Vegas Golden Knights: Projecting Team Roster & Full Depth Chart

Carolina Hurricanes:

Pick – Eddie Lack

The Hurricanes are quite thin on the defensive side when it comes to players worth protecting since the majority of their young skilled ones are exempt. So the best plan for the Hurricanes would be a 7-3-1 plan since they have more forwards that are worth picking up than the defenseman. So they would use said plan to protect the likes of Jordan Staal (NMC), Jeff Skinner, Victor Rask, Elias Lindholm, Teuvo Teravainen, Andrej Nestrasil, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Justin Faulk, Ryan Murphy, Klas Dahlbeck, and Cam Ward. And due to the fact Carolina would want to hold onto their star netminder over a goalie who is unproven leaves the Knights with a solid backup in Eddie Lack.

Chicago Blackhawks:

Pick – Trevor Van Riemsdyk

The majority of Chicago’s defense are either pending UFA/RFA’s after this season or have NMC’s that won’t be asked to be waived. However on the offensive end they do have quite a few solid players that need to be protected leaving the team with a 7-3-1 plan and with this plan they will be able to protect Patrick Kane (NMC), Jonathan Toews (NMC), Marian Hossa (NMC), Artem Anisimov (NMC), Ryan Hartman, Marcus Kruger, Andrew Desjardins, Duncan Keith (NMC), Brent Seabrook (NMC), Niklas Hjalmarsson (NMC), and Corey Crawford. Since the Hawks would be protecting someone like Crawford over Scott Darling expect them to spend a pick in order to protect him, so the next best player available for the picking would be young defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk, he’s signed through next season then becomes an RFA, so the Knights could use him for the year, if he performs well send him a tender offer if he doesn’t allow someone to take him for compensation.

Colorado Avalanche:

Pick – Blake Comeau

Colorado has a significant amount of top forwards up for grabs than they do defenseman which leaves the team with a 7-3-1 protection plan. This plan would allow the team to hold onto players like Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, Mikhail Grigorenko, Carl Soderberg, Matt Nieto, Rocco Grimaldi, Erik Johnson (NMC), Tyson Barrie, Nikita Zadorov, and Calvin Pickard. Now Semyon Varlamov is always an option but his cap hit is quite significant, so in order for the Knights to make future moves and still be competitive their best choice would be a player like Blake Comeau.

Columbus Blue Jackets:

Pick – Dalton Prout

The Blue Jackets are another team that has to fall into a 7-3-1 protection plan due to the fact all of their top defensive players are exempt but their top forwards are not. So they will most likely use said plan to protect Brandon Dubinsky (NMC, Nick Foligno (NMC), Brandon Saad, Cam Atkinson, Alexander Wennberg, Boone Jenner, Scott Hartnell (NMC), Seth Jones, Jack Johnson, Ryan Murray, and Sergei Bobrovsky. Though the Jackets could ask Hartnell to waive his NMC in order to protect a young player like William Karlsson or Josh Anderson. But with him protected in the plan, the Knights would need another defenseman, so there’s nothing wrong with taking a young, big and skilled defenseman in Dalton Prout.

Dallas Stars:

Pick – Cody Eakin

Dallas has two strong centers in Jason Spezza (NMC) and Tyler Seguin. They also have some very skilled d-men who need to be protected leaving the team to go 4-4-1 before the expansion. So with Spezza and Seguin already accounted above, this leaves the team to protect Jamie Benn (NMC), Antoine Roussel, John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak, Stephen Johns, and Kari Lehtonen. This leaves third line center Cody Eakin exposed but that’s okay since the Stars have a few centers ready to fill that slot.