“It would hurt our team and our organization if we lost him in the expansion draft,” MacLellan said. I do not know if we have made any decisions on that, but ideally, we want to keep it. Comparisons will be present throughout the season, so first let`s take a look at why situations vary greatly between the latest expansion franchises. Kraken`s management was careful not to assign a timetable to success. As Francis told me shortly after he was hired two years ago, “I think if you go back and listen to Vegas` feedback before the expansion was conceived, their plan was to design and develop well and be patient to do it. I think George [McPhee] and Kelly [McCrimmon] did a fantastic job. They had an incredible first season and the franchise has been in a good position ever since. Hopefully we can select good players in the expansion draft and good players in the amateur draft and take the time to develop these guys. When it comes to the players Seattle can select in the expansion draft, every team has to meet certain requirements. Poile is right. The story of expansion in the NHL is a roller coaster of contractions and movements, strange partnerships and, ultimately, very little success in the early days of most franchises. Kaplan: The expansion draft will take place July 21 at 5 p.m. PDT / 8 p.m. EDT in Seattle and will air on ESPN2. Protected team lists are expected on Saturday, and those lists will be announced on Sunday.
In the summer of 2013, the Phoenix Coyotes nearly moved to Seattle before the Glendale, Arizona City Council approved a new arena lease. In 2015, three ownership groups discussed bidding for an NHL expansion team, but none did, as Las Vegas was the only league-approved expansion franchise. Jamison Coyle and E.J. Hradek discuss expansion draft rules for the 32nd NHL franchise The combination of expansion draft rules that provided better talent, many NHL general managers who messed it all up, and a bit of luck (okay, maybe luck) made the Golden Knights an instant Stanley Cup contender to reach the Cup Final in their first season (they lost to the Washington Capitals in five games). Kaplan: The Golden Knights started their first season with 500-1 odds to win the Stanley Cup, then went to the Stanley Cup Final and rewrote expectations for franchise expansion across all sports. Before Vegas, of the 64 expansion teams in the four major U.S. sports leagues since 1960, no team set a record for wins in its first season. At least twenty of the thirty players selected by Seattle had to be under contract for the 2021-22 season, and the team had to select at least fourteen forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders. [9] In addition, the salaries of the thirty players selected in 2021/22 (measured by what counts for the salary cap, colloquially referred to as the “cap reached”) were to total up to 60% to 100% of the 2020/21 salary cap (i.e. the full nominal cap, not the prorated cap for the shortened 56-game season). Seattle has 48 hours before the draft to sign any unprotected free agent (limited or unrestricted, one per team).
Teams that lost a player to Seattle during the contract window did not select a player from their roster in that draft, as the signed player counted as Seattle`s selection. Is Seattle getting younger and building? Are they absorbing salaries, cutting contracts, and trying to develop a team that can win from the start? It`s a delicate balance, but no matter what approach Kraken takes, the NHL believes Seattle is competitive — thanks to the rules in place — is the best for the league. The NHL had a long pause in its expansion, but when the Golden Knights arrived, friendlier rules and the cunning of the Vegas front office changed expectations for any future team. Vegas found ways to take advantage of salary cap issues, stole teams with inflated rosters, and was willing to hire veterans to be solid from the start. This is likely to set the bar high for Seattle, as expecting this kind of lightning strike twice seems a bit unrealistic. But there are still lessons the Kraken and the rest of the NHL can learn from the 2017 expansion draft. In the past, we were in the era of expansion teams, so when Atlanta came in, you didn`t necessarily have to do your best and be able to win the game because the team you`re playing against wasn`t like the Vegas expansion team. They were a real expansion team and they struggled,” recalls former Washington Capitals goaltender Olie Kolzig. “They had Columbus when they came in, you had Minnesota when they arrived, so there were a handful of those nights where (you couldn`t take off) but you knew you didn`t have to do your best.” Ottawa is another example of an expansion franchise that failed early, but laid the groundwork that resulted in 11 consecutive playoff spots, starting with the Senators` fifth season.