The 2017 NHL expansion draft is upon us. 30 teams have submitted their protection lists, and now it's up to the Vegas Golden Knights to sift through, make side-deals and finally announce their roster on Wednesday night during the NHL Awards. Until then, you can try to do better than them with the SB Nation expansion draft tool!
You can't pick just anyone! Every NHL team can protect a certain amount of players from exposure, using one of two methods:
- 7 forwards, 3 defensemen, 1 goalie
- 8 skaters, 1 goalie
Which method gets used comes down to different teams' situations. The rest of the rules are as follows:
- Players with No-Movement Clauses are automatically protected.
- First & second year pros are automatically exempt.
- Players with long-term injuries are exempt.
- Vegas must select one player from each team for a total of 30 players.
- Vegas must select at least 14 forwards, 9 defensemen and 3 goalies.
- 20 of Vegas' selections must be under contract for next season.