Today we will jump over to the Chicago Blackhawks and the protection list that has been provided by Blackhawks Blogger Theo Fox.

BLACKHAWKS PROTECTION LIST

FORWARDS

Alex DeBrincat
Brandon Hagel
David Kampf
Patrick Kane
Alex Nylander
Dylan Strome
Jonathan Toews

DEFENSE

Duncan Keith
Connor Murphy
Nikita Zadorov

GOALIE

Kevin Lankinen

EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS - FORWARDS

Ryan Carpenter
Brett Connolly
Adam Gaudette
Vincent Hinostroza

EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS - DEFENSE

Calvin de Haan
Riley Stillman

EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS - GOALIE

Collin Delia
Malcolm Subban

Several forwards who could easily be exposed don't qualify by not meeting the games played requirement, i.e. Josh Richardinson, Victor Ejdsell, Brandon Pirri, John Quenneville, Andrew Shaw, and Zack Smith. Henrik Borgstrom would likely be protected if he qualified.

Defensemen Anton Lindholm and Riley Stillman are presently not meeting the games played requirement. Lindholm has 27 games left and won't reach that limit being on Chicago's AHL team but Stillman has 7 games left to reach the limit and likely will qualify.

It's also important to note that Brent Seabrook has 22 games left to qualify but he is retired and on LTIR until his contract expires so he is effectively ineligible. Even if healthy, he has a NMC like Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, and Jonathan Toews.

For the goalies, Kevin Lankinen is the Blackhawks starter for the foreseeable future so it's a no brainer to protect him out of the 3 goalies possible. That leaves Collin Delia and Malcolm Subban exposed.

Notable players who are exempt from exposure include forwards Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik, Philipp Kurashev, and Pius Suter as well as defensemen Nicolas Beaudin, Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell, and Wyatt Kalynuk.

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Thanks so much Theo for all of the details!

With the retirement of Brent Seabrook, the biggest question; ensuring the team can protect Connor Murphy is wrapped up nicely. The most enticing options from the Hawks will likely be the younger goaltenders in the system. Will Malcolm Subban be the first player in NHL history to be selected by an Expansion team twice?

Depending how the remaining goalies stack up I could see the recently acquired Brett Connolly taken as well. While he struggled with the Panthers this season at 28 years old he still has good years ahead and could be a solid depth option that could be plugged in anywhere in the top 9 of a new team.

What say you hockey fans, who would you select from the Chicago Blackhawks?

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