveaways,” Cassidy said. “I’m not sure you’re beating the Arizona Coyotes in January with 24 giveaways. That’s no disrespect to Arizona, but it’s not the right way to play.”

Dellandrea found the right way to play and put together the first multigoal playoff game of his career. Jason Robertson and Luke Glendening also scored, and Thomas Harley had two assists.

Chandler Stephenson and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Knights, and Jonathan Marchessault had two assists to extend his points streak to four games. Adin Hill made 30 saves.

Dellandrea scored from the right circle to put Dallas ahead, the puck deflecting off Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with 9:25 left for a 3-2 lead. Then, Dellandrea scored from the slot with 7:58 remaining.

Dellandrea said the older players kept him motivated when he was temporarily sidelined.

“There’s no denying it’s hard,” he said. “I’m thankful for a good group of character guys, and you’ve just got to stay ready.”

The teams traded goals in the first two periods.

Jack Eichel battled two Stars players for the puck in Vegas’ offensive zone, and then Barbashev swooped in and made a fantastic move to glide past Oettinger and score with 6:24 left in the first period. The Stars wasted little time in answering when Glendening scored on a deflection less than two minutes later.

Dallas was robbed of what looked like a sure goal when Hill snagged a point-blank shot from Roope Hintz, who then threw his back in disbelief.

Like in the first period, the Knights had a goal in the second quickly answered by one from the Stars. Stephenson scored from the left circle at 16:40 of the period, and Robertson knocked his own rebounds 2:09 later to make it 2-2. Stephenson tied the Knights’ record with his eight playoff goal this year, and Robertson had his fifth of the series.

Sabres sign Minnesota defenseman Ryan Johnston to 2-year rookie contract

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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres ended a lengthy wait by signing Ryan Johnston to a two-year, entry level contract more than a month after the defenseman completed his senior college season at Minnesota.

Johnston will report immediately to the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester, whose best-of-seven Eastern Conference final playoff series against Hershey is tied at 1.

From Southern California, Johnston is listed at 6-feet and 170 pounds and was selected 31st in 2019 draft.

His puck-moving skills fit Buffalo’s style of play, Johnston finished his college career with nine goals and 59 points in 143 career games, including four goals and 18 points in 40 games this year. He reached the NCAA’s Frozen Four in each of his final two seasons, with the Gophers losing in the semifinals last year, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss to Quinnipiac in the championship game last month.

He also had a goal and three assists in seven games representing the U.S. team that won gold at the 2021 world junior championships.

Johnston, who turns 22 in July, had the option to wait until August when he would’ve become an unrestricted free agent and eligible to sign with any team. Because Johnston was first-round pick, the Sabres would’ve been compensated with a 2024 second-round selection had he signed elsewhere.

Both sides are banking on the player’s age and college experience to enable Johnston to make the jump to the NHL within the next two seasons. The Sabres will still control Johnston’s rights as a restricted free agent once his entry-level contract expires.

Joe Pavelski scores on OT power play, Stars beat Golden Knights 3-2 to avoid West sweep

stars golden knights
Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports
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DALLAS — Joe Pavelski admits that he probably appreciates the big playoff goals more the later he gets in his career. But they all still feel just as good, and his latest kept the season alive for the Dallas Stars.

“Just really living in the moment,” Pavelski said. “A tremendous feeling for sure, and glad we could play another game, and go from there and try to extend it.”

The 38-year-old Pavelski scored on a power play at 3:18 of overtime – a one-timer from the middle of the left circle to the far post – and the Stars avoided a sweep in the Western Conference Final with a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Jason Robertson scored twice for his first career multigoal playoff game for Dallas, which played without suspended captain Jamie Benn.

“We’re looking for goals and that’s kind of my responsibility I put on myself,” Robertson said. “I know these playoffs have been tough. … I was able to get the bounces that we needed tonight.”

Jake Oettinger had 37 saves, two nights after the 24-year-old Stars goalie was pulled 7:10 into Game 3 after allowing three goals on five shots.

The Stars had the man advantage in overtime after Brayden McNabb‘s high-sticking penalty on Ty Dellandrea. Fifty seconds into the power play, Pavelski scored on a pass from Miro Heiskanen. They won for the first time in their five OT games this postseason – Vegas won the first two games of this series past regulation.

It was only the second Vegas penalty of the game, both high-sticking calls against McNabb. His penalty on Pavelski late in the first period set up the power play when Robertson scored his first goal with some nifty stickwork.

Pavelski, in his 15th NHL season and still looking for his first Stanley Cup, scored his ninth goal in 12 games this postseason, but his first in five games. He has 73 career postseason goals – the most for U.S.-born players and the most among all active players.

“He’s ageless. … I’ve seen that movie over and over again. Never gets old,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “He lives for those moments and he wants to be in those situations. Always has, and delivers almost every time.”

Benn was suspended two games by the NHL on Wednesday for his cross-check with his stick landing near the neck of Vegas captain Mark Stone in the first two minutes of Game 3 on Tuesday night. Benn also will miss Game 5 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault scored for Vegas. Adin Hill had his five-game winning streak snapped. He made 39 saves, including a game-saver with his extended left leg without about two minutes left in regulation on rookie Fredrik Olofsson’s swiping try in his first career playoff game.

“Our effort wasn’t good enough. Closing a series is probably the hardest game in a series, right, so it just wasn’t good enough from our group,” Marchessault said. “It was still a one-goal game in overtime. It was right there for us.”

Karlsson and Marchessault are among six of the original Vegas players still on the team from the inaugural 2017-18 season that ended with the Knights playing for the Stanley Cup, though they lost in five games to the Washington Capitals after winning the first game.

Vegas missed a chance to complete a sweep, a night after the Florida Panthers finished off a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.

Vegas took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period when Marchessault, after whacking his stick on the back of Ryan Suter in front of the net, scored on a pass between the Stars defenseman’s legs from McNabb, another original Golden Knight.

Robertson’s tying goal late in that period came on a ricochet off the back board just seconds after he had another shot hit the post. That was the fourth goal of this series, and sixth in the playoffs, after this regular season becoming the first Dallas player with a 100-point season.

On his first goal late in the first that tied it 1-1, Robertson deflected Heiskanen’s shot from just inside the blue line up into the air. As Hill was trying to secure the puck into his glove, Robertson knocked it free and then reached around and swiped the puck into the net with his stick parallel to the ice.

With former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and wrestling great Ric Flair both in the building wearing Stars jerseys Dallas was avoided being swept in the playoffs for the first time since 2001 against St. Louis in the second round. This was the Stars’ 21st playoff series since then.

The Golden Knights scored first again – though not like those three quick goals in Game 3 that led to the earliest exit ever for Oettinger.

Karlsson pushed the puck up and skated to the front of the net after passing to Nicolas Roy, whose pass through traffic went off a Dallas stick before Reilly Smith got it just inside the right circle and took a shot. Karlsson’s deflection past Oettinger only 4:17 into the game was his eighth goal this postseason.

“There were a lot of rush chances,” said Smith, also with Vegas since the beginning. “I don’t think we did a good enough job of making it difficult on them. So we get another opportunity in two days.”

Tkachuk sends Panthers to Stanley Cup Final, after topping Hurricanes 4-3 for sweep

panthers stanley cup final
Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports
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SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk delivered for Florida, again. Sergei Bobrovsky denied Carolina, again.

The wait is over: After 27 years, the Florida Panthers – a hockey punchline no more – are again going to play for the game’s grandest prize.

Tkachuk got his second goal of the game with 4.9 seconds left, lifting the Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 and into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 after sweeping the Eastern Conference final.

The Panthers will play either Vegas or Dallas for the Stanley Cup starting sometime next week; Vegas currently leads the Western Conference title series 3-0.

“This was pure joy,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap his stellar series – four games, four one-goal wins, three of them basically in sudden death, a .966 save percentage after stopping 174 of the 180 shots he faced. The first two wins were in overtime, and this one may as well have been.

The Panthers scored 10 goals in the series, and Bobrovsky ensured those were all they needed. They were the No. 8 seed, the last team in, the longest of long shots – which is consistent with their history, after not winning a single playoff series in 26 years, a drought that ended last season.

And now, beasts of the East. Tkachuk arrived last summer saying he wanted to bring Florida a Cup. He’s four wins away.

“It’s amazing,” Bobrovsky said. “We showed the resilience … and we’re lucky to have Chucky on our side. He knows how to score big goals.”

NHL Senior Vice President Brian Jennings was the one tasked with presenting the Prince of Wales Trophy. After some photos, Aleksander Barkov – the captain who had two assists, one of them on the game-winner – grabbed it, and skated it away. Some teams touch it. Some don’t. A few of the Panthers did, but Barkov didn’t pass it around.

That’ll wait for the big prize.

“It’s hard to explain right now. Everything just happened so quick,” Barkov said. “It means a lot. It definitely does. … It hasn’t been easy and nobody said it’s going to be easy.”

Added Tkachuk: “We earned that thing, and definitely didn’t do it the easy way. We earned it.”

Ryan Lomberg and Anthony Duclair had the other goals for Florida, which swept a series for the first time in franchise history.

Jordan Staal – his brothers Eric and Marc play for the Panthers – took a tripping penalty with 57 seconds left in regulation, setting up the power-play that Tkachuk finished off after getting into the slot and beating Frederik Andersen to set off a wild celebration.

“Eastern Conference champions,” Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “It’s really cool. No doubt about it. But you know, at the end of the day, we have our eyes on something different.”

Toy rats – the Panthers’ tradition, a nod to the unwanted locker room guests from Florida’s old arena in 1996 – sailed down from the stands, and the goal needed to survive an official review. But the rats were picked up, the goal was deemed good, and 27 years of waiting was officially over 4.9 seconds later.

Jesper Fast seemed like he might have saved the season for Carolina, getting a tying goal with 3:22 left in regulation. Paul Stastny and Teuvo Teravainen had the first two goals of the night for the Hurricanes, while Brady Skjei and Jordan Martinook each had two assists. Andersen stopped 21 shots.

“Everyone’s going to say, ‘You got swept.’ That’s not what happened,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I watched the game. I’m there. I’m cutting the games. We’re in the game. We didn’t lose four games. We got beat, but we were right there. This could have went the other way. It could have been four games the other way.”

That wasn’t sour grapes. He was right. A bounce here, a bounce there, a Bobrovsky not here, a Bobrovsky not there, and this series could have gone much differently.

But Bob was his best. Tkachuk was clutch, over and over. And Florida is as close to a Cup as it has ever been; the Panthers were swept by Colorado in the 1996 final.

Towels waved, strobe lights flashed, and the fans wasted no time letting the Panthers know that they were ready to a clincher.

Tkachuk made it 2-0 on the power play midway through the first. Carolina – a 113-point, division-championship-winning team in the regular season – made it 2-1 later in the first on Stastny’s goal, and Teravainen tied it early in the second.

Lomberg’s goal midway through the second gave Florida the lead again. It stayed that way until Fast got the equalizer with 3:22 left, and then Tkachuk finished it off – getting the Panthers to the title round in his first season.

“It’s been unbelievable since July since I got here,” Tkachuk said. “And hopefully we can cap off this amazing year.”

AROUND THE RINK

Panthers general manager Bill Zito was announced earlier Wednesday as a finalist for NHL GM of the year. … Tkachuk’s two goals gave him 21 points in the playoffs – extending his Florida single-season postseason record, which was 17 by Dave Lowry in 1996. … Slavin was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game after Bennett’s hit, with what the Hurricanes said was “an upper-body injury.” Slavin wobbled as he tried to get to his feet. … Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel – who has also been a regular at Miami Heat games during their playoff run this spring – banged the drum before the game. When done, without a mic to drop, he simply dropped the mallet instead.

TWO-GOAL EDGE

Tkachuk’s goal midway through the opening period put Florida up 2-0 – and marked the first time, in nearly 14 periods of play to that point, that a team had a two-goal lead in this series. Every bit of action came with the score tied or someone up by one in the first 272 minutes (including all the overtimes) of the series.