Welcome back to Brightside Hockey, it’s been a while. What’s up. How are you? How was your summer? Did you miss hockey as much as I did, because I missed it more than you.

Now that we’re past the formalities, let’s talk about Las Vegas, the next team to enter this league, a team which will be selecting a player from every team in the league, will be getting a high draft pick and a shot at Nolan Patrick, next year’s consensus number one overall, and a legitimate shot at every free agent, provided Bill Foley, owner of the Las Vegas nonsense, is willing to spend.

The team doesn’t yet have a name, and yet the ones they’re coming up with keep getting worse and worse – The Las Vegas Sand Knights? Why? It’s not Las Vegas’s fault that the NHL has said no to any gambling related names – the best two names would have been the Aces or the Odds by the way – but we can do better than weird-adjective-having-remote-ties-to-Vegas Knights. If you were going to do that, you would have to go with the Neon Knights just for the color palette alone.

And also, why the hell was Foley even considering anything having to do with Hawks? The Nighthawks were reportedly among the top tier of his choices, and I don’t understand why he would believe he could sneak another “Hawks” past the best owner in the sport in Rocky Wirtz. There was zero chance of Nighthawks or any kind of Hawks making it to the final vote, and Wirtz would rather take away his vote for the team to exist than allow another team to attempt to seize the Hawks’ treasured nickname. We’ve got enough of that with Atlanta and Seattle as it is. No Russell Wilson, Go Hawks doesn’t mean what you think it means, you’re just the biggest Blackhawks fan of all, feel free to admit it.

But Vegas is getting a team, and another one (*fingers crossed* Seattle) will be following in cold pursuit – it’ll take a while. Each team is now preparing for the inevitability that is the expansion draft, because there will be valuable pieces on each team left open, and there will have to be trades made to ensure that the most valuable from each team is not taken. There’s no way the Blackhawks allow Ryan Hartman to leave if the Blank Knights are willing to take Scott Darling and Erik Gustafsson instead. With the lack of forwards going, excuse me, forward for the Blackhawks, Hartman just can’t be lost for nothing.

But with that knowledge, I’m going to look at who Vegas should take in the expansion draft, but with trades and with promises and with everything else that will kind of limit what will truly be on the table for Vegas, not necessarily who the team will take. In other words, what I will be presenting is a world where Vegas doesn’t have outside forces. Ideal for Vegas, not for the rest of the league.

First, let’s consider the rules of this expansion draft. This will limit who is on the table for Las Vegas, and who is protected by their team.

There are two options out there for teams, dependent, truly, upon how good their defense is. Option A, the option I believe most teams will be going with, is Seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender. The other, which is why this is dependent upon defense, is eight skaters and a goaltender. There are very few defenses good enough to warrant that kind of protection, and I will note them when they occur.

The Vegas team must draft 14 forwards, 9 defensemen, and 3 goaltenders.

One last note – I will be working off the NHL roster for each team, and not taking into account the prospects that could be up during the draft. Instead, for the purposes of this article, instead think of players in the AHL as exempt from this draft.

Without further ado, the Protected Lists from each of the 30 NHL teams currently in existence.

Anaheim:

The Ducks are in an odd position. Their core is aging, their defense is young and getting better, but they will likely be wanting to protect their forwards. I believe they will be going with option A, protecting seven forwards and three defensemen, though one could argue that going the other direction and allowing Ryan Getzlaf to leave in the expansion (in compensation for something from Vegas) could be useful as well. Fuck it, I’ll give you two lists (for the Ducks, don’t expect this for every team, the Blackhawks will certainly not be protecting four defensemen).

Option A: Forwards: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler, Jakub Silfverberg, Andrew Cogliano, Richard Rakell, Nate Thompson; Defensemen: Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Simon Despres; Goaltender: John Gibson

Option B: Forwards: Jakub Silfverberg, Richard Rakell, Corey Perry, Ryan Kesler; Defense: Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, Simon Despres, Cam Fowler; Goaltender: John Gibson

In the first option, if I were George McPhee, Las Vegas’s new GM, I’d be taking Cam Fowler, unless the Ducks get rid of him this year, in which case I’m taking Antoine Vermette, and in the second I’m taking Ryan Getzlaf, because even though he may not have that much value for the Ducks, he would bring leadership and some scoring to a team in need of both.

Arizona:

The Coyotes are another team with lots to protect, but luckily most of what they have will not be second year pros, and the Coyotes will be able to just keep a minority of their options, getting rid of some dead cap space and being able to bring up some prospects

Coyotes: Forwards: Max Domi, Anthony Duclair, Martin Hanzal, Brad Richardson, Tobias Rieder, Jordan Martinook, Jamie McGinn; Defense: Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, Connor Murphy; Goaltending: Louis Domingue

The Coyotes will have a dead contract available in Dave Bolland, and could offer a bribe for the Vegas team to take it. I think the bribe has the potential to be worth it, so the Vegas team takes a dead contract here.

Boston:

The Bruins are not in the same position as the Ducks, instead, their defense isn’t worth protecting, and their younger offense is. If they were to, and theres a 10% chance they would, which is why I will not write about it, use option B, they would use it to protect 8 forwards.

Bruins: Forwards: Matt Beleskey, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Ryan Spooner, Jimmy Hayes; Defense: Torey Krug, Zdeno Chara, Colin Miller; Goaltender: Tuukka Rask.

If I were the Bruins, I would also be trading a piece to ensure that Malcolm Subban stays on my roster, because he is the future of the team’s goaltending, and Vegas would easily choose him should they be given an opportunity.

If I were Vegas and accepted the bribe to stay away from Malcolm Subban, I would seriously consider David Backes as another center for our team, and some more leadership, but would likely consider Adam McQuaid as a depth defenseman.

Buffalo:

The Sabres are a young and up and coming team with a lot to protect. They’re going to protect the most they can, which is the seven/three split.

Sabres: Forwards: Jack Eichel, Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, Brian Gionta, Tyler Ennis, Matt Moulson; Defensemen: Dmitry Kulikov, Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe

Vegas should be looking pretty hard at the remaining defense of the Sabres, including Josh Gorges, Zach Bogosian, and Justin Falk. There’s not much on offense that the Sabres won’t be protecting, but if I were to look at Zemgus Girgensons, Marcus Foligno, or even look at giving someone a change of pace and space, and a third chance, in Evander Kane, I could be rewarded. Kane is the highest risk highest reward option on the Sabres.

Calgary:

The Flames are like the Sabres, young and upcoming, and their future is the thing that must be protected in this draft. Even though Gaudreau and Monahan have yet to re-sign with the Flames, they will have by the time next year rolls around.

At the same time, the Flames are a team who could consider going with the eight skaters option.

Option A: Forwards: Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Troy Brouwer, Michael Frolik, Mikael Backlund, Alex Chiasson; Defense: Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, TJ Brodie; Goaltending: Brian Elliott

If the team were to go with the Option A route, they would have to give up a piece to ensure that the defense is left alone, because the Flames have one of the better ones in the league.

Option B: Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Troy Brouwer; Defense: Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, TJ Brodie, Jyrki Jokipakka; Goaltending: Brian Elliott

If I were Vegas, I would take the bribe to leave the defense alone and select Michael Ferland, a young depth forward who could be developed into a solid third liner. With the second option, I would take Alex Chiasson, who has a past of being a 20 to 30 point scorer.

Carolina:

The Hurricanes are another young team, a team with good potential, and one that is able to go the seven three route without giving up much of anything.

Hurricanes: Forwards: Teuvo Teravainen, Jeff Skinner, Joakim Nordstrom, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Jordan Staal, Phillip Di Giuseppe; Defense: Justin Faulk, Noah Hanifin, Ryan Murphy; Goaltending: Eddie Lack

If I’m Vegas, I’m taking Lee Stempniak because he’s a wing who’s hitting his stride later in his career that could be overlooked by the Hurricanes needing to protecting other scorers.

Chicago:

The Blackhawks must protect a lot of their guys, and could give up some vital pieces. But at the same time, they could be losing their best young star in Artemi Panarin before the draft, so any loss in this draft is mitigated due to that larger loss.

Blackhawks: Forwards: Patrick Kane, Jonathon Toews, Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Ryan Hartman, Marcus Kruger, (and if they’re able to re-sign him) Artemi Panarin; Defense: Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson; Goaltending: Corey Crawford

If I’m Vegas, I’m taking either Scott Darling, who could be a good goaltender for a long time, or Trevor Van Reimsdyk, who will be a top 4 defenseman for a long time.

Colorado:

The Avalanche don’t have much to protect, and in fact, this draft could be good for the Avalanche to start over, building around whatever core that Joe Sakic believes they have in-house.

Avalanche: Forwards: Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Carl Soderberg, Mikhail Grigorenko, Joe Colborne, John Mitchell Defense: Erik Johnson, Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov; Goaltending: Semyon Varlamov

I’m taking Chris Bigras or Eric Gelinas, two young defensemen who the Avalanche won’t be able to protect, and will have the potential to develop in a good system.

Columbus:

The Blue Jackets will be protecting seven/three, even though the Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella has a few problems with the offense. I would say their up and coming, but that’s what we said last year and they started 0-8.

Blue Jackets: Forwards: Cam Atkinson, Nick Foligno, Brandon Saad, Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky, Alexander Wennberg, Matt Calvert; Defense: Jack Johnson, Seth Jones, Ryan Murray; Goaltending: Sergei Bobrovsky

I would take David Savard to be a top 4 offensive defenseman for the Vegas team.

Dallas:

The Stars are a pure offensive team, and they could select the eight skaters option to take one more forward, but that would mean they would have to give something up to help protect John Klingberg.

Option A: Forwards: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa, Cody Eakin, Valerie Nichushkin, Antoine Roussel; Defense: John Klingberg, Jamie Oleksiak, Stephen Johns; Goaltending: Kari Lehtonen

If I’m Dallas I’m bribing the Vegas team to take Antii Niemi.

Option B: Forwards: Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Radek Faksa, Cody Eakin, Valerie Nichushkin, Antoine Roussel, Mattias Janmark

And bribing the Vegas team to stay away from defense (especially Patrick Nemeth) in both scenarios.

If I’m Vegas, I’m ignoring the Antii Niemi bribe and accepting the defensive bribe. I’m taking Mattias Janmark in Option A and Dan Hamhuis in Option B. Both could be first liners on an expansion team.

Detroit:

The Red Wings have a core that is aging, but can’t protect much else, so why not just protect the core.

Red Wings: Forwards: Henrik Zetterberg, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Justin Abdelkader, Dylan Larkin, Luke Glendening, Tomas Tatar; Defense: Danny DeKeyser, Niklas Kronwall, Mike Green; Goaltending: Petr Mrazek

I’m taking Darren Helm.

Edmonton:

The Oilers don’t have a ton of defense to protect but all their first round picks to take care of.

Oilers: Forwards: Connor McDavid, Jordan Eberle, Leon Draisaitl, Milan Lucic, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Neil Yakupov, Benoit Pouliot; Defense: Darnell Nurse, Adam Larsson, Oskar Klefbom; Goaltending: Cam Talbot

Vegas should take Patrick Maroon or Andrej Sekera.

Florida:

The Panthers are another young team destined for greatness with a young core worth protecting. They’ve made preparations for the draft, and are going to be able to protect who they need to.

Panthers: Forwards: Aleksander Barkov, Jonathon Huberdeau, Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith, Nick Bjugstad, Colton Sceviour, Jonathon Marchessault; Defense: Aaron Ekblad, Keith Yandle, Jason Demers; Goaltending: Roberto Luongo

Vegas should take Mark Pysyk.

Los Angeles:

The Kings aging core has won championships and deserves to be protected by the management, but there are members (Dustin Brown) who will most likely not be.

Kings: Forwards: Anze Kopitar, Jeff Carter, Tyler Toffoli, Michael Latta, Teddy Purcell, Trevor Lewis, Tanner Pearson; Defense: Drew Doughty, Jake Muzzin, Alec Martinez; Goaltending: Jonathon Quick

If I’m Vegas, I’m taking Jeff Zatkoff or Brayden McNabb.

Minnesota:

Minnesota’s got to protect their two stars, two stars who maybe shouldn’t be protected, and have proven themselves not to be stars in the playoffs.

Wild: Forwards: Zach Parise, Mikael Granlund, Erik Haula, Nino Neiderreiter, Jason Zucker, Charlie Coyle, Mikko Koivu; Defense: Ryan Suter, Matt Dumba, Jared Spurgeon; Goaltending: Devan Dubnyk

Vegas should select Chris Stewart.

Montreal:

Montreal’s core was hurt when PK Subban was traded. Their defense is something that was based around 76, and without him, the defense has some faults. This will not be addressed through the draft, and so Montreal will go seven/three.

Habs: Forwards: Tomas Plekanec, Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher, Daniel Carr, Phillip Danault, Alex Galchenyuk, Sven Andrighetto; Defense: Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Greg Pateryn; Goaltending: Carey Price

The Vegas team should take Andrew Shaw.

Nashville:

The Predators are the most likely team to use the eight skater option, and so we’ll put Option B first for the first time of the article.

Option B: Forwards: Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Ryan Johansen, Colin Wilson; Defense: PK Subban, Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm; Goaltending: Pekka Rinne

Option A: Forwards: Filip Forsberg, James Neal, Ryan Johansen, Colin Wilson, Craig Smith, Calle Jarnkrok, Miikka Salomaki; Defense: PK Subban, Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm; Goaltending: Pekka Rinne

In the first option I take Calle Jarnkrok, in the second, I take the bribe to leave Ekholm and select Colton Sissons.

New Jersey:

The Devils are a team back on the rise, having rebuilt around an elite goaltender and have created a solid offense.

Devils: Forwards: Beau Bennett, Adam Henrique, Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Devante Smith-Pelly, Pavel Zacha, Travis Zajac; Defense: Andy Greene, Jon Merrill, John Moore; Goaltending: Cory Schneider

Taking Michael Cammalleri.

New York:

The Islanders have their core firmly cemented, and will be protecting them.

Islanders: Forwards: John Tavares, Andrew Ladd, Anders Lee, Ryan Strome, Nikolay Kulemin, Josh Bailey, Brock Nelson; Defense: Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic, Johnny Boychuk; Goaltending: Thomas Greiss

Vegas should select Jaroslav Halak or Mikhail Grabovski.

New York:

The Rangers have an aging core as well, but some younger members that can be protected, and the older members are expendable.

Rangers: Forwards: Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast, JT Miller; Defense: Ryan McDonagh, Dylan McIlrath, Kevin Klein; Goaltending: Henrik Lundqvist

Vegas should accept the bribe to leave Antii Raanta alone and take Rick Nash.

Ottawa:

The Senators don’t have much, but what they do have they’ll hold on to. The teams not about to lose their best players when they can easily be protected.

Senators: Forwards: Derick Brassard, Mike Hoffman, Clarke MacArthur, Curtis Lazar, Bobby Ryan, Mark Stone, Jean-Gabriel Pageau; Defense: Erik Karlsson, Cody Ceci, Marc Methot

Vegas should take Dion Phaneuf.

Philadelphia:

The Flyers are young, and in the future will be defensively strong. They should save as many forwards as possible currently. The forwards on this team are worth the saving as well.

Flyers: Forwards: Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier, Michael Raffl, Brayden Schenn, Matt Read; Defense: Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Del Zotto, Brandon Manning; Goaltending: Michal Neuvirth

Vegas should take Steve Mason or Radko Gudas.

Pittsburgh:

The Penguins have to keep their relatively young, expensive, fresh off a successful Cup campaign core together. One of their two goalies will be leaving in the next year, either through this draft or through a trade at the deadline.

Penguins: Forwards: Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Nick Bonino, Carl Hagelin, Conor Sheary, Patric Hornqvist, Evgeni Malkin; Defense: Kris Letang, Trevor Daley, Olli Maatta; Goaltender: Matt Murray

Vegas should be taking Eric Fehr, Marc-Andre Fleury, or Chris Kunitz

San Jose:

The Sharks are aging but still found success, and they have a lot to protect, and will likely lose a valuable piece in this draft. Whether that’s an older vet like Patrick Marleau or a younger guy like Nieto or Karlsson, the loss is going to hurt and be good for Vegas.

Sharks: Forwards: Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Joonas Domskoi, Tomas Hertl, Mikkel Boedker, Joel Ward; Defense: Paul Martin, Justin Braun, Marc-Edouard Vlasic (Brent Burns is a free agent that year and will be re-signed likely after the expansion draft); Goaltender: Martin Jones

Vegas should select Matt Nieto or Melker Karlsson.

St. Louis:

The Blues have to protect the players left from their WCF run.

Blues: Forwards: Vladimir Tarasenko, Robby Fabbri, Alexander Steen, Jaden Schwartz, Jori Lehtera, Paul Stastny, Dmitrij Jaskin; Defense: Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, Kevin Shattenkirk; Goaltender: Jake Allen

I don’t think the Blues are going to trade Shattenkirk after making him Alternate Captain, and Bouwmeester is 32.

Vegas should still take Bouwmeester though.

Tampa Bay:

The Lightning have success ahead of them and must keep their vast core in tact, but they will be losing a good young wing.

Lightning: Forwards: Steven Stamkos, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov, Jonathon Drouin, Vladislav Namestnikov, Alex Killorn; Defense: Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, Andrej Sustr; Goaltender: Andrei Vasilevskiy (Ben Bishop will be traded at the deadline)

Vegas should take Jason Garrison or JT Brown.

Toronto:

The Maple Leafs also have a young core to protect along with some veteran leadership, and should be looking into getting rid of some bad contracts.

Maple Leafs: Forwards: Leo Komarov, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Tyler Bozak, William Nylander, James Van Reimsdyk, Nazem Kadri; Defense: Morgan Reilly, Jake Gardiner, Martin Marincin; Goaltender: Frederik Andersen

Vegas should select Joffrey Lupul.

Vancouver:

The Canucks are a team with nothing to protect but prospects and second year pros, which are exempt. Their job is one of the easier ones.

Canucks: Forwards: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Loui Eriksson, Jannik Hansen, Bo Horvat, Brandon Sutter, Markus Granlund; Defense: Chris Tanev, Erik Gudbranson, Alexander Edler; Goaltender: Jacob Markstrom

Vegas should select Sven Baertschi.

Washington:

The Capitals have all the tools for success, but just haven’t gotten over the hill for that success. They should continue to hold onto their major pieces.

Capitals: Forwards: Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, Marcus Johansson, Lars Eller (Justin Williams will be a free agent); Defense: Karl Alzner, Matt Niskanen, John Carlson; Goaltender: Braden Holtby.

The Vegas team should take the bribe to stay away from the rest of the defense (most likely Brooks Orpik) and select Phillip Grubauer.

Winnepeg:

The Jets should hold onto their young pieces, because that’s where their success lays, ahead. The Jets are going to be a contender very soon, but their oldest pieces may not be around for it.

Jets: Forwards: Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Drew Stafford, Mathieu Perreault, Alexander Burmistrov; Defense: Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Ben Chiarot; Goaltender: Michael Hutchinson.

Vegas should take Ondrej Pavelec.

 

The Vegas roster would therefore look like this:

Chris Kunitz – Antoine Vermette – Rick Nash

Joffrey Lupul – David Backes – Mike Cammalleri

Andrew Shaw – Zemgus Girgensons – Matt Nieto

Lee Stempniak – Darren Helm – Calle Jarnkrok

Mattias Janmark

Chris Stewart

(Baertschi and Ferland sent to the minors to develop more)

Andrej Sekera – Jay Bouwmeester

Dion Phaneuf – David Savard

Jason Garrison – Radko Gudas

Eric Gelinas

(send Pysyk and McNabb to the minors)

Jaroslav Halak

Scott Darling

(Grubauer and Pavelec sent to minors, Grubauer first up in case of injury)

This team, whatever their insane name is, isn’t a bad team at all, and they could be a potential threat in the regular season against most teams. They’re old, and many of their players will be free agents the season after the draft, but again, if Foley is willing to spend, they’ll be fine.

They’ll have the young talent to be successful in the future, both from the draft and from the bribes as well.

The thing is, the team has the potential to, two years after the draft, have their best veteran be Andrew Shaw. He’s a great third liner, but he showed the past year if he’s expected to be a full time first liner, he may not excel.