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Montreal Canadiens: Who Will the Seattle Kraken Take in the Expansion Draft?

By Maria Bouabdo

Feb 7, 2019; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber (6) celebrates with Jonathan Drouin (92) and Brendan Gallagher (11) and Phillip Danault (24) after scoring a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 7, 2019; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber (6) celebrates with Jonathan Drouin (92) and Brendan Gallagher (11) and Phillip Danault (24) after scoring a goal against the Winnipeg Jets during the third period at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /
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Each team taking part in the Seattle Kraken’s expansion draft released its list of protected players yesterday. Here’s what the Montreal Canadiens’ list looks like:

Forwards:
Josh Anderson
Joel Armia
Jake Evans
Brendan Gallagher
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Artturi Lehkonen
Tyler Toffoli

Defencemen:
Ben Chiarot
Joel Edmundson
Jeff Petry

Goaltender:
Jake Allen

A few weeks ago, we might have been expecting something completely different, like having Phillip Danault, Jonathan Drouin, Shea Weber, and Carey Price protected from the draft. But with all the recent (and somehow chaotic) news, this list makes complete sense.

Weber and Price have big injuries, could need surgery, and could miss a lot of time. From the looks of it, Danault doesn’t expect to stay with the Canadiens. And we still don’t know much about Drouin’s situation. That explains why they’re not protected.

But losing one of them would be huge, so imagine losing all of them. This could very well be happening in a few weeks, or even days. If Price isn’t drafted by Seattle and is placed on long-term injury reserve, he could be missing a lot of time next season, and the team could be missing two leaders, their best play-maker, and one of the best shutdown centers in the league.

But general manager Marc Bergevin must feel confident about exposing these four players, so I’m thinking he probably knows he won’t be losing Price or Weber, maybe he even made a deal with Seattle so they don’t take one of them.

For Danault and Drouin, the only explanation there is, is that Bergevin is comfortable enough losing any of these two.

However, one player that I am not entirely confident to see exposed in the draft is Paul Byron. He has been through so much, but never complained, never gave up, and always just did his best. I thought the Canadiens were extremely lucky not to lose him when they put him on waivers this past season, but now they risk losing him again to Seattle.

On the other hand, Joel Armia is an unrestricted free agent (UFA) and could’ve been exposed instead of Byron. That way, Armia could possibly just say no to Seattle, but Byron doesn’t have that option, and losing him would be losing a big part of this Canadiens team’s depth. However, with the other four big players exposed, Byron might not be Seattle’s priority right now.

Next. Should the Montreal Canadiens Try to Sign Gabriel Landeskog?. dark

In the end, I think the Kraken will end up drafting Jonathan Drouin if he is healthy and expected to be ready in September. Let’s also remember that Bergevin had said Drouin was doing “very well” during his exit interview, so that has to count for something, and if Drouin wants a change of scenery, what’s better than an expansion team?

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