Habs leave Price off protected list
Seattle Kraken will fill roster on Wednesday
The Montreal Canadiens have submitted their protected list for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft to the NHL and Carey Price is not on it.
General manager Marc Bergevin had the option of protecting seven forwards, three defencemen and one goalie or eight skaters (forwards or defencemen) and one goalie. He went with the first option and protected goalie Jake Allen instead of Price.
The NHL released the expansion draft protected lists on Sunday morning.
Price, 33, has five seasons remaining on his eight-year, Us$84-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $10.5 million. Bergevin is hoping that the salary-cap hit will be too big for the Kraken's liking and that he will be able to keep both of his goalies for next season. Price has an $11-million signing bonus due in September and his salary for next season will be $2 million.
Price had to waive the no-movement clause in his contract in order for the Canadiens to leave him unprotected. He only waived the no-movement clause for the expansion draft, meaning the Kraken can't selected Price and then trade him to another team without the goalie's consent.
Bergevin decided not to protect captain Shea Weber . The 35-year-old defenceman has five seasons remaining on his 14-year, Us$110-million contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $7.857 million. There were reports last week that Weber won't be able to play next season — and possibly longer — because of thumb, knee, ankle and foot injuries he has been dealing with.
Also not protected are forward Jonathan Drouin , who left the Canadiens for personal reasons in April and was placed on the long-term injured reserve list, assistant captain Paul Byron, defenceman Brett Kulak and Phillip Danault.
Seattle has until 11 a.m. AT on Wednesday to submit its expansion draft selections. The Kraken must choose 30 players, one from each team and must take a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defencemen and three goalies from the lists of unprotected players.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
The Maple Leafs left forwards Alex Kerfoot and Jared Mccann and defenceman Travis Dermott unprotected.
There was no surprise with the Leafs' protected list.
Forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, defencemen Morgan Rielly, TJ Brodie, Jake Muzzin, Justin Holl and goalie Jack Campbell have been protected.
When the Leafs on Saturday acquired Mccann from the Pittsburgh Penguins for prospect Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick in 2023, it appeared to be an indication that in Mccann, Dubas was getting the replacement for Kerfoot.
One avenue of thinking is that the Leafs have an agreement in place with the Kraken — especially since assistant coach Dave Hakstol departed Toronto to become the Kraken's head coach — ensuring that Seattle takes Kerfoot. Or, at the least, that Seattle does not take Mccann.
The list of Leafs players under contract who have been exposed also includes forwards Pierre Engvall, Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds, Adam Brooks, Joey Anderson, Nic Petan and goaltender Michael Hutchinson.
Among the Leafs exempt from the draft are forwards Ilya Mikheyev and Nick Robertson, defencemen Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren and goalie Joseph Woll.
CALGARY FLAMES
Captain Mark Giordano is being left exposed by the Flames.
As expected, the Flames did protect defencemen Christopher Tanev, Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin, forwards Mikael Backlund, Dillon Dube, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Sean Monahan and Matthew Tkachuk and goaltender Jacob Markstrom.
Among players unprotected by Calgary are forwards Brett Ritchie, who just signed a oneyear, US$900,000 deal, and Milan Lucic, a Stanley Cup champion.
EDMONTON OILERS
The Oilers' protected list contained few surprises following the shock of Monday's trade for veteran defenceman Duncan Keith.
The club has clearly been trending for the 7-3-1 distribution of forwards-defencemen-goalies since the signing of Ryan Nugent-hopkins to an eight year extension three weeks ago. Along with Connor Mcdavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jesse Puljujarvi , and Kailer Yamamoto were all surefire protectees, GM Ken Holland chose to use the last two spots on veteran right wingers Zack Kassian and Josh Archibald. On the back end, Keith joins Darnell Nurse and Ethan Bear as the logical trio to be protected. Between the pipes, youngster Stuart Skinner got the nod ahead of a pair of NHL veterans in Mikko Koskinen and Alex Stalock . Jujhar Khaira.
Other players available to the Kraken are Dominik Kahun , Tyler Benson , Cooper Marody , William Lagesson , Oscar Klefbom and Tyson Barrie.
OTTAWA SENATORS
Drake Batherson of Port Williams was among the players protected by the Senators.
Among the players made available are Artem Anisimov, Clark Bishop, Evgenii Dadonov, Ryan Dzingel, Glace Bay's Logan Shaw, Derek Stepan and Matt Murray.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Among those left unprotected are a trio of forwards who might attract attention in Matthew Highmore, Zack Macewen and Lind and goalie Brden Holtby.
Dartmouth's Highmore, 25, is a versatile forward with one year left on his deal at just $725,000, while Macewen, 25, will be on an expiring contract at $825,000 and could offer a grit element.