Edmonton Oilers opt to protect four right wingers including Kassian, Archibald in Seattle expansion draft
Kassian #Kassian
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Author of the article:
Bruce McCurdy • Edmonton Journal
Publishing date:
Jul 18, 2021 • 38 minutes ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation 
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck tracks a shot with Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Kassian lurking in Game 3 of a Stanley Cup playoff series in Winnipeg on Sun., May 23, 2021. Photo by Kevin King /Postmedia Article content
Protected lists were submitted by thirty NHL teams yesterday afternoon for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, with the NHL vetting the lists overnight before releasing them on Sunday morning. Side deals pending, the Kraken will pick one player from every club except the Vegas Golden Knights, who are exempt from both the process and the proceeds.
Edmonton Oilers’ protected list contained few surprises following the shock of Monday’s trade for veteran defenceman Duncan Keith.
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Oilers protected list:
F: McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Yamamoto, Puljujarvi, Archibald, Kassian.
D: Nurse, Bear, Keith.
G: Skinner
Exposed (not pending UFAs): Benson, Klefbom, Stalock, Lagesson, Marody, Russell, Neal, Turris, Koskinen, Khaira, Kahun, Shore.
— Daniel Nugent-Bowman (@DNBsports) July 18, 2021
The club has clearly been trending for the 7-3-1 distribution of forwards-defencemen-goalies since the signing of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to an eight year extension three weeks ago. RNH along with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Kailer Yamamoto were all surefire protectees. GM Ken Holland chose to use the last two spots on veteran right wingers Zack Kassian and Josh Archibald, a bit of a head-scratcher in the sense that they combined for just 9 goals and 9 assists in 79 games in 2021, at a combined cap hit of $4.7 million. But smoke signals coming from Oilers camp all week suggested that the two vets were likely to get priority over younger, cheaper, but less-established alternatives like Tyler Benson, a point-per-game scorer in the American Hockey League. There was also a window to acquire a forward or two from another NHL squad facing protected list headaches, but no more trades materialized.
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On the back end, Keith joins Darnell Nurse and Ethan Bear as the logical trio to be protected. That leaves the unfortunate Oscar Klefbom on the outside looking in, a situation which would have been unimaginable a year ago. With Klefbom missing the entire season to a shoulder issue which remains a problem for the foreseeable future, the club made the understandable decision to expose him to the expansion draft process.
Between the pipes, youngster Stuart Skinner got the nod ahead of a pair of NHL veterans in Mikko Koskinen and Alex Stalock. None of the three projects as Edmonton’s starter next season, an issue which will be resolved with a trade or free agent signing. Mike Smith remains the favourite, but is UFA and remains unsigned.
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Who will Seattle select? A handful of options rise to the surface:
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The Oilers and their fans must now wait until Wednesday night when the Kraken roster will be unveiled to find out which player is down the road.
The new expansion club faces some interesting choices from elsewhere in the NHL, where luminaries like Carey Price, Vladimir Tarasenko and Mark Giordano among others are available to be selected. One player who won’t be an option for the Kraken is Caleb Jones, traded by the Oilers to Chicago in the Keith deal last Monday and today protected by the Blackhawks.
Recently at the Cult of Hockey
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McCURDY: Last minute, pre-expansion Oilers roster musings
STAPLES: How Chicago writers rated Keith’s play in 2021
LEAVINS: How Oilers players felt about Duncan Keith addition
McCURDY: Advantage Chicago on the Keith trade
Follow me on Twitter @BruceMcCurdy
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