While the majority of the list came in as expected, there are some notable omissions. Forwards Morgan Geekie and Nino Niederreiter, as well as defenseman Jake Bean have all been left unprotected, in favour of Jesper Fast, Warren Foegele and Brady Skjei.
The one difference up front that I hadn’t predicted was Carolina protecting Warren Foegele over Morgan Geekie. It was reported that Foegele was being shopped and as a result, it seemed as though they may simply leave him exposed instead.
I do like the decision to protect Fast over Niederreiter. Fast provides really good value for his contract and while Niederreiter had a bounce back year, the Hurricanes would clear cap space if he was selected and would certainly be able to find a suitable replacement for less than what Niederreiter was making.
My main issue with the list was the decision to protect Brady Skjei over Jake Bean. Skjei stepped up in the playoffs but Bean projects as a potential top-four, offensive defenseman and I think this is a decision that the Hurricanes will regret down the road. Skjei hasn’t been great overall with the Hurricanes since being acquired and certainly isn’t worth his contract. Given Seattle has their pick of so many defensemen, they would’ve likely never gone after Skjei and even if they did, as is the case with Niederreiter, it would’ve given the Hurricanes the cap space to find a replacement.
We can now expect that Seattle will almost certainly select either Jake Bean, Morgan Geekie or Nino Niederreiter.
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Carolina Hurricanes Blogger • 
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