NHL teams have released their protected lists for the upcoming expansion draft. The Minnesota Wild has left some surprised with their decisions to protect older players over younger players.
The Minnesota Wild used option one in the expansion draft rules allowing them to protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender.
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The Wild will protect forwards Joel Eriksson Ek, Kevin Fiala, Marcus Foligno, Jordan Greenway, Ryan Hartman, Nico Sturm, and Mats Zuccarello. For defensemen, they will protect Matt Dumba, Jonas Brodin, and captain Jared Spurgeon. For their sole goaltender spot, the team chose to protect Cam Talbot.
The most notable players now available to the Seattle Kraken to select on Wednesday include goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen, defensemen Carson Soucy, and forward Victor Rask.
Players who have not played more than two seasons at the pro level are protected automatically, so the Wild's Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov is safe from selection.
Some were surprised that Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin decided to protect Dumba and Talbot over Soucy and Kahkonen, both younger and paid lower contracts.
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The decision could have come in the final days as other notable goaltenders, Carey Price and Ben Bishop, waived their no-trade clauses allowing them to be selected. However, the Kraken could still select Kahkonen as the team must pick three goaltenders under expansion draft rules, and Kahkonen remains one of the top young goalies available.
Soucy and Rask are also up for grabs, and while many fans would love the Kraken to take Rask, it seems unlikely they will do so unless Guerin trades another player or pick to incentivize his selection.
Most believe that Guerin will decide not to trade any other assets with the free-agent market carrying a plethora of talent at all three positions. This would be unlike his predecessor, who traded Alex Tuch —now a star forward for Vegas— so the Knights would select Erik Haula and not Matt Dumba.
Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl on what will happen with Buffalo's Jack Eichel, as Minnesota remains a trade destination, according to league analysts. The decision to protect Dumba could be to flip him in a trade for the center who would also require further compensation.
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The decision to buy out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter allowed the team to protect Sturm and Dumba as both players carried no-trade clauses in their contracts.
The NHL expansion draft will take place on Wednesday, and the NHL prospect draft will take place on Friday.