UND Hockey: Protected & Available List for the Expansion Draft

Here we go, the National Hockey League has announced the Available and Protected Lists for the 30 NHL Clubs.

On Wednesday, the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ will select 30 players, one from each NHL Club. You can watch the expansion draft on NBCSN.

Below are the former University of North Dakota players that are on available and protected lists for the Expansion Draft. Here’s some background, Danny Kristo, Drew Stafford, Brad Malone, T.J. Oshie, and Chris Vandevelde are all UFA’s. Kristo has yet to play a game in the NHL.

According to Rotoworld: Matt Greene (back) has been activated from injured reserve and it’s believed to be for the purpose of a buyout.

According to Cat Silverman of the Fan Rag, the Sharks are hoping that Vegas doesn’t draft former Fighting Sioux goalie Aaron Dell as one of their goaltenders.

For San Jose, that’s a worst-case scenario. The team is likely hoping that the league’s newest club will overlook the cost efficiency that their No. 2 would bring and favor a bit more experience to lead a cobbled-together lineup.

If the Sharks do lose Dell, though, they’re in a major bind. At the moment, they have just three goaltenders under contract for the 2017-18 season.

For those that are wondering, former Fighting Sioux forward Rocco Grimaldi is a restricted free agent.

Finally, I am surprised that Brock Nelson wasn’t protected by the New York Islanders. Nelson had a career year in points scoring (20g-25a—45pts), he was also a plus-six. In 316 NHL games, Nelson has scored (80g-73a—153pts), he’s also a minus-13. Nelson is an RFA and has another year on his contract worth 3.5 million dollars with a cap hit of 2.5 million.

BOSTON BRUINS
Available
Drew Stafford (F)

Carolina Hurricanes
Available players
Danny Kristo (F)

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
Protected
Jonathan Toews (F)

COLORADO AVALANCHE
Protected
Rocco Grimaldi (F)

LOS ANGELES KINGS
Available
Matt Greene (D)

Protected
Derek Forbort (D)

MINNESOTA WILD

Protected
Zach Parise (F)

NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Protected
Travis Zajac (F)

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Available
Brock Nelson (F)

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Available
Chris VandeVelde (F)

SAN JOSE SHARKS
Available
Aaron Dell (G)

ST. LOUIS BLUES
Available
Brad Malone (F)

WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Available
T.J. Oshie (F)
Taylor Chorney (D)