Montreal Canadiens: Players Habs Should Protect in Expansion Draft

The Vegas Golden Knights will be set to pick their roster in June during the NHL Expansion Draft, and the Montreal Canadiens will need to set a list of protected players.

The Montreal Canadiens have a unique blend of young players and older veterans. The Habs also have some bargain contracts that are valuable, but they also have bloated contracts, that the club would like to get rid of. However, the Canadiens will face tough roster decisions in June, when the Vegas Golden Knights will select their roster by expansion draft.

The NHL has set a few rules for how the Golden Knights can pick their roster, and how other teams can protect their players. The Knights will also be able to select some really talented players, because the NHL wants the Knights competitive right away. Here are some of the rules that the NHL has put in place, for teams to protect their roster:

"Clubs will have two options for players they wish to protect in the Expansion Draft:a) Seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltenderb) Eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goaltender* All players who have currently effective and continuing “No Movement” clauses at the time of the Expansion Draft (and who to decline to waive such clauses) must be protected (and will be counted toward their club’s applicable protection limits).* All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club’s applicable protection limits)."

The Habs have two options in protecting their players, option A, or option B. However, Option A would make the most sense for teams to choose, as it would allow teams to keep more players. But the question now becomes, what players should the Canadiens protect?

Forwards Habs Should Protect

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The Habs will have some tough choices when it comes to protecting their forward group. Recently, the Canadiens have had a few forwards step up their offensive production. The Habs will also have to choose between letting veteran leaders go, or protecting their young talent.

Here are the seven forwards that the Habs should protect:

Alex Galchenyuk, Alexander Radulov, Max Pacioretty, Andrew Shaw, Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, and Paul Byron.

This list keeps the Habs top six forwards in tact, as well as some younger talent who could continue develop. Radulov made the list, because it seems likely that the Canadiens will want to resign him.

Players like Artturi Lehkonen, and Michael McCarron will be protected because they are two years pro and under. The downside is that some of the Habs Veteran leaders will be exposed to the draft.

Forwards like Tomas Plekanec, Brian Flynn, and Torrey Mitchell will be available to the Golden Knights. Plekanec currently has a 6 million dollar cap hit, and hasn’t produced well offensively. If Plekanec was taken, it will relieve the Habs salary cap, but it would hurt the clubs leadership group.

Defensemen Habs Should Protect

In regards to who the Habs should protect on defense, their decisions will be a lot easier, than their forward group. They really only have only two options in who they could keep, because Jeff Petry has a no movement clause in his contract.

Here are the Defensemen the Habs should protect:

Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, and Nathan Beaulieu

Protecting this group of defenders is really a no brainier for the Canadiens. Weber has been a beast all season, and is one of the best Defencemen in the NHL. Jeff Petry is a very underrated defender, and would be a top pairing Defencemen on many other teams.

Nathan Beaulieu is starting to show his potential as a top four defender. Beaulieu could become a top pairing player next to Shea Weber soon enough, and because of his potential Nathan is worth protecting.

The Defencemen that will be exposed will be Andrei Markov, Alexei Emelin, Greg Pateryn, Zach Redmond and Mark Barberio. However, Markov will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, and he could be contemplating retirement. It would also be unlikely that Markov would want to leave the Habs organization, if he wanted to return, and could resign during the free agency period.

Loosing Emelin would be a big blow to the Habs defense corps, as he brings a ton of physicality to their roster. However, loosing Emelin would also free up 4.1 million dollars of cap space for the Habs. If the Knights took Emelin, it could benefit the Habs, because the Canadiens could afford to resign some of their own talent.

Related Story: Determining Alex Galchenyuk’s Next Contract

A Goaltender Habs Should Protect

This will be short and sweet, and clearly Carey Price will be protected. Price is the Montreal Canadiens best player and may have another shot at winning his second MVP trophy this season.

Goaltender Al Montoya, who was recently resigned, will be open for Vegas to draft. Montoya has played very well for the Canadiens this season, and hopefully he won’t end up a Golden Knight.

Final Thoughts

Canadiens General Manager, Marc Bergiven, will have some tough decisions to make, in who he should protect in his group of forwards. His decisions on defense and in goal are very simple, unless something catastrophic happens.

Next: Poor Penalty Killing Costing the Habs

Also, this list could look different depending on if the Habs acquire someone by trade, or on waivers. However, these would be the best players for the Montreal Canadiens keep right now.

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