We are going to go through the biggest surprises that could come when the New Jersey Devils announce who they are going to protect in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. There are some pretty obvious protections for the Devils. Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Miles Wood, Yegor Sharangovich, and Pavel Zacha appear to be obvious candidates among the forwards. Damon Severson and Jonas Siegenthaler are the most likely candidates to be protected when it comes to defensemen. Mackenzie Blackwood is going to be protected as the goalie.
It appears the Devils are destined to expose a good young player in the expansion draft. It’s not that they want to give up on these young players, but unless they give the Kraken draft capital or something else of value not to take them, then the hard decision comes down on Tom Fitzgerald and his crew.
It sounds like Fitzgerald can only protect two of Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, and Nathan Bastian. Based on that, it seems obvious he would protect Kuokkanen and McLeod. Kuokkanen was on the first line last season next to Jack Hughes. He’s someone Fitzgerald actually acquired after Ray Shero was fired. And, he proved to be a huge asset that’s not worth losing for free. As for McLeod, he’s a former 1st-round pick that showed he has something in the tank last season. After failing to score in his first 33 NHL games, he scored nine times last season. He had a propensity to find the right place at the right time.
The issue with this logic is that would automatically expose Bastian. It’s very possible that the Kraken would go for a young player on the Devils since there won’t be many other young players available on the other teams. It’s not like Bastian doesn’t have a pedigree. He was a 41st-overall pick in the same draft as McLeod. He doesn’t have the struggling seasons McLeod has, either.
Bastian also re-signed with the Devils already. He’s cost controlled for the next two seasons at under $900,000. That’s important to a Devils team that has to sign just about everyone next offseason including Jack Hughes, Pavel Zacha, Miles Wood, and Jesper Bratt. Both Kuokkanen and McLeod are restricted free agents this offseason, so that can be worked out.
The main reason the Devils might keep Bastian protected is his size. Sure, we are past the days when “hockey men” would drool over a kid who’s 6’4 and over 200 lbs, but it doesn’t mean that scouts stopped wanting these players entirely. Zacha is the only regular in the lineup who brings close to the size of Bastian, and he’s asked to do something very different on the ice.
He also brings an old school skill set. He can hit people. In fact, Bastian led the Devils in hits last season with 136. Again, these are antiquated stats, but these are stats the Devils might look at when they decide who to protect.
It’s a really hard decision when looking at which seven forwards to protect. The Devils could surprise everyone when the decision comes down. Bastian’s protection would absolutely be a surprise.