The New Jersey Devils are terrible this season, but unfortunately, this doesn’t stop them from losing a decent piece in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. They might be a tire fire on the ice, but there are some very talented, young players. There are only so many that the Devils can protect. The Seattle Kraken are going to want to get some young players because there will be veterans available from the other 31 teams. There will be a limited amount of young players available, so the Kraken will take advantage of it when they can.
The Devils might lose a veteran in the expansion draft. P.K. Subban is an interesting option. He would be great with the media, he would give the team a marketable star, and he probably could use a change of scenery. He doesn’t have a no-move clause, so the Devils can expose him for nothing. Will Butcher is another vet (saying that lightly since he’s only been in the NHL for four seasons) that could go to the Kraken. He’s an interesting young defenseman
Despite those veterans being available, the Devils have to make really hard decisions when it comes to its young forwards. We will focus on this group here. The Devils are going to make Subban and Butcher available. Tom Fitzgerald won’t really have to sweat about that. Who he makes available at forward is going to make him sweat.
First, we want to thank Cap Friendly’s Expansion Draft Simulator for making this much easier.
The obvious protections are Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Pavel Zacha. That’s probably it for the OBVIOUS players. Let’s add Yegor Sharangovich to that group (yes, he needs to be protected). That gives the Devils three spots to protect an unexpectedly large group of talented young forwards. Who is on the chopping block?