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Vancouver Canucks release their protected list for Vegas Expansion Draft

June 18, 2017, 1:14 PM ET [561 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
At last, we know what's happening with the Expansion Draft...sort of.

Each team's protected list was released this morning, but hold off on running those mock drafts just yet. Word is that Vegas already has a number of side deals in place to guarantee that some of the most tempting players won't be picked.

This makes sense, since Golden Knights general manager George McPhee is only going to be able to put 23 players on his opening-night roster. He may as well use the leverage he has to start loading up on draft picks and/or waiver-exempt younger players that he can stash in the minors next season.

As for the Canucks, their protected list is straightforward:

FORWARDS

Daniel Sedin (no movement clause)
Henirk Sedin (no movement clause)
Loui Eriksson (no movement clause)
Brandon Sutter
Sven Baertschi
Markus Granlund
Bo Horvat

DEFENSEMEN

Alex Edler
Chris Tanev
Erik Gudbranson

GOALIE

Jacob Markstrom

McPhee will be required to choose one player from this list:




Luca Sbisa still seems to me like he'd be a likely candidate for selection, but McPhee's final choices will also boil down to what else is *truly* available from other teams. Anaheim, for example, has exposed two good defensemen in Sami Vatanen and Josh Manson, but it's believed that the Ducks already have their side deal in place.




Bottom line, though—Vegas still has the power, and rival GMs will have to make it worth McPhee's while to convince him to stay away from the players that are exposed.

Pierre LeBrun's Twitter feed seems to be the best right now at summing up McPhee's strong negotiating position. With the rest of the league locked in a trade freeze, McPhee is free to trade with any team. Other than promises he may have made before the protected lists were finalized on Saturday, there's really nothing to prevent him from seeing if he can get a better asset from another team if he picks a player, then trades him, compared to what he was offered to stay away from that player in the first place plus the asset that he'll choose in return.

For example:




George is happy to have his lists and be able to really go to work.




"It's been the most fun I've ever had in hockey."

Back to the Canucks...




If McPhee elects not to choose Sbisa, the other Canucks names that have been bandied about have been Brendan Gaunce, Reid Boucher and Andrey Pedan.

For all the discussion that this subject has generated over the last year, I don't think the final outcome is going to be any kind of game-changer in Vancouver. When you finish 29th, you'd better be looking at overhauling your roster. The expansion draft will ultimately turn out to be a bump in the road.

If you want to peruse the lists from all 30 teams:




Looking at the status of some ex-Canucks, protected players include:

• Ryan Kesler (Anaheim)
• Kevin Bieksa (Anaheim)
• Zack Kassian (Edmonton)
• Cory Schneider (New Jersey)
• Jannik Hansen (San Jose)

Exposed players include:

• Emerson Etem (Anaheim)
• Radim Vrbata (Arizona)
• Hunter Shinkaruk (Calgary)
• Linden Vey (Calgary)
• Eddie Lack (Carolina)
• Adam Cracknell (Dallas)
• Dan Hamhuis (Dallas)
• Roberto Luongo (Florida)
• Yannick Weber (Nashville)
• Tanner Glass (New York Rangers)
• Michael Grabner (New York Rangers)
• Nicklas Jensen (New York Rangers)
• Adam Clendening (New York Rangers)
• Alex Burrows (Ottawa Senators)
• Dale Weise (Philadelphia Flyers)
• Nick Bonino (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Tom Sestito (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Frank Corrado (Pittsburgh Penguins)
• Jason Garrison (Tampa Bay)
• Shawn Matthias (Winnipeg)

The most interesting names on the protected lists—Zack Kassian in Edmonton, although the Oilers are trying to get out from under Benoit Pouliot's contract, and Jannik Hansen in San Jose, who was protected over Joel Ward and Mikkel Boedker.

I figured Roberto Luongo would go unprotected. There are enough good goalies in the mix that I don't think he'll be selected but, given the horrific cap recapture terms that the Canucks face if Luongo retires, I wonder if there would be any incentive for Vancouver to re-acquire him?

In the end, I imagine when Luongo's ready to hang up his skates, he'll go on long-term injured reserve just like every other player, right? I don't think we've seen cap recapture come into play once yet, have we? But I'm amused by this idea. After two tours of duty in Florida, why not two in Vancouver as well?

In 40 games last season, Luongo was 17-15-6, with a 2.68 goals-against average and .915 save percentage. Ryan Miller played 54 games and went 18-29-6 with a 2.80 GAA and .914 save percentage.

I have made it clear in the past that my preference is to bring in some fresh blood to back up Jacob Markstrom next season, but if the Canucks are seriously considering going back to Ryan Miller, Luongo makes just as much sense to me!

Now, we wait. I'm sure there will be a few minor leaks over the next few days but for the most part, I don't imagine we'll hear too much until the big reveal during the NHL Awards on Wednesday.
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