New Jersey Devils: Predicting Seattle Kraken Protected List
The New Jersey Devils and the rest of the National Hockey League are gearing up for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. The NHL’s 32nd franchise will select (pending trades) one player from each team except the Vegas Golden Knights. Everyone has to submit a list of players that are deemed “protected”. Every player on an entry-level deal is exempt from this process. Each team will choose seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie or eight skaters, and a goalie.
It is really hard to predict which direction the team is going to go here for a lot of different reasons. Nobody’s prediction is going to be correct but we are going to give it a try. It is fair to assume that the Devils will go with the seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie route here. With the Vegas Golden Knights draft, they went the other way with eight skaters and a goalie.
F – Nico Hischier
F – Miles Wood
F – Jesper Bratt
F – Pavel Zacha
F – Janne Kuokkanen
F – Yegor Sharangovich
F – Michael McLeod
D – Damon Severson
D – Ryan Graves
D – Jonas Siegenthaler
G – Mackenzie Blackwood
Some hard decisions are going to be made by the New Jersey Devils here with this.
The notable forwards that aren’t protected are Andreas Johnsson, Nick Merkley, and Nathan Bastian. Of the notable defenseman not protected, P.K. Subban and Will Butcher stick out. It is going to be interesting to see what Seattle would decide in this scenario but it is fair to guess that they would go with a defenseman. However, whenever you think you know how these things are going to go, the opposite happens.
The New Jersey Devils just made the sweet trade for Ryan Graves on Thursday night. That is a player that will provide steady play for them on the blue line every night. It also has Expansion Draft implications because they can leave Subban and Butcher unprotected. If Seattle were to take Subban, New Jersey’s cap would open up even more.
A decision was made here to protect Michael McLeod over Andreas Johnsson. McLeod had a pretty good year in 2020-21 after the beginning of his career looking a little suspect. He was a really high draft pick because of his skills but he needs to keep it together in the NHL. Hopefully, if the Devils protect him, he rewards them by continuing to get better.
Related Story. The Devils have good odds to land Zach Parise. light
Whoever Seattle takes from New Jersey is going to make somewhat of an impact for them. All we can do now is wait for the actual list to come out and decide if it would be smart for them to go with a forward or a defenseman. It is fair to say that Seattle won’t be interested in any of their goalies not named Mackenzie Blackwood. Hopefully, whatever happens, New Jersey can keep building the right way.