It makes more sense that the Red Wings will protect Cholowski since he has more of an offensive skill set. Still, with the pickings slim up front, the Kraken most likely will be looking at one of Detroit’s available defensemen. Even so, the lack of huge numbers in the AHL doesn’t mean he couldn’t be a grinder that might give Seattle some good, hard minutes as a third or fourth-line guy or even an AHL depth player. He’s 22 years old but doesn’t project to be a top-six player in the NHL. His production has regressed in pro hockey after putting up huge numbers in the QMJHL, and if he’s available that means he didn’t play well again this coming season.Īnother forward to really consider will be Smith, if he is left unprotected. Svechnikov very well may be exposed, and he’ll be someone to ponder for the Kraken. Detroit is rebuilding, so it can and will protect its best players on the roster. The Seattle Kraken are not going to find a top-end player from the Red Wings in the Expansion Draft. Players who could be on the radar to be selected by Seattle: Forwards He’ll be protected while back up Jonathan Bernier is a UFA after this season and won’t be in play for the expansion draft unless he is re-signed during the season. Detroit signed Thomas Greiss this offseason and do not have a long-term option behind him. There is a strong chance one of the two will be left unprotected. Lindstrom is the same age and has played 16 NHL games but with less offensive upside than Cholowski. Cholowski, 22, is a left defenseman who was a first-round pick in 2016 but has only played nine NHL games and two less-than-exciting seasons in the AHL with Grand Rapids. The biggest challenge for Yzerman here is between Dennis Cholowski and Gustav Lindstrom. Smith is two years younger than Svechnikov and may ultimately have a better shot at contributing in the NHL.įor this exercise, we’ll protect Svechnilov which makes Detroit’s protected list look as follows: Protected If that’s the case, look for the Red Wings to protect forward Givani Smith instead. If Yzerman feels the 24-year-old has peaked, he may very well feel comfortable in exposing him. Svechnikov is far from a lock to be protected. Will Yzerman give up on the former first-round pick – one that was selected by the previous regime – or give him a chance to earn a roster spot and protection? He burst out with a strong rookie season in the AHL with 51 points but has only picked up 55 in the following two seasons. He has yet to crack the NHL lineup as a regular, and this coming year will say a lot about his future with the Red Wings. Like Rasmussen, this coming season will be an important one for Evgeny Svechnikov. It seems like a long shot he would be exposed, considering his upside at just 21-years-old, but it may come down to how he performs this season. Last season he was sent to the AHL and spent some time injured while recording 22 points in just 35 games. Selected ninth overall in 2017, Rasmussen spent his rookie year of 2018-2019 in the NHL, appearing in 62 games for the Red Wings and picking up 18 points. Up front, a player to note is former Tri-City Americans center Michael Rasmussen. He’ll lean on his young players and will have to make a choice of exposing depth players. The vets he has either will be unrestricted free agents in 2021 or aren’t worth protecting. Offseason Wildcardsĭetroit’s roster is mostly set heading into the season, so any major additions or blockbuster trades seem unlikely at this point. In that same vein, it’s unlikely they will move any players at the trade deadline that are of interest to Seattle. The Red Wings won’t be in contention next season so will not be buying at the trade deadline. Yzerman is building around his young players which means that guys like Dylan Larkin or Anthony Mantha will be protected and unavailable. That means that the Expansion Draft options for the Seattle Kraken will most likely yield a depth player at best. General Manager Steve Yzerman has a rebuild on his hands and although they have cap space going into next season, the Red Wings are in full youth movement mode. They couldn’t score, couldn’t create chances, and didn’t make big saves. If the traditional stats don’t convince you then consider the Red Wings were last in Corsi for (45.99), last in high-danger chances (483), and second-worst in high-danger save percentage (.770). How bad? They earned 39 points which was last in the NHL by 23 while being outscored by 122 goals, more than double the next worst in the NHL. The Detroit Red Wings were bad last year. We hope this series will help you get a grasp on who will be available for the Kraken to target when they assemble their inaugural team next summer. Read our previous story that explains the rules of the Expansion Draft here. This is the first in Sound Of Hockey’s series on the Seattle Kraken NHL Expansion Draft, which will examine all 30 of the participating NHL teams over the next couple of months.
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