Expansion Draft Preview: Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers had an excellent year in 2021, putting up their best points percentage in a single season in franchise history.
Back in 2017, they got absolutely fleeced by the Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft. In order to protect mediocre defencemen such as Alex Petrovic, the Panthers gave Vegas two quality forwards in @Jonathan Marchessault and @Reilly Smith.
With Bill Zito running the show and Joel Quenneville behind the bench, the Panthers seem to have turned a corner and appear ready to be a consistent contender. We won’t see this version of the Panthers make such a mistake with the Seattle Kraken.
Eligible Forwards
@Aleksander Barkov, @Jonathan Huberdeau (NMC), @Patric Hornqvist, @Sam Bennett, @Frank Vatrano, @Anthony Duclair, @Noel Acciari, @Carter Verhaeghe, @Lucas Wallmark, @Patrick Bajkov, @Brad Morrison, @Ryan Lomberg, @Mason Marchment, @Alexander Wennberg (UFA)
Eligible Defencemen
@Keith Yandle (NMC), @Aaron Ekblad, @Anton Stralman, @Brandon Montour, @Mackenzie Weegar, @Markus Nutivaara, @Radko Gudas, @Lucas Carlsson, @Kevin Connauton, @Noah Juulsen
Eligible Goaltenders
@Sergei Bobrovsky (NMC), @Samuel Montembeault, @Chris Driedger (UFA)
Exempt Players
Nikita Gusev, Owen Tippett, Spencer Knight, Aleksi Hemponiemi, Grigori Denisenko, Serron Noel, Anton Lundell, Cole Schwindt, John Ludvig
What should they do?
Starting with goaltenders, Florida is trapped with Sergei Bobrovsky’s massive contract worth $10,000,000 annually. He has a no-movement clause and it would take a lot to get Seattle to absorb it. Thankfully, Spencer Knight, Florida’s goalie of the future, is exempt and this won’t be an issue.
In terms of forwards, Alex Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau are no-brainers to protect. Florida will also surely protect Sam Bennett, who was excellent after being acquired as a reclamation project mid-season from Calgary, along with Carter Verhaeghe, Frank Vatrano, and Patric Hornqvist.
That leaves the Panthers with one spot for Anthony Duclair, who’s currently a restricted free agent, or bottom-six centre Noel Acciari. Duclair had his season shortened to just 43 games due to injury, but he scored 32 points, so it seems likely Florida would try to keep him around.
On the blueline, Keith Yandle has a no-movement clause, leaving Florida with two other slots if they don’t try to get him to waive. Aaron Ekblad and Mackenzie Weegar are the obvious two to protect, which leaves a couple of quality depth names in Markus Nutivaara and Radko Gudas available for Seattle.
Losing one of them isn’t ideal, but things surely won’t be as bad for Florida this time around.