In the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft, teams can protect either seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie or eight skaters (in reality four forwards and four defensemen) and one goalie. The latter option seems less popular, as it permits teams just nine instead of eleven non-exposed players, and a fourth-best blueliner is often less valuable to a team than their fifth-best forward.
There are a few exceptions and borderline cases however and we’ve been taking a look at those. Our last post surveyed Nashville, New Jersey, Pittsburgh and Winnipeg. Here we examine Anaheim and Colorado.
Anaheim Ducks
Kevin Bieksa is the key. Anaheim’s stacked blue line and Bieksa is “35+” contract with a no-movement clause. Whether GM Bob Murray and the Ducks’ brass buy him out or not dictates much of their strategy.
Borrowing from a previous post I’ll recap a few factors in play. For those aged 35 or older by June 30 of the year their contract starts, like Bieksa, buyouts don’t bring any cap relief. Surely the Ducks would like some, since they currently project to have only $2.3M in 2017-18 cap room, but there are other major benefits to a buyout.
Bieksa also has a no-movement clause that forbids him from being exposed in the expansion draft without his approval. NHL rules dictate that a pre-draft buyout would count him as exposed and allow Anaheim to protect a different player or players instead.
Depending on whether they protect 7F/3D/1G or 8F-D/1G, a buyout would enable them to re-sign and keep either 25 year-old, physical blueliner Josh Manson or three additional forwards. Jakob Silfverberg coming off a 49-point campaign, face-off king Antoine Vermette, and iron man Andrew Cogliano could all be protected should Anaheim choose that option. Having few funds to pursue free agents, keeping these core forwards might be preferred.
Losing Bieksa would open more opportunity next season for Shea Theodore, Brandon Montour, and other promising, expansion-exempt defenders.
So, there’s little chance they follow the 8/1 plan. Bank on them protecting rearguards Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, and Sami Vatanen and seven forwards – three stars with no movement clauses (Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Ryan Kesler), Silfverberg, Vermette, Cogilano, and Rickard Rakell.
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado, after a much worst season, faces a dilemma like the Ducks’. Just replace Bieksa’s name with Francois Beauchemin.
Buying out the declining defenseman would clear the NHL path for Avalanche prospects and, since he has a no movement clause that otherwise forbids his exposure without consent, count Beauchemin as exposed in the expansion draft. This would help them avoid the 8/1 if they like. He’s also on a 35+ contract that doesn’t bring cap relief, so no extra space comes back. With almost $18.6M in Colorado cap room already that’s not the worst thing.
Depending on whether they employ the 7/3/1 or 8/1, a Beauchemin buyout enables them to re-sign and keep some combination of forwards Sven Andrighetto, Mikhail Grigorenko, and Matt Nieto, along with a veteran such as Blake Comeau and his $2.4M cap hit, or defensemen Mark Barberio and Patrick Wiercioch. It also enables a more extensive look at promising young defenders including Chris Bigras, Sergei Boikov, Andrei Mironov, and maybe Nicolas Meloche or Will Butcher.
On the blue line, Erik Johnson and his no movement clause along with Tyson Barrie are keepers. RFA Nikita Zadorov did some heavy lifting as a physical presence on the leaky Avalanche blue line last year and has value going forward, so we may see a pre-window re-sign there. That’s three on defense. GM Joe Sakic would seem best off dumping Beauchemin, following the 7/3/1 scheme and protecting some of their young, promising forwards, especially Andrighetto whose 16 points in 19 games seemed impossibly productive in 2016-17 Colorado.
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