After months and months of speculation, the NHL released the protection list for this week’s expansion draft. Here are three takeaways from the list released by the New Jersey Devils.
The New Jersey Devils will officially protect nine players on their team from the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. Most of the players were pretty obvious, but there were some surprises.
#Devils protect:
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) June 18, 2017
Hall (F)
Henrique (F)
Palmieri (F)
Zajac (F)
Greene (D)
Moore (D)
Mueller (D)
Severson (D)
Schneider (G)
There was no chance the likes of Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri or Damon Severson. There was little-to-no chance they would not protect Adam Henrique, Travis Zajac or Andy Greene. Despite what some fans think of him, Cory Schneider was not going anywhere. There weren’t any terribly surprising revelations here.
The more interesting part of today was who the Devils decided not to protect. That’s the main part of today’s takeaways.
Beau Bennett was not protected
Beau Bennett just finished his first season with the New Jersey Devils after general manager Ray Shero brought him over from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shero gave up a third-round pick in last year’s draft to get Bennett.
The big concern with Bennett coming over was his health. Not only has he never played a full season, he actually never played 50 games before this season. Health wasn’t a huge concern this season. He did miss around 13 games, but based on what we’ve seen in the past with Bennett that’s a win.
Bennett is a very attractive piece, despite the fact that he isn’t signed. He’s only 25 years old. He’s a former first-round pick with four years of NHL experience. He’s a fantastic locker room guy, and his Twitter game is on point. Bennett because a casualty when the Devils decided to protect four defensemen, meaning they could only protect eight skaters overall.
Michael Cammalleri may not be a part of the team’s future
Michael Cammalleri was the Devils big signing back in 2014. He signed for five years and $25 million.
Things never really seem to work out following that signing.
He started off his Devils career on fire, scoring four goals in his first three games in a Devils uniform. He continued that momentum, and looked well on his way to an easy 30-goal season. That is, until his season ended on April 14th with 27 goals. In 2015-16, he missed even more time, playing just 48 games on the season.
Last year, Cammalleri was just bad. He scored just 10 goals in 61 games. He could not find his stride at any point during the season. He had a great stretch where he scored seven goals in November, but he was injured in the middle of that stretch. Cammalleri ended the season on the coldest streak a hockey player could possibly have. He scored zero goals after January 3rd. He did not light the lamp once four days out of the New Year.
Leaving Cammalleri unprotected shows the Devils are looking to move on, or at least willing to move on. It’s not terribly likely the Golden Knights will decide to choose Cammalleri’s remaining $10 million contract, so the Devils may need to explore other options if they really want to move on.
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Vegas will likely choose a Devils’ defenseman
Even with players like Bennett, Cammalleri and Stephen Noesen available on the roster, the Golden Knights will likely take one of the Devils defenders. The Devils defense is not very good, but they have depth players who can help a team.
Right now, Ben Lovejoy, Jon Merrill and Dalton Prout are all available for the Knights. With the status of everyone else’s protected list, the Devils available defenders may be very attractive. At least one of the seven most attractive defensive players.
Merrill might be the pick for Vegas. He’s only 25 years old. He already has 213 games of NHL experience. He clearly needs a change of scenery to get the most out of his skill set. Merrill would even get the chance to sign in Vegas, so it’s almost obvious to choose him.
Lovejoy would be a decent pick to bring a veteran presence to the Knights’ blue line, but they could get that elsewhere. Merrill gives them a decent, young defender with experience. It’s hard to find that in free agency, let alone in an expansion draft.