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The New York Islanders unveiled their protective roster for the expansion NHL Draft Sunday morning, and there were a few surprises.
The Islanders have protected forwards Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, JG Pageau, Mathew Barzal, Anthony Beauvillier, Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin; defenseman Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock and Scott Mayfield; and goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov. These unprotected notables are Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey, Leo Komarov, Andy Greene, Sebastian Aho, Thomas Hickey, Michael Dal Colle, Kieffer Bellows and Otto Koivula. Those exempted from the expansion project are Oliver Wahlstrom, Noah Dobson and Ilya Sorokin.
Islanders unrestricted free agents (UFAs) like Casey Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri are also unprotected, but it’s hard to imagine the Seattle Kraken taking a bet on them unless they sign a contract in Seattle’s exclusive window to speak to UFAs before draft.
The biggest surprises on the Islanders’ protective roster come in the form of Martin and Clutterbuck. It’s a pretty good indication that general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello knows Cizikas will be back with the Islanders next season, given he has protected his teammates. As restricted free agents, Pelech and Beauvillier were also protected, but were expected to return as core members of the roster. It’s unclear what those deals may look like at this time, and the earliest we will know is Thursday, July 22 at 1 p.m. EST, when the NHL roster freeze was lifted.
Surprise exhibition
What many also didn’t expect career islander Bailey to be left unprotected.
Lamoriello had a busy day on Saturday freeing up space for the Islanders in the form of Andrew Ladd. He sent Ladd to the Arizona Coyotes with a second-round pick this year, a conditional second-round pick in 2022, and a conditional third-round pick in 2023. He sent Nick Leddy to the Detroit Red Wings the day before. in exchange for Richard Panik and a 2021 second-round pick (originally from Edmonton Oilers). Ahead of the expansion plan, Lamoriello now plans to have $ 18,170,812, including Andy Greene’s new one-year contract and $ 750,000, signed on Saturday before the roster was frozen. This number will only increase after the expansion project.
The question is how far will this number go? Eberle has a cap of $ 5.5 million and Bailey of $ 5 million. It’s hard to imagine Bailey playing in any jersey other than an Islander jersey, so one wonders if Lamoriello has a deal in place that would become official after the expansion draft drew Kraken general manager Ron Francis away from Bailey. “Bailey spent 13 seasons with the Islanders, ranking third in franchise history in games played and fifth in assists – making his inclusion on the unprotected roster the team’s most notable decision.” said Joe Pantorno of amNY.
The Islanders would certainly have options to replace Eberle or Bailey if either of them were to be selected by Seattle. Palmieri has already said he wants to return to the islanders, and the organization also wants Palmieri to return. Lamoriello certainly has the wiggle room for that to happen anyway, but he could be looking to improve his frontline with names like Gabriel Landeskog coming into the free agent market.
According to Elliotte Friedman in his 31 Thoughts podcast, he had heard that Lamoriello may have tried to get the Kraken to select AHL Islanders goaltender Ken Appleby.
The expansion project is scheduled to take place this Wednesday, July 21 at 8 p.m. EST. With plenty of surprise names available for the Kraken throughout the NHL, you can expect their inaugural season to be just as successful as the Vegas Golden Knights. The Islanders are poised to lose a player, but in what will be a busy month, with plenty of room now for Lamoriello, he has the ability to fill a void that may remain.
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James is a THW New York Islanders writer and podcast host for the Nassaumen Hockey Podcast. A trusted source for Islanders content for many years at THW, James is passionate about keeping Islanders fans up to date with the latest Islanders news. Other content contributions also include his status as co-chief editor for NYIslesBlog.com. For interview requests or to provide content information, follow Jacques on Twitter.
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