Who should the Flames protect in an expansion draft?

The NHL could be getting a new team or two. Of course, when a team joins a league, they can’t start purely from scratch – they need to acquire players, and the main way they’re going to do that is via an expansion draft.

Naturally, though, the existing teams will be able to protect some of their players; top players aren’t going anywhere, if teams are smart about it. There are also certain conditions that will exist regarding just who can be protected.

I touched on something a bit like this earlier, but now, we have some criteria set. Unfortunately, this doesn’t come in time to get the Flames out of some of their less-than-desirable contracts – expansion teams are only being decided just before the draft, they won’t actually be ready to go for the 2016-17 season – but it does come at a time when things look pretty clear as to who the Flames should protect.

Because it’s the Flames, let’s say they go with protecting three defencemen, seven forwards, and one goalie.

The goalie is still to be determined. Forget the expansion draft – we don’t even know who the Flames’ starter will be next season. The good news here? If Jon Gillies, at least, pans out as hoped, then he should be protected automatically: he won’t be in his third professional season by the time the draft rolls around.

The three defencemen, however, should be obvious. There’s no way T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, or Dougie Hamilton are going anywhere; however, there may be something to say for getting out of Giordano’s contract before it becomes a burden. A blasphemous line of thought? Perhaps – but here’s a potential hiccup.

What if Jyrki Jokipakka pans out? Because by 2017-18, he’ll have played four professional seasons, including both AHL and NHL experience. He’s 24 years old, and looks best-suited for a bottom pairing role at the moment – but there’s a chance he becomes a top four guy. If that happens, do you leave him available for an expansion team to claim?

Turning to the forwards, things look pretty clear. Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau, and Sean Monahan will have played too much to be automatically protected, so the Flames will have to use three spots to save them. Mikael Backlund and Michael Frolik are strong candidates as well, which brings us up to five forwards.

Over the course of the next year, it’s possible the Flames acquire another quality veteran forward, either via free agency or trade; or one of their prospects emerges, which leaves them time to determine who else to use those protection spots on.

The idea of protecting just eight skaters and one goalie is interesting, though. Should nobody else really emerge in the forward group, and if Jokipakka does on the backend, then they could protect four defencemen – but leave one of Backlund or Frolik available for the taking. Frolik may be more prudent in this case, depending on where he falls in the lineup, as he has the bigger contract.

There’s a lot to think about here, and potential risks no matter what the Flames decide to do. Knowing what we know now, who would you protect in an expansion draft?