Giordano left off protected list
In the end, there were no surprises.
After weeks — months, really — of speculation about who the Calgary Flames would and would not protect from the Seattle Kraken in Wednesday's NHL Expansion Draft, their full list was released Sunday morning.
If there was any intrigue surrounding that question for the Flames, it came down to whether they might somehow find a way to protect longtime captain Mark Giordano. They did not.
That means that if the Kraken chooses to pick the 37-year-old, he's played his last game in a Flames uniform unless he re-signs at some future point.
Leaving Giordano exposed in the draft certainly doesn't guarantee that the Kraken will select him. Most insiders are expecting that will be Seattle's move, but it's by no means confirmed.
When the NHL revealed each team's list of protected and exposed
players on Sunday morning, it immediately became clear that the Kraken will wind up with some very good players.
The Canadiens leaving Carey Price exposed made the biggest headlines, but the likes of Jordan Eberle and Gabriel Landeskog are available, too, although Landeskog requires a new contract as an unrestricted free agent.
As much as Giordano would give the Kraken an immediate infusion of veteran leadership and a high-end skill-set on their first pairing, it's entirely possible that they'll take on significant salaries elsewhere and decide to go with a younger, cheaper player who the Flames have left exposed.
They're not only drafting for the 2021-22 season, after all, and Giordano is heading into the final year of his contract with a Us$6.75-million cap hit.
Flames GM Brad Treliving had no choice.
The risk of losing any of the younger, less expensive players who man the team's blue line would simply have been too high. Noah Hanifin is coming off a year where he showed real growth. Hopes remain high for Rasmus Andersson. Chris Tanev was a workhorse for the Flames in his first year in Calgary and is six years younger than Giordano.
The Flames made sure to protect all three of those defencemen, along with a forward group of Mikael Backlund, Dillon Dube, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuk, Andrew Mangiapane and Sean Monahan. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom is on that list, as well. Juuso Valimaki was exempt from the draft because of his lack of experience.
Giordano and Lucic are the most prominent players left exposed, although the likes of Glenn Gawdin and Derek Ryan could draw some interest, as well.