The Montreal Canadiens, like every team in the NHL except for their third round opponent, will soon have to gear up for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft.
As part of their own expansion plan, the Vegas Golden Knights do not have to lose a player to the Kraken this offseason.
Everyone else will have the option of protecting either seven forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender.
The Canadiens will obviously protect Carey Price in goal. On the blue line, they have to protect Jeff Petry and will almost certainly keep Shea Weber as well. Their third defender is a coin toss between Joel Edmundson and Ben Chiarot, but since Edmundson has two extra years on his contract, let’s say he gets the final spot on the blue line.
Up front, things can change depending on which forwards get re-signed. Currently, Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Joel Armia are slated to be unrestricted free agents on July 28th, so there is no point in using a protection slot on them. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are exempt from the draft because they haven’t played three pro seasons.
So, up front the Canadiens are certain to protect Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Josh Anderson. Jonathan Drouin won’t be given away for nothing so he is protected as well. Jake Evans played well as a rookie this season and deserves a spot in next year’s lineup and the final protection slot up front should go to Artturi Lehkonen for his terrific defensive play and penalty killing ability.
Under this scenario it has been widely speculated that the Seattle Kraken would select Jake Allen from the Montreal Canadiens.
However, strong playoff performances could have the Kraken brass looking elsewhere. They could still select a solid tandem of goaltenders like Braden Holtby and Anton Khudobin or go hard after one of the many UFA netminders this offseason like Chris Driedger, Freddy Andersen, Phillip Grubauer, Pekka Rinne, Petr Mrazek or James Reimer.
Plus, they could grab one of these three guys who are having solid showings in the postseason.
Phillip Danault
Phillip Danault is an unrestricted free agent at season’s end so there isn’t a big rush for the Canadiens to re-sign for next season, as they would then have to protect him in the expansion draft.
However, the Kraken will be allowed to negotiate with other team’s pending free agents in the days leading up to the expansion draft, so if the Canadiens elect not to re-sign Danault ahead of time, a phone call from Kraken general manager Ron Francis could entice Danault to sign with the expansion club.
Vegas aside, all expansion teams have struggled to score goals. Danault isn’t going to help a team score a boatload, but he has shown over the past few years that he can stop the world’s best. He showed over the past few weeks he could hold the Rocket Richard winner to just one goal in seven playoff games.
Looking over mock drafts that have been done for the Kraken and they are often weakest down the middle. With teams allowed to protect seven forwards, almost every team in the league will protect three centres, leaving their fourth best option up for grabs.
Down the middle, the Kraken might be able to get a player like Ryan Johansen if they want to take on that huge contract with the hopes he bounces back. They could get Alex Kerfoot from the Maple Leafs but he isn’t a big scorer. Maybe Mason Appleton is available and they hope he can transition to the middle after mostly playing wing.
Taking Danault, if he has already agreed to a contract beforehand, makes a lot of sense for an expansion team. They shouldn’t expect him to score more than 12 goals or 40 points, but he would play Selke level defence and hold opponents off the scoresheet.
Paul Byron
I know things worked out quite well for the Vegas Golden Knights, but that isn’t likely to be the case for the Kraken. Teams just won’t be foolish enough to give them both Erik Haula and Alex Tuch, or Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith or Shea Theodore.
Lightning just can’t strike twice on the same league in succession.
What the Kraken will have is a bunch of third line forwards and second pairing defenders. They won’t exactly be misfits, but they will get a sense of being castoffs from their original teams as they weren’t deemed valuable enough to protect.
If someone has to be a leader of a team of castoffs, why not Paul Byron?
The Calgary Flames placed him on waivers in 2015 so they could keep a roster spot for Brandon Bollig who had scored one goal in 62 games the previous season.
Byron was claimed by the Canadiens and would go on to become a regular contributor who twice scored over 20 goals and was on pace to do it a third time if not for injury. He became a fixture on the team’s penalty kill and after two playoff rounds, that penalty kill has allowed just three goals and scored four times.
Byron is an assistant captain for the Canadiens and, knowing exactly what it is like to be cast aside by an NHL team, could be a great leader for the Seattle Kraken in their inaugural season.
The only downside for the Kraken is his $3.4 million cap hit that is a bit high considering he has 26 points in his last 75 games. But he only has two years left on that deal, and would be a perfect veteran and leader for a team of castoffs.
Ben Chiarot
Ben Chiarot has played two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. He has primarily been on the top pairing with Shea Weber, tasked with shutting down the opposing team’s very best players.
Chiarot has certainly had some ups and downs in those two years, but he has shown up to play at the most important time of year.
Last season, the Canadiens played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Best-of-5 qualifying round. Chiarot averaged over 23 minutes as the Habs upset the Pens in four games before falling to the Philadelphia Flyers in six contests.
This year’s playoffs has Chiarot playing even more. He is averaging 25:13 per game as the Canadiens ride their top four defenders into the third round of the playoffs. Chiarot plays a simple style, but it is one with physicality that so many general managers appreciate, especially this time of year.
Heading into the final year of his contract, Chiarot would be an excellent add for Seattle. He has shouldered a huge load for the past two seasons and proven he can do it in the postseason. If Seattle is good, they can use him in their top four next year. If they struggle, they know they can move him at the trade deadline for a decent return as other teams will line up for a physical, minute eating defenceman.
The Kraken will still take a long look at Jake Allen when they are finalizing their expansion draft picks. But Ben Chiarot has given them a lot to think about with his postseason performances in the past two years.
Seattle will be able to find other goaltenders that can form a solid tandem like Allen would, but will they find another defender who plays 24 minutes per night over the past two playoffs? Not likely.