(Updated Saturday morning)
Who will be the Seattle Kraken’s brightest star? Who will be their captain? Will the Kraken be as impressive as the Vegas Golden Knights were in their first year?
We won’t know those answers Saturday, but the process of discovering them will start when 30 NHL teams submit their protected lists by 5 p.m. ET. The Golden Knights are exempt from this draft because of their newer franchise status.
Teams can choose to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie or eight combined forwards and defenseman and one goalie.
The Kraken can choose only one player from each team, and must pick 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. They must acquire contracts in the draft that total at least 60 percent ($48.9 million) of next season’s salary cap limit.
That’s important because it means the Kraken can’t just select inexpensive players.
The protected lists won’t be announced on Saturday. It will be announced Sunday. The expansion draft is July 21. The Kraken can also sign UFAs early. Their early signing period starts Sunday and goes until next Thursday morning. The regular free agent signing period starts July 28.
Here is speculation and reports about some of the teams’ protected lists.
New York Islanders: Lou Lamoriello was expected to leave defenseman Nick Leddy off the protected list. Instead, he traded him to Detroit for a second round pick and Richard Panik. Jordan Eberle could also be left unprotected. Believe the Kraken will select him if he is available.
Pittsburgh Penguins: Rob Rossi of the Athletic has reported that forwards Jeff Carter, Jason Carter, goalie Tristan Jarry, plus defenseman Michael Matheson and Marcus Pettersson are being left unprotected.
Calgary Flames: Unless the Flames can make a trade, they will have to expose veteran defenseman Mark Giordano. The Kraken probably would take him. Undoubtedly, the Flames will try to negotiate a side deal for the Kraken to avoid taking Giordano.
Washington Capitals: Have a feeling the Kraken will pass on rugged defenseman Brenden Dillon and go for young goalie Vitek Vanecek. He is young and talented.
Toronto Maple Leafs: The expectation is the Maple Leafs will lose center Alexander Kerfoot. Pencil him in as the Kraken’s No. 3 center.
Montreal Canadiens: All season long, it has been speculated that goalie Jake Allen would be Seattle’s pick of the Habs’ roster. He’s 30 and he’s reasonably priced at $2.8 million for the next two seasons.
St. Louis Blues: Defensemen Vince Dunn would be a quality pick-up for Seattle unless Doug Armstrong trades him tonight.
Colorado Avalanche: Once GM Joe Sakic traded shutdown defenseman Ryan Graves to New Jersey, Tyson Jost became the leading candidate to end up in Seattle. He is 23 and boasts more offensive potential than he has shown.
Dallas Stars: Ben Bishop waived his no-movement clause to allow the Stars to protect Anton Khudobin. Bishop is a quality goalie, but the Kraken won’t take him because of his history of injuries. Would guess they will take a forward like Jason Dickinson. He’s been a valuable role player for Dallas.
Detroit Red Wings: A gambling website says left wing Evgeny Svechnikov is the favorite to be drafted from Detroit. He’s the 2015 first round pick who has never received a chance in Detroit. It would be a good story if he went to Seattle and became an impact player. He’s the brother of Carolina star Andrei Svechnikov. The more likely Kraken selection is defenseman Dennis Cholowski or defenseman Troy Stecher. After acquiring Leddy, the Red Wings have to decide between protecting Cholowski or Gustav Lindstrom.
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