The 2021 Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft is coming soon. Even though the playoffs are still going on, most teams will be starting to focus on the offseason as we get further into June. The Seattle Kraken will start their inaugural year in 2021-22, and with that comes the expansion draft. There are plenty of opportunities for this Seattle team and the draft, which will take place on July 21st, is sure to be thrilling. While it will be hard to replicate the success of the Vegas Golden Knights (who are exempt from this draft), fans should be excited regardless. Each day, Last Word on Hockey will go through a team and preview all the possible protection, exposure, and trade scenarios. Today, we take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs preview for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
Seattle Expansion Draft Option for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Outlook
The Leafs have an interesting expansion draft on their hands. The answers for who the Leafs should protect and who they might lose are drastically different than they were a year ago. A team that was known for its depth at forwards now does not have much to protect past the core four, and a team that used to have issues on defence could protect a number of different players there.
The Leafs are in an awkward spot, where they could have a number of different routes to protect players. The upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft will be interesting for the Leafs.
Protection List: Forwards
Auston Matthews, John Tavares (NMC), William Nylander, Mitch Marner
This should come as a surprise to no one. The Leafs will protect their “Core 4”. Despite a disappointing playoff series, these are still the best players on the Leafs roster. William Nylander was the best player in the Leafs-Habs series, Auston Matthews just won the Rocket Richard Trophy and is nominated for the Hart. Mitch Marner finished fourth in the NHL in points. And while John Tavares had a slow start to the season, he was heating up at the right time and if he weren’t injured in Game 1 of the playoffs, well… who knows?
Despite the displeasure most fans may have towards some of the stars on this team, it’d be foolish to try and big brain this expansion protection list by leaving one exposed. Tavares, Marner, Matthews and Nylander are all stars in the NHL. Protecting them is the easiest part of this list.
Protection List: Defence and Goalie
T.J. Brodie, Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, Travis Dermott, and Jack Campbell
The Leafs need to be protecting four D in the upcoming expansion draft. They don’t have seven forwards to warrant protection. Morgan Rielly is a staple on the Leafs blueline that takes on a lot of minutes each night. He plays top-pair, runs the powerplay unit, and wears an A on his chest. Since Rielly only has one year left on his contract a trade is not out of the question if the Leafs feel they can’t extend him. However, I doubt this gets done before the expansion draft, and would likely be a late off-season deal.
T.J. Brodie and Jake Muzzin were both key pieces in transforming this team’s defence into one of the best in the league. Brodie has another three years at $5,000,000 and Muzzin at $5,625,000 for the same term. Both signed to fair prices, these players are a must protect for the Leafs. If they were to lose either player meaninglessly, it would negatively impact their roster.
The last of the Leafs defence that should be protected is Travis Dermott. I wrote about the Leafs expansion possibilities a while back, and there I had Justin Holl being the last protection. This was likely a jerk reaction to him having a really strong start to the year. Seeing him cooling off, Dermott seems like the proper pick. He’s younger and he’s better. And, while he isn’t cost-controlled like Holl, Dermott likely will not cost the Leafs much this off-season.
Jack Campbell is not only the best choice for the Leafs, he’s practically the only choice. Frederik Andersen and David Rittich are both UFAs, and that only leaves Campbell and Michael Hutchinson. Campbell really turned things around for the Leafs this season. When Andersen struggled, Campbell stepped in and was nothing short of incredible. The Leafs only needed an average goalie to get them by, but Campbell was so much more last season. And with him locked up for another year at just $1,650,000. It’s the obvious, and pretty much only choice to protect Campbell.
Left Exposed
As I previously mentioned, I at one point had Holl getting protected but his on-ice results took a bit of a turn. Still a solid defender at a very reasonable $2,000,000 per year. Holl can provide value to a team, whether it’s the Leafs, Seattle or anywhere else. He can play higher on the D pairs than his reputation would suggest if he’s given a good defence partner, or drive a bottom pairing.
If the Leafs were to protect seven forwards, it’d just be so they can protect Kerfoot. The two others would just be to fill out the list. Kerfoot had a rough regular season. This recent sample may act as a deterrent for Seattle. He did, however, have a really strong showing in the playoffs. He has also had a good history, and this season may just be an outlier. Seattle would have to hope Kerfoot could return to his old form (or the one he showed in his playoff performance) if they were to select him.
Finally, I’ll include Jason Spezza because he did have a very good season and recently signed an extension. I am doubtful Seattle selects an older player like Spezza with only one year remaining, though. Especially considering he said he’d retire if any team took him off waivers. Sure he’s a good player for the role he plays, but there’s risk involved with Spezza as a pick.
Alternate Options
I don’t see the Leafs trading one of Kerfoot or Holl just because they’ll end up losing the other, but if they feel confident in Kerfoot, they could trade assets for “draft considerations” so Seattle doesn’t take him.
Another option is the Leafs going to another team that can’t protect all their players and trading for someone. Like I mentioned earlier, the Leafs don’t have seven forwards good enough to protect. However, they could go get forwards who are worth protecting and maximize those spots. As long as it worked with the salary cap, this could be a smart approach, especially when they’ll likely be losing a player like Zach Hyman.
Looking Forward
At the end of it, the Kraken will likely take Justin Holl or Alexander Kerfoot. It depends on whether Seattle is scared off by Kerfoots poor season, or if they still value the fact that he’s a centre who has had success in years past on a reasonable contract. Since the Leafs traded players like Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson last off-season, they have less players to worry about protecting. They are a much better defensive team, and that’s why I think their protection list will reflect that.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
