Among all the talk about the current CBA negotiations, the thought has arisen that part of the final result of the process would see the NHL expand to 32 teams. While the prospect is unlikely at this point, obviously Quebec City is ripe for expansion and markets like Seattle, southern Ontario, and to a lesser extent; Kansas City would be vying for the 32nd slot. Expansion would mean the NHL would be able to keep the money pit intact in the desert while collecting large expansion fees and increasing league revenue in the future as well. Everyone is happy! Well...maybe not everyone.

The thing is, with an expansion comes an expansion draft. GMs and scouting staff have to take hards looks at their rosters and decide who are priorities to keep safe and who can be left vulnerable to be snatched up by the new teams. Today, I decided to play the part of the head offices of all current 30 NHL franchises and make these decisions myself. Here are the rules:

-Teams can protect either 1 goalie, 5 defensemen and 9 forwards OR 2 goalies, 3 defensemen and 7 forwards.

-For teams protecting two goalies, they must least unprotected at least one goalie who appeared in 10 games last season OR 25 games in the last two seasons combined.

-Each team must leave unprotected at least one defenseman who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.

-Each team must leave unprotected at least two forwards who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.

-Players who have not played 50 NHL games are automatically exempt.

-No team may lose more than 1 goaltender OR 1 defenceman and no team may lose more than 2 players.

-The two expansion teams may pick 26 players including at least 3 goaltenders, 8 defencemen, and 13 forwards.

With all this in mind, let's have a look at the likely protected rosters of all the NHL teams and who's at risk of getting poached:

(Note that eligible unprotected players of little or no value will not appear in the following list)

Anahaim

Protected: Hiller, Souray, Beauchemin, Fowler, Allen, Sbisa, Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Selanne, Koivu, Cogliano, Winnik, Bonino, ______

At Risk: Deslauriers, Lydman, Staubitz, Beleskey

Boston

Protected: Rask, Chara, Boychuk, Seidenberg, Mcquaid, Ference, Krejci, Bergeron, Lucic, Horton, Seguin, Peverley, Kelly, Marchand, Campbell

At Risk: A.Johnson, Caron, Paille, Thornton

Buffalo

Protected: Miller, Enroth, Myers, Ehrhoff, Sekera (protected over Regehr and Leopold due to contract), Vanek, Pominville, Stafford, Ott, Hodgson, Ennis, Adam

At Risk: FA Goalie signed in order to be able to protect Enroth, Regehr, Leopold, Gerbe, Leino

Calgary

Protected: Kiprusoff, Jay Bo, Wideman, Giordano, Sarich, Brodie, Iginla, Cammalleri, Hudler, Tanguay, Glencross, Stempniak, Backlund, Stajan, Comeau

At Risk: Babchuk, Butler, Jones, Jackman

Carolina

Protected: Ward, Pitkanen, Gleason, Mcbain, Faulk, Harrison, E.Staal, Semin, Ruutu, J.Staal, J.Jokinen, Larose, Skinner, Tlusty, Boychuk

At Risk: Boucher, Corvo, Dwyer, Nodl, A.Stewart

Chicago

Protected: Crawford, Seabrook, Keith, Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Leddy, Kane, Toews, Sharp, Hossa, Bolland, Frolik, Shaw, Stalberg, Kruger

At Risk: Emery, Montador, Brookbank, Hayes, Carcillo, Bickell

Colorado

Protected: Varlamov, E.Johnson, Hejda, Wilson, Zanon, O'Brien, Stastny, Duchene, Jones, Parenteau, Landeskog, Downie, Hejduk, Mcginn, O'Reilly

At Risk: Giguere, O'Byrne, Hunwick, Mcleod, Kobasew

Columbus

Protected: S.Mason, Bobrovsky, J.Johnson, Wisniewski, Nikitin, Ryan Johansen, Umberger, Dubinsky, Brassard, Foligno, Dorsett, Anisimov

At Risk: FA Goalie signed in order to be able to protect Enroth, Tyutin (awful contract), Moore, Prospal, Letestu

Dallas

Protected: Lehtonen, Goligoski, Robidas, Daley, Larsen, Rome, Jagr, Whitney, Eriksson, Morrow, Roy, Ryder, Fiddler, Wandell, Benn

At Risk: Fistric, Nystrom, Vincour, Petersen

Detroit

Protected: Howard, Kronwall, Quincey, Ericsson, White, Kindl, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Helm, Tootoo, Cleary, Bertuzzi, Samuelsson

At Risk: Macdonald, Gustavsson, FA dman signed in order to protect White, Eaves, Miller

Edmonton

Protected: Dubnyk, Whitney, N.Schultz, Smid, Petry, Potter, RNH, Hemsky, Hall, Gagner, Smyth, Eberle, Jones, Petrell, Belanger

At Risk: Khabibulin, Sutton, Peckham, Horcoff, Eager

Florida

Protected: Theodore, Campbell, Kuba, Kulikov, Ellerby, Gudbranson, Fleischmann, Versteeg, Upshall, Weiss, Kopecky, Bergenheim, Mueller, Goc, Santorelli

At Risk: Clemmensen, Jovanovski (awful contract), Weaver, Parros, Matthias, Skille

Los Angeles

Protected: Quick, Doughty, Voynov, Mitchell, Greene, Martinez, Kopitar, M.Richards, Carter, Williams, Stoll, Brown, Penner, Gagne, Fraser

At Risk: Andrei Loktionov, Scuderi, Drewiske, Richardson, Lewis

Minnesota

Protected: Backstrom, Harding, Suter, Spurgeon, Scandella, Parise, Heatley, Koivu, Setoguchi, Bouchard, Clutterbuck, Brodziak

At Risk: FA goalie signed in order to be able to protect Harding, Gilbert,
Falk, Stoner, Mitchell, Cullen

Montreal

Protected: Price, Gorges, Emelin, Diaz, Subban, Markov, Plekanec, Gionta, Cole, Prust, Moen, Pacioretty, Eller, Desharnais, Bourque

At Risk: Budaj, Kaberle (please), Bouillon, Y.Weber, Gomez (pretty please), Armstrong, White

Nashville

Protected: Rinne, Weber, Klein, Josi, Blum, Hannan, Erat, Legwand, Fisher, Gaustad, Hornqvist, Kostitsyn, Wilson, C.Smith, Halischuk

At Risk: C.Mason, Gill, Spaling, Yip

New Jersey

Protected: Brodeur, Volchenkov, Tallinder, Salvador, Greene, Larsson, Kovalchuk, Elias, Zajac, Zubrus, Clarkson, Henrique, Josefson, Gionta, Carter

At Risk: Hedberg, Zidlicky, Fayne, Bernier, Barch

New York (Islanders)

Protected: Nabokov, Streit, Carkner, Hamonic, Macdonald, Visnovsky, Tavares, Moulson, Grabner, Okposo, Niederreiter, Nielsen, Bailey, Martin, Boyes

At Risk: DiPietro (as if anyone would pick him), Wishart, Reasoner, Boulton

New York (Rangers)

Protected: Lundqvist, M.Staal, Girardi, McDonagh, Del Zotto, Stralman, Nash, Gaborik, B.Richards, Callahan, Boyle, Rupp, Stepan, Hagelin, Pyatt

At Risk: Biron, Sauer, Bickel, Asham, Halpern

Ottawa

Protected: Anderson, Karlsson, Phillips, Methot, Cowen, Gonchar, Spezza, Alfredsson, Michalek, Latendresse, Neil, Turris, Greening, Smith, Regin

At Risk: Lundin, Condra, Daugavins

Philadelphia

Protected: Bryzgalov, Timonen, Coburn, Meszaros, L.Schenn, Grossman, Briere, Voracek, Hartnell, Giroux, B.Schenn, Couturier, Talbot, Simmonds, Read

At Risk: Leighton, Pronger, Gervais, Lilja, Fedotenko, Rinaldo

Phoenix

Protected: Smith, Yandle, OeL, Michalek, Morris, Klesla, Vermette, Doan, Hanzal, Vrbata, Sullivan, Moss, Korpikoski, Boedker, Gordon

At Risk: Labarbera, Schlemko, Torres, Bissonnette, N.Johnson

Pittsburgh

Protected: MAF, Martin, Orpik, Letang, Niskanen, Engelland, Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Neal, Sutter, Kennedy, Dupuis, Cooke, Vitale

At Risk: Vokoun, Lovejoy, Glass, Adams,

San Jose

Protected: Niemi, Boyle, Burns, Stuart, Vlasic, Braun, Thornton, Marleau, Havlat, Pavelski, Clowe, Couture, Handzus, Burish, ______

At Risk: D.Murray, Demers, Desjardins, Galiardi

St Louis

Protected: Halak, Elliott, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Jackman, Backes, Oshie, Perron, Steen, Berglund, Mcdonald, Stewart

At Risk: FA goalie signed in order to be able to protect Elliott, Polak, Cole, D'Agostini, Langenbrunner, Sobodka

Tampa Bay

Protected: Garon, Carle, Hedman, Brewer, Salo, Ohlund, Lecavalier, Stamkos, St Louis, Malone, Purcell, Pouliot, Brett Connolly, Thompson, Hall

At Risk: Bergeron, Lee, Pyatt, Crombeen, Wyman, Tyrell

Toronto

Protected: Reimer, Phaneuf, Liles, Gunnarsson, Jake Gardiner, Franson, Grabovski, Kessel, Connolly, Lupul, JVR, Bozak, Macarthur, Kulemin, Kadri

At Risk: Komisarek, Lombardi, Frattin

Vancouver

Protected: Schneider, Luongo, Bieksa, Edler, Hamhuis, D.Sedin, H.Sedin, Kesler, Booth, Raymond, Burrows, Hansen

At Risk: FA goalie signed in order to be able to protect Luongo, Tanev, Gragnani, Garrison, Malhotra, Higgins, Lapierre

Washington

Protected: Holtby, Green, Alzner, Orlov, Carlson, J.Schultz, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Ribiero, Laich, Ward, Brouwer, Chimera, Perreault, Johansson

At Risk: Neuvirth, Hamrlik, Poti, Hillen, Wolski, Hendricks

Winnipeg

Protected: Pavelec, Byfuglien, Enstrom, Bogosian, Clitsome, Stuart, Kane, Wheeler, Laad, O.Jokinen, Little, Ponikarovsky, Wellwood, Burmistrov, Slater

At Risk: Montoya, Hainsey, Miettinen, Antropov

No one can predict the future, but with such slim pickings available for the newbies, expansion teams are clearly destined to bottom-dwell for a while before joining the ranks of the contenders. Additionally, it's clear that the deeper a team is, the more the thought of expansion should worry them. The end result is even more parity in the league than there currently is. To all those in possible expansion markets praying for a team, I wish you the best of luck.

Thnx for reading it took a while to put this together so I appreciate it if anyone found it enjoyable.

Feel free to provide input/corrections and/or post your predictions for possible expansion draft results.

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2nd Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO

C: B.Richards, J.Pavelski, D.Roy, A.Killorn
LW: I.Kovalchuk, D.Heatley, R.Clowe, B.Dubinsky
RW: C.Perry, M.Gaborik, B.Wheeler, B.Boyes
D: A.Pietrangelo, P.K Subban, N.Kronwall, C.Franson
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, A.Khudobin, B.Elliott
IR: J.Spezza, E.Karlsson

Prospects: Galchenyuk, Johansen, Kuznetsov, Teravainen, Dumba, M.Foligno, Orlov, Pickard, Ramo

Curious to know where you got the criteria. Are they inspired from what happened in the past? Because those would be some pretty awful teams!

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12-Team Keeper. Points Only. Top 13 skaters (2D min.) + 1 goalie count. 2 UFAs (24 yr. +). Keep 24. 3 round yearly draft. G=1, A=1, W=2, OTL= 1, SO=2. Points carry over.
F= Getzlaf, Toews, Spezza, Tavares, Seguin, Nash, Weiss, O. Jokinen, Wheeler, Callahan, Wilson, Little, Kulemin, Michalek, Frattin, Strome, S. Koivu.
D= Karlsson, Yandle, Goligoski, Fowler, Elliott, Whitney, Kulikov.
G= Lundqvist, Pavelec.

Excellent article which is likely realistic. I appreciate the effort you put into this.

The problem is that the NHL already needs to lose at least ten teams. I am getting tired of being a fan of a rich team (Leafs) which is held hostage by teams in poor markets that can not make money.

I wonder how many fans even in good markets, would pay top dollars to see expanson teams with that kind of rosters.

Coldsquad, this kind of problem is why expansion is unlikely at this point in time. Relocation of failing franchises makes a lot more sense (namely Phoenix and Columbus), but we've seen some crazy moves by the league so if something like this happened in the next year or two I wouldn't be all that surprised.

And Thunder, the rules for expansion were taken from the past expansion drafts.

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2nd Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO

C: B.Richards, J.Pavelski, D.Roy, A.Killorn
LW: I.Kovalchuk, D.Heatley, R.Clowe, B.Dubinsky
RW: C.Perry, M.Gaborik, B.Wheeler, B.Boyes
D: A.Pietrangelo, P.K Subban, N.Kronwall, C.Franson
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, A.Khudobin, B.Elliott
IR: J.Spezza, E.Karlsson

Prospects: Galchenyuk, Johansen, Kuznetsov, Teravainen, Dumba, M.Foligno, Orlov, Pickard, Ramo

I agree with that completly. However, some markets may have been able to make it if they had been managed correctly. For instance Columbus. I do not know their accounting details but the constant losing can not help.

Thus putting new teams with brutal rosters destroys markets before they can even have a chance to be successfull.

i started to do an expansion draft then realized i hadnt followed the rules properly hahah harder then you think

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Straight Points keeper league. 4th year. Keep 5 Forwards,3 defence,1 goalie. *Keeper

F: Nicklas Backstrom*, Zach Parise*, Joe Thornton*, Mikko Koivu*, Jason Pominville*, Blake Wheeler, Joe Pavelski, Stephen Weiss, Derek Roy, Jakub Voracek, David Perron, David Krejci, Ryan Kesler

D: Mike Green*, Erik Karlsson*, Alex Pietrangelo*, Alex Goligoski, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Dion Phaneuf

G: Ryan Miller*, Tuukka Rask

haha it's a tough proposition. and like always, the final rosters end up being very underwhelming. but when you look at the expansion teams of the mid-late 90's, most have sound rosters today. although i'm sure it took a while to get there.

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2nd Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO

C: B.Richards, J.Pavelski, D.Roy, A.Killorn
LW: I.Kovalchuk, D.Heatley, R.Clowe, B.Dubinsky
RW: C.Perry, M.Gaborik, B.Wheeler, B.Boyes
D: A.Pietrangelo, P.K Subban, N.Kronwall, C.Franson
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, A.Khudobin, B.Elliott
IR: J.Spezza, E.Karlsson

Prospects: Galchenyuk, Johansen, Kuznetsov, Teravainen, Dumba, M.Foligno, Orlov, Pickard, Ramo

just watched espn 30:30's "a king's ransom" which detailed "The Trade" of Gretzky from the Oilers to the Kings and how it ended up being a key variable in the growth of hockey in the states and especially California. Thought it was relevant in the whole "expansion" realm.

anyone who hasn't seen it should look it up. it's free online (found it through google)

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2nd Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO

C: B.Richards, J.Pavelski, D.Roy, A.Killorn
LW: I.Kovalchuk, D.Heatley, R.Clowe, B.Dubinsky
RW: C.Perry, M.Gaborik, B.Wheeler, B.Boyes
D: A.Pietrangelo, P.K Subban, N.Kronwall, C.Franson
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, A.Khudobin, B.Elliott
IR: J.Spezza, E.Karlsson

Prospects: Galchenyuk, Johansen, Kuznetsov, Teravainen, Dumba, M.Foligno, Orlov, Pickard, Ramo

Excited the expansion talk is gaining steam. The draft would make for some interesting moves/speculation.

__________________
2nd Year 12 Team Dynasty H2H, Daily Starts
G, A, +/-, PIM, SOG, Hits, PPP, SHP
W, GAA, Sv%, Svs, SO

C: B.Richards, J.Pavelski, D.Roy, A.Killorn
LW: I.Kovalchuk, D.Heatley, R.Clowe, B.Dubinsky
RW: C.Perry, M.Gaborik, B.Wheeler, B.Boyes
D: A.Pietrangelo, P.K Subban, N.Kronwall, C.Franson
G: R.Miller, S.Varlamov, A.Khudobin, B.Elliott
IR: J.Spezza, E.Karlsson

Prospects: Galchenyuk, Johansen, Kuznetsov, Teravainen, Dumba, M.Foligno, Orlov, Pickard, Ramo

Just looked at the roster of the 92-93 Senators... Underwhelming is an understatement! Lol... this is what their depth chart must have resembled:

C - Baker, Lamb, Brady, Boschman
LW - S. Turgeon, Peluso, Freer, Lazaro
RW - Kudelski, J. Hull, McBain, Archibald
D - MacIver, Shaw, Rumble, Luongo, Hammond, Dineen
G - Sidorkiewicz, Berthiaume

Of course, that was a different time. There were a lot of veterans on that team. I would think you'd see a lot more kids play on an expansion team of today.

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1 yr H2H, 10 teams
G(3),A(2),+/-(1),PIM(0.2),GWG(1),W(5),SO(3)

3C-Stamkos/Kane (RW)/Shaw
3LW-Ovechkin/Lucic/Pacioretty/Ryan (RW)/Hagelin
3RW-Sharp (C)/St. Louis/Stewart/Brunner/Neil/Gallagher
4D-Pietrangelo/Goligoski/Ekman-Larsson/Leddy/Phaneuf/Beauchemin/Corvo
1G-Rinne/Ward/Anderson/Bishop
+1 Util