NHL teams have about a month to finalize their protection lists for the July 21 Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
It doesn’t appear the Detroit Red Wings will be heavily debating who they should protect or need to make any side deals. They are not likely to lose anybody they desperately want to retain.
Protection lists must be submitted on July 17. This was among the questions from MLive readers in this week’s mailbag:
Q: I saw where you projected who the Wings will protect up front in the expansion draft. Who do you think they’ll protect on defense? What is your guess on who the Kraken take? – Don
A: The Red Wings likely will choose the option of protecting seven forwards and three defensemen, like most teams did in the 2017 Vegas expansion draft, as opposed to eight skaters regardless of position.
On defense, Filip Hronek is a lock to be protected. The other two spots most likely will go to Dennis Cholowski and Gustav Lindstrom because of their age and potential. It makes sense to protect assets you have under control for several years (both won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency for another 4-5 seasons) as opposed to someone who might be gone in a year or two.
This would leave Danny DeKeyser and Troy Stecher exposed among defensemen. Seattle isn’t going to take DeKeyser, who is 31, had back surgery in December 2019 and has one year remaining on his contract at a $5 million cap hit. The Kraken might take Stecher, who is unrestricted in 2022, and move him at the trade deadline if he doesn’t re-sign.
Up front, if the Red Wings leave Givani Smith unprotected, Seattle likely would take him. But Smith probably will be protected along with Tyler Bertuzzi, Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Dylan Larkin, Michael Rasmussen and Jakub Vrana.
Filip Zadina, Joe Veleno and anyone drafted in 2018 or later is exempt, as are UFAs like Luke Glendening, unless he signs before the protection list must be submitted.
This would leave Vladislav Namestnikov, Richard Panik, Frans Nielsen and Evgeny Svechnikov (assuming he’s qualified) among the forwards available.
Based on that list, I would take Svechnikov because of his age (24) and the possibility he will develop with a change of scenery.
Q: I see where (Tomas) Tatar has been a healthy scratch for Montreal in the playoffs. AA (Andreas Athanasiou) didn’t pan out in Edmonton and (Anthony) Mantha didn’t do much for Washington in the playoffs. Could it be that Wings players are overrated? My question is do you think there is anybody out there the Wings got rid of who’ll come back to haunt them? – Rick
A: Nobody comes to mind. Mantha, despite struggling at the end of the season and in the playoffs (no goals, five assists in his final 15 games), surely will produce going forward, but the Red Wings did more than fine getting Vrana, Panik and first- and second-round picks in return. Petr Mrazek has had a couple of good seasons since leaving Detroit but it’s doubtful the Red Wings have any regrets about moving him. The Red Wings must be pleased with the picks they received for Tatar (first-, second- and third-rounder) and Athanasiou (two second-rounders).
Mattias Janmark (2015 Erik Cole trade), Calle Jarnkrok (2014 David Legwand trade) and Tomas Nosek (to Vegas in 2017 expansion draft) have had decent but not extraordinary careers.
Maybe they will miss defense prospect Alec Regula (dealt for Brendan Perlini), if he blossoms with the Blackhawks.
Other than that, you might have to go back to the 2012 trade deadline to find the last asset they probably regret relinquishing. That would be the first-round pick they sent to Tampa Bay for Kyle Quincey (in a three-way deal with Colorado). The Lightning used it to draft Andrei Vasilevskiy, arguably the best goaltender in the game. Of course, we don’t know if the Red Wings would have taken him with the 19th pick.
(If you have a Red Wings-related question, email akhan1@mlive.com.)
More: Why Red Wings feel good about young core of defensemen
The Link LonkJune 18, 2021 at 11:07PM
https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2021/06/red-wings-mailbag-expansion-draft-protection-list-seems-straightforward.html
Red Wings mailbag: Expansion draft protection list seems straightforward - MLive.com
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