We are back looking at another North Division Team. Today we are joined by Karine Hains as they have provided their own list for who to protect for the Montreal Canadiens.
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CANADIENS PROTECTION LIST FORWARDS Brendan Gallagher Jesperi Kotkaniemi Jonathan Drouin Josh Anderson Tyler Toffoli Philip Danault (extended) Jake Evans
DEFENSE Shea Weber Jeff Petry Ben Chiarot
GOALIES Carey Price
EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS - FORWARDS Paul Byron Arturri Lehkonen
EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS - DEFENSE Joel Edmundson Brett Kulak Cale Fleury Victor Mete
EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS - GOALIE Jake Allen
In addition to the list, here are a few more words from Karine
Not needing to be protected: Nick Suzuki, Cayden Primeau, Ryan Poehling, Alexander Romanov, Jesse Ylonen, Josh Brook, Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle.
The Habs are in a bit of a cap crunch and since the Kraken will have a cap floor to reach, I believe Marc Bergevin will be making a deal with them to select Paul Byron. Furthermore, in order to allow Primeau time to develop, I'm pretty sure Bergevin will be wanting to keep Jake Allen, especially since he's performing so well this season. In order for Vegas to pick Byron, I'd be willing to offer one 2nd round pick and one 3round pick in the 2021 draft.
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I will certainly be looking at that potential trade offer with Karine and the Canadiens moving forward.
Tatar is an effective player who has seen his point totals drop this season but he is also averaging almost 2 minutes fewer a game than he did last season. As Kraken GM I would have interest in Tatar but likely not use my Canadiens pick to try and extend him prior to normal UFA season starts.
The most appealing names for the Canadiens all appear to be from their blueline and back. Veterans like Kulak and Edmundson have the ability to log solid top four minutes on the blue line and neither is too long in the tooth either to expect and massive falloffs over the next few seasons.
Jake Allen is another enticing option, especially considering his numbers this season. If you recall I did not look at Allen in my first expansion draft but his stock has certainly increased over the course of this season.
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Looking at this list that has been provided, who would you select from the Montreal Canadiens?