Expansion Draft

[theohall]

This is the "rumoured" expansion draft protected list via STLToday

Ryan O’Reilly, David Perron, Brayden Schenn, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, Oskar Sundqvist and Barbashev; defensemen Justin Faulk, Torey Krug and Colton Parayko; and goaltender Jordan Binnington.

Rosters were frozen at 3 pm ET today until 11 am Thursday. Since the Blues didn't make any moves... it looks like the two biggest unprotected names are Tarasenko and Dunn if the above rumour is true.

However, there are several other unprotected players Seattle could consider: Blais, MacEachern, Clifford, Sanford (seriously? who would take him), Bortuzzo, and Husso.

Something to be considered - if Seattle signs any of the Blues pending UFAs, that counts as the player "drafted."

Unrestricted free agents need not be protected but Seattle will have an exclusive window to negotiate with UFAs and, if a player is signed by the Kraken, that signing will count as if the player had been selected from his now-former NHL club in the Expansion Draft,

This rule I did not know.

So say Seattle signs Schwartz, Bozak, or Hoffman - any one of those three means the Blues have to protect no one else.

Of course, having submitted a list creates other locker room issues and we'll see how the Blues and Armstrong handle those.

[glen a richter]

If I’m Seattle I’d take Tarasenko and try to flip him. Every mock I saw had them taking Dunn which I would have agreed with if Tarasenko hadn’t been left unprotected. It’ll be one of the two.

[theohall]

Armstrong has already gone public saying teams are willing to take on Tank's salary, but he isn't getting a sufficient return. With Armstrong already saying that, why would Seattle even go there?

[JCShutout]

List is finally released. It is the one rumored in the op, so dunn and tank are exposed.

[WaukeeBlues]

It is truly incredible the Blues do not have a SINGLE player protected this year that was protected in 2017. Not one.

WITH a Stanley Cup in there. Wow.

[theohall]

Tampa has 4 - and all 4 of those were mandatory due to NMCs - Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, and Vasilesky. They are probably going to lose Gourde, Killorn, or Palat unless Brisebois makes some kind of deal, which is supposedly in the works already.

But no one? That's crazy! Of course, 9 of the 11 are no longer on the roster and Schwartz is a UFA... so... the only way there would have been even one was if they protected Tarasenko, which wasn't going to happen after he went public.

[glen a richter]

I tried to do a mock draft but got bored after a few picks.

If I was Seattle, though, I'd be talking with Tuukka Rask, and I know they already agreed (I think) with Chris Dreiger, but that gives them a very strong tandem in goal which would go a long way to helping them be competitive night in and night out.

Depending on how many larger contracts they want to grab up, I'd be looking at Josh Bailey, Justin Schultz, Max Domi.

Tampa Bay exposed Maroon. I'd take him just on account of the motherload of Cup experience he can bring to the locker room.

[theohall]

Tampa had to protect 4 players (NMCs) and chose to protect the guys they think will contribute the most in the future or are too valuable to let go.

McDonagh - if I'm not mistaken, he finished 2nd in Conn Smythe voting. He was dominant defensively while providing just enough offense at critical times in key games.

Then there's Point, Cirelli, Sergachev and Cernak. Cernak and Sergachev should be defensive cornerstones when the older vets have to move on/retire. Point is obvious. Cirelli is the interesting one. He's kind of like Sundqvist, only smaller and faster, in that he can play anywhere in the lineup and be effective. His calling is work as a defensive center, but he has the skill to play anywhere.

The Blues protected list - no one was mandatory, but everyone on there, with the exceptions of Perron and maybe Barbashev, makes sense to me. Why Perron as an exception? He's on the last year of his contract, again. He's 33. Barbashev - defensive center. Those can be found in FA. The question would be who would you protect, instead. IMO, they protected Perron due to needing him on the PP with Tarasenko almost certainly going somewhere else and out of loyalty to Perron who has shown an immense amount of loyalty to the Blues. Perron probably could've made more when he left Vegas. Barbashev is protected due to no one really stepping up when injuries hit last season to fill his role. This speaks to a deeper issue about lack of quality depth which isn't surprising given a) where the Blues have drafted for YEARS and b) the lack of an AHL roster the Blues control, for YEARS, to develop their picks once they leave juniors and don't have an NHL spot. Heck, since the Peoria Rivermen era, the Blues have basically had 1 year of total control at the AHL level and that got pulled out from under them by Vegas.

[glen a richter]

The Blues "depth" is absolutely pitiful. I can think of, off the top of my head, maybe five or six guys who I think could have a role on the NHL club at some point, none of which I think will be first liners or top pairing d-men. There's a gross lack of RHD depth, same thing I was bitching about last year. I still think that a top notch 4th line is crucial to any potential future Cup run. The last time the 4th line was good was, sure enough, the Cup year. I think they have plenty of pieces in the system to put together a very good 4th line but that alone won't win you shit. Do they really think guys like Alexandrov and Neighbours are the players that'll usher in the next window? Middle six at best. And it largely boils down to what Theo said. Control of the AHL affiliate. How the hell are these guys being utilized properly without control over their farm team? There's promising players who were taken with later picks. Laferriere, Kessel, Ellis, Loof, Washkurak. They need the time to develop against better talent and we'll see what happens after that.

[theohall]

I'm curious to see Kostin next season after his stint in the KHL where he committed to being more of a 2-way forward. While he was drafted based on size and offensive skill, it wasn't translating at the AHL level. The adjustment in style made him a major contributor to winning the Gagarin Cup. Would love to see if that translates to the NHL. I could easily see him paired with Sundqvist just to see what the two could do against whomever. Another reason to make that pairing - 2nd PP unit. Have a pair who are used to playing together - like the Blues have generally done with Schwartz/Schenn and ROR/Perron. If the Blues do keep Schwrartz - that would provide 3 "consistent pairings" who are normally responsible defensively and provide offense also. I say normally, because I've seen Perron, Schenn, and Scwartz fall into the floating beyond center ice looking for home run passes thing when the game isn't going the Blues way.

As to the rest of the Blues depth - less than 1/4 of the Blues current forwards were developed internally. On defense, Mikkola is the first one to recently step-up, followed by Walman when the Blues injuries mounted. Parayko made the show straight out of college and Dunn only played one year in minors, so I'm not counting that as "development." If Perunovich makes the team after recovering from his injury, he won't have spent any time in the A either - would be a purely college developed player. Nothing wrong with that - see Cale Makar.

The only area where the Blues have had some success is in developing goalies and that's more from being patient than pushing them. Heck, Husso would have been up before Binnington if Husso hadn't gotten hurt and that probably would've ended the Cup run. Binnington had that hunger after being jerked around. Heck, there were only 5 goalies drafted ahead of Binnington and the only one who panned out was John Gibson. At the time, Gibson and Binnington were both highly rated. After being drafted, Binnington had a better final season in juniors than Gibson - what??? Yep. Then the Blues buried him in the ECHL for a year and had too much goalie depth for the next several. It's the one area Blues scouts are really good at and they don't normally screw up development wise in terms of giving a guy a shot they way they did with Binner. I wonder if they hadn't made the Ryan Miller deal, if Binnington might have been given an earlier shot. Allen didn't even play the year of the Miller deal.

[glen a richter]

Goalie depth is a position of strength for the team. I know it's probably an asinine thing to say but they seem to have too much. Between Ellis and Hofer who have to be the top two prospects and then obviously Binner is locked up long term, Husso is young, Fitzpatrick maybe figures it out, Will Cranley and Vadim Zherenko is no slouch either, I think there was too much focus on drafting goalies for no reason when the pressing need was and still is RHD.

At the end of the day, Binner is here to stay. His numbers were down because the defense was a cluster-eff compared to the Cup team. Get the D right and watch him return to form. After that, how many damn goalies do you need? They're all young, it's not like they're drafting to replace someone who's 36, 37 years old. Even if they let Binner walk at the end of his contract and Ellis came in, or they traded Binner and moved Husso to #1 and signed a veteran backup, or promoted Ellis or Hofer to back him up and learn the NHL game and then cut Husso loose when they were ready, it's a ridiculous glut. I'll have a conniption if they draft another goalie this year, as this article https://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/ ... 76aae.html seems to be suggesting. If you're keeping the picks this year at least draft from a position of organizational need for goddsake.

[theohall]

I still say trade all your doggone picks this season. This draft sucks in terms of talent - even in the top 10. Why the massive weakness of this draft isn't being discussed beyond a very select few reporters seems very odd. None of the St Louis reporters have even mentioned this.

[glen a richter]

How much of that is a function of these guys actually lack the talent and how much is a function of them losing a load of important development time because of the cluster that was the last two seasons?

Nothing can fix the former but good coaching can fix the latter.

[gaijin]

Wait, the Blues protected David Perron? I don't understand. We don't do that.

[glen a richter]

Wait, the Blues protected David Perron? I don't understand. We don't do that.

Good thing I didn't pre-order my 57 Perron Kraken jersey like I'd planned to do after they unveiled their name and logo.

[glen a richter]

Looks like Seattle is signing Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak. Going for a defense oriented club? We’ll see how that impacts who they take from the Blues.

In order of likelihood I’d say Tarasenko, Dunn, Blais as a wild card. If they do take Tarasenko I’m positive they’ll flip him.

[JCShutout]

[glen a richter]

Tarasenko for Buchnevich one for one, in that case. Do it Army!

[glen a richter]

Nearly every pick has been officially leaked so unless it's 29 bluffs plus whatever they do with Detroit that is one dumpster fire of a team Ron Francis put together there.

Suck and build through the draft seems to be the objective. Anyone good on tap for the 2022 or 2023 entry drafts?

[gaijin]

Thanks for helping the Blues win the Cup, Vince.

Good luck to you in Seattle.