.jpg)
1 hour ago
2
There's chatter that the NHL might add a 33rd team next summer, which would lead to an expansion draft.
And if that happens, every team will have to decide who they're protecting from selection. For the Buffalo Sabres, there could be some tough calls.
The Athletic's Shayna Goldman took a crack at a hypothetical expansion setup in a new article, and in it, she theorizes about who each team would protect.
For the Sabres, she has eight skaters protected from being chosen:
- Tage Thompson
- Zach Benson
- Josh Doan
- Jiri Kulich
- Rasmus Dahlin
- Mattias Samuelsson
- Owen Power
- Olen Zellweger
She also protects goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Of course, if there's a goalie trade for the Sabres at some point, that name could change.
MORE: How a 3-team Dylan Larkin, Jason Robertson trade could work
The Kulich protection also could change, but since past expansion drafts have protected players earlier in their career (which would apply to Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius), they can also keep Kulich.
That leaves guys like Josh Norris and Jack Quinn available.
"The Sabres had four defensemen worth protecting and two key exemptions for Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius up front that helped make that decision easy," Goldman writes. "Of Buffalo’s key forwards, Josh Norris, Jack Quinn, and Ryan McLeod felt the easiest to expose."
Expansion drafts generally only allow one player per franchise to be chosen, which would protect Buffalo from losing more than one of those guys. It wouldn't be ideal to lose any, though.
A lot of unknowns exist since an expansion draft isn't a sure thing at this point, and there'd be a whole new season's worth of information to factor in.
But it's a fascinating way to consider the impressiveness of Buffalo's depth at the moment.
English (US)