To the shock of a few Edmonton Oilers fans on Sunday, the team has decided to protect a couple of forwards that many believe are not necessarily worth keeping. The Oilers aren’t destined to lose a big-name player and if the Seattle Kraken select someone like Tyler Benson, William Lagesson or Jujhar Khaira, the team will recover. That said, Edmonton had a chance to move some salary here and didn’t do it.
The Oilers protected and exposed list looks as follows:
PROTECTED LIST
Forwards (7): Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jesse Puljujarvi, Josh Archibald, Kailer Yamamoto, Zack Kassian
Defensemen (3): Darnell Nurse, Ethan Bear, Duncan Keith
Goaltender (1): Stuart Skinner
AVAILABLE
Forwards: Dominik Kahun, Jujhar Khaira, James Neal, Devin Shore, Kyle Turris
Defensemen:, Oscar Klefbom, Kris Russell,
Goalies: Mikko Koskinen, Alex Stalock
Very Few Oilers Expansion Draft Surprises
No surprise when it comes to the top five forwards selected. McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Yamamoto and Puljujarvi were locks for protection. Where it got a bit iffy were the final two names. Some believed the Oilers should try to move away from Kassian’s $3.2 million cap hit. They’ve elected not to do so.
Whether it’s because GM Ken Holland believes he has enough money to still do what he wants with the team this offseason or he simply values Kassian, the physical and skilled winger is sticking put. This despite the fact he doesn’t always seem committed to showing up on the ice and he’s certainly overpaid.
Archibald is an interesting selection too. He’s fast, has decent skill and can penalty kill like nobody’s business. The Oilers wanted to keep him in the lineup for those reasons.
Who Will the Oilers Lose?
There’s a slim chance the Kraken value experience on defense so they select Kris Russell. More likely, the Oilers will lose one of Khaira or Benson. Khaira offers size, some physicality and the potential to be a decent third-line center in the NHL. He can kill penalties and he’s not afraid to drop the mitts. Benson is an unproven but skilled forward Oiler fans seem stuck on keeping around.
He’s played extremely well in the AHL but hasn’t been given a real look in the NHL. He might amount to nothing. He could be a good scorer for Seattle if given an opportunity.
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