Maple Leafs reveal protected list ahead of NHL expansion draft

The Toronto Maple Leafs elected to protect eight skaters and one goalie for the upcoming NHL expansion draft.

The Maple Leafs elected to protect forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander, defencemen Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, Jake Muzzin, and Justin Holl along with goaltender Jack Campbell.

Among the high profile players left exposed for the Seattle Kraken to choose from for the July 21st expansion draft are pending free agents Zach Hyman and Frederik Andersen along with forwards Alex Kerfoot, Wayne Simmonds, Jason Spezza, Joe Thornton and defecemen Zach Bogosian and Travis Dermott.

Under the expansion draft rules, the Kraken will select one player from each team except the Vegas Golden Knights for a total of at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies.

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— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) July 18, 2021

RELATED: Seattle Kraken expansion draft: 10 most intriguing players left unprotected

After backstopping the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final, Carey Price was left unprotected for the expansion draft.

Price could become the face of the NHL’s 32nd franchise if general manager Ron Francis and his staff decide to take on one of the biggest contracts in hockey. He agreed to waive a clause in his contract to be exposed so Montreal could protect cheaper backup Jake Allen, but his goaltending ability, off-ice marketability and ties to the Pacific Northwest – he played for the Western Hockey League’s Tri-Cities Americans a few hours drive away, and his wife, Angela, is from Kennewick, Washington – could make Price an attractive option even with a salary cap hit of $10.5 million for five more years. Price.

That could make Price a natural cornerstone for the Kraken to build around like the Golden Knights did with goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who was fresh off winning the Cup with Pittsburgh.

The back-to-back champion Lightning have easily the deepest pool of available players. Top-line winger Ondrej Palat, longtime forward Alex Killorn, third-line center Yanni Gourde and young defenseman Cal Foote are all exposed. Squeezed by the cap that’s remaining flat at $81.5 million, they could also work out a side deal with the Kraken to take Spokane native Tyler Johnson and his $5 million price tag for three more seasons.

Seattle has all the leverage and the benefit of cap space.

“The one thing that we think is extremely, extremely valuable in this environment is cap space,” Francis said Saturday. “We’ve got $81.5 million of cap space to play with, so that’s certainly something that we want to make sure we try and take advantage of moving forward.”

Seattle has certain minimums it must meet in the expansion draft, including selecting at least 20 players under contract for next season with salaries totaling at least $48 million. The Kraken must pick at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.

There’s no shortage of options.

Beyond Price, Dallas’ Ben Bishop, Florida’s Chris Driedger and Washington’s Vitek Vanecek are among the available goalies. Driedger is a pending free agent, but the Kraken have an exclusive negotiating window until Wednesday to sign him and others to a new contract.

Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog, Pittsburgh’s Jason Zucker and Philadelphia’s James van Riemsdyk join the Lightning trio, Niederreiter and Tarasenko as the most productive forwards available.

Tarasenko’s Blues teammate Vince Dunn, New Jersey’s personable P.K. Subban and Washington’s Justin Schultz are among the unprotected defensemen _ a position not quite as deep in high-end talent. That’s by design.

“Teams knew we were coming, and they’ve had four years to prepare,” Francis said.