Washington Capitals: Top 3 players they could lose in NHL Expansion Draft
Who could the Washington Capitals lose in the expansion draft?
At the end of this upcoming season, the NHL will welcome it’s 32nd franchise. The Seattle Kraken are scouting this upcoming season to see which players they could steal from the other 31 teams. What would this mean for the Washington Capitals?
Before we get to who the Caps could lose, let’s look at the rules as well as who they could protect in the draft. The rules state that teams can protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie or eight skaters and one goalie.
Players that have no movement clauses are required to be protected unless that player agrees to waive it. First and second year NHL players as well as unsigned draft choices are exempt from selection.
Teams have to make available a defenseman and two forwards who are under contract in 2021-22 and played at least 40 games the last season or 70 combined games between the previous two seasons. They also have to expose one goaltender.
Here’s my protected list: Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, Jakub Vrana, Lars Eller, Carl Hagelin, John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, Brenden Dillon, and Ilya Samsonov.
Given what I went with, here are the top 3 exposed players that could get selected.
#3 Richard Panik
Richard Panik had an up and down first season with the Caps. He struggled on the third line but thrived on the fourth. He struggled in the beginning of the season but performed well down the stretch just before the season was paused due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Panik, despite his weaknesses, is still one of the most skilled players of the bottom six. The team hopes he can add more consistency to his game as he approaches his second year with the team. If he does, maybe this spot goes open and the team will protect him instead of Carl Hagelin.
Panik scored nine goals and added 13 assists for 22 points in 59 games played. In the bubble he had a goal in eight playoff games. Panik would bring depth scoring to the Kraken and perhaps a new change in scenery might be best for him to tap into his potential.
Panik was brought on to try and be an upgrade over the departures of Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly. Maybe Panik’s second year with the Caps will be even better and he will find consistency. After all, the bottom six needs to step up this season. The top six can’t do it all.
#2 Jonas Siegenthaler
Jonas Siegenthaler is a young defenseman with a lot of potentials. Three years ago, the Caps lost another young defenseman in the Vegas expansion draft in Nate Schmidt. Perhaps, the Kraken are looking at also adding a young defenseman to their roster.
Siegenthaler is a skilled penalty killer and has the potential for a breakout season helping a bottom pair that’s expected to rotate between Nick Jensen and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Unfortunately, the Caps can’t protect every defenseman and that’s why only three are protected while the rest are exposed.
Could Siegenthaler have such a breakout season that the Caps decision makers decide to protect him and expose either Dmtiry Orlov or Brenden Dillon?
That is a question that we’ll see play out throughout the course of the season. Siegenthaler had two goals and seven assists for nine points in 64 games. The Caps extended him to a one year deal worth $800,000 showing their belief in the young blueliner.
John Carlson, who had a legitimate chance to win the Norris Trophy, isn’t going anywhere. If Orlov or Dillon struggle then it could be one of those two that could be exposed instead. Now we have come down to our last player.
#1 T.J. Oshie
T.J. Oshie’s name is on top of the list about players that could be selected at the expansion draft for good reason. Oshie’s hometown was Mount Vernon, Washington and he’s a big Seahawks fan, having raised the 12th man flag at one of their games. He’s already got ties to Seattle and at one point the Kraken even tweeted out a picture of the Oshbabe.
Now if Oshie has a breakout season like the previous two, he could be protected instead of exposed. Or if the Caps fall short of their ultimate goal and General Manager Brian MacLellan believes they have a legitimate shot, maybe they could protect Oshie.
Oshie is the heart and soul of the Caps and he would make a great captain for another team. He would likely be named the first captain in Seattle hockey history. But I know you or I don’t want to see this happen. Not the captain part, that’s cool. But getting taken by Seattle is a big no no for a lot of fans.
Must Read. Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin’s Twilight in Sight. light
Oshie will turn 34 this month and carries a cap hit of $5.75 million for four more years after this season. He is coming off a 26 goal season. If the Kraken are reading this, don’t even think about it.