NHL Mock Expansion Draft: Protection Lists, Explanations, & More
By Ryan Ritchie
Washington Capitals
| Available | Age | 17/18 | Automatically Exempt |
| F Alex Ovechkin | 31 | $9.538M | F Zach Sanford |
| F Nicklas Backstrom | 28 | $6.7M | F Jakub Vrana |
| F Marcus Johansson | 26 | $4.583M | F Travis Boyd |
| F T.J. Oshie | 29 | UFA | F Riley Barber |
| F Lars Eller | 27 | $3.5M | F Tim McGauley |
| F Justin Williams | 35 | UFA | |
| F Evgeny Kuznetsov | 24 | RFA | D Connor Hobbs |
| F Daniel Winnik | 31 | UFA | D Jonas Siegenthaler |
| F Tom Wilson | 22 | $2.0M | D Madison Bowey |
| F Jay Beagle | 31 | $1.75M | D Trevor Lewington |
| F Andre Burakovsky | 21 | RFA | |
| F Brett Connolly | 24 | RFA | G Vitek Vanecek |
| F Chandler Stephenson | 22 | RFA | G Adam Carlson |
| F Nathan Walker | 22 | RFA | |
| F Liam O’Brien | 22 | RFA | |
| F Zach Sill | 28 | $613K | |
| F Garrett Mitchell | 25 | RFA | |
| F Paul Carey | 28 | UFA | |
| F Brad Malone | 27 | UFA | |
| F Stanislav Galiev | 24 | RFA | |
| F Chris Bourque | 30 | UFA | |
| F Christian Thomas | 24 | RFA | |
| D Matt Niskanen | 29 | $5.75M | |
| D Brooks Orpik | 36 | $5.5M | |
| D John Carlson | 26 | $3.967M | |
| D Karl Alzner | 28 | UFA | |
| D Dmitry Orlov | 25 | RFA | |
| D Nate Schmidt | 25 | RFA | |
| D Taylor Chorney | 29 | $800K | |
| D Christian Djoos | 22 | RFA | |
| D Aaron Ness | 26 | $613K | |
| D Darren Dietz | 23 | RFA | |
| G Braden Holtby | 27 | $6.1M | |
| G Philipp Grubauer | 24 | RFA | |
| G Joe Cannata | 26 | UFA |
Protection List Plus Two Alternative List Options
| Protection List | Alternative Protection List 1 | Alternative Protection List 2 |
| 7F – 3D – 1G | 7F – 3D – 1G | 4F – 4D – 1G |
| F Alex Ovechkin | F Alex Ovechkin | F Alex Ovechkin |
| F Nicklas Backstrom | F Nicklas Backstrom | F Nicklas Backstrom |
| F Evgeny Kuznetsov | F Evgeny Kuznetsov | F Evgeny Kuznetsov |
| F Andre Burakovsky | F Andre Burakovsky | F Andre Burakovsky |
| F Tom Wilson | F Tom Wilson | D Matt Niskanen |
| F Marcus Johansson | F Marcus Johansson | D John Carlson |
| F Lars Eller | F Brett Connolly | D Dmitry Orlov |
| D Matt Niskanen | D Matt Niskanen | D Karl Alzner |
| D John Carlson | D John Carlson | G Braden Holtby |
| D Dmitry Orlov | D Dmitry Orlov | |
| G Braden Holtby | G Braden Holtby |
Washington is another one of those teams that basically controls their own destiny in who they lose. If they choose to protect seven forwards, they more than likely stand to lose a quality d-man. Should they choose to save an extra blueliner, it will certainly cost them a top-six forward. Decisions, decisions.
Protection List:
Our thought process is this: one defender such as Karl Alzner is not as valuable as Marcus Johansson, Tom Wilson, and Lars Eller combined. In this 7-3-1 scheme, we’ve got three forwards, all three defenseman, and Braden Holtby in net as locks to be saved. On the back end, Niskanen, Carlson, and Orlov are logical choices. Up front, Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Kuznetsov are the glue that holds this team together. The next closest player to lock-status is Andre Burakovsky with Marcus Johansson trailing closely behind. For those final two spots, I’ve gone with Wilson and Eller, leaving T.J. Oshie (UFA), Justin Williams (UFA), Daniel Winnik (UFA), Jay Beagle, and Brett Connolly available.
Alternative Protection List 1:
Almost identical to the our main list with just one exception. Washington could decide it’s worth the risk of losing Eller’s $3.5 million dollar cap hit to free up valuable money. If that’s the case, a younger guy like Brett Connolly could be saved.
Alternative Protection List 2:
Now, if the Caps decide they can’t risk a major loss on the blue line since it is their biggest overall weakness, a 4-4-1 scheme is certainly possible. The only problem: to save an extra body such as Alzner, it’s almost a guaranteed loss of Johansson or Wilson.