Expansion Draft Explainer I BLOG

The National Hockey League's newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken, will officially fill their roster at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, which takes place Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
The Devils have
released their list of protected players
, which included the 7-3-1 format of seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie (there was also the option to protect eight skaters and one goalie). New Jersey players that have been protected by Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who himself was chosenin the 1993 Expansion Draft by Florida, include forwards Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Janne Kuokkanen, Michael McLeod, Yegor Sharangovich, Miles Wood and Pavel Zacha, defensemen Damon Severson, Jonas Siegenthaler and Ryan Graves and goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood.
Other players, such as Ty Smith and Jack Hughes, were exempt from being selected since they are still considered first- or second-year players.

Exposed players on New Jersey's roster include defensemen P.K. Subban, Will Butcher, Ryan Murray and Connor Carrick, forwards Andreas Johnsson, Nathan Bastian and Nick Merkley and goaltenders Scott Wedgewood and Aaron Dell.
Seattle will select one player from 30 NHL teams (excluding the previously expansion Vegas Golden Knights) while collecting at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. Twenty of those players must be under contract for the 2021-22 regular season, but Seattle cannot buy out any players' contracts until after its first season of play.
Seattle currently has access to unsigned players that have been left unprotected by teams to negotiate a contract. If the Kraken select one of those unsigned players, it will count as their choice against that player's former team.
Some intriguing names that are currently available for Seattle's choosing are Carey Price (Montreal), Kaapo Kahkonen (Minnesota), Jake Bean (Carolina), Mark Giordano (Calgary), Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene (Nashville), Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn (Tampa Bay), Vladimir Tarasenko (St. Louis). Some former Devils left exposed include Blake Coleman (Tampa Bay), Andy Greene, Kyle Palmieri, Travis Zajac, Cory Schneider (NY Islanders) and Adam Larsson (Edmonton).