The Panthers have released the list of protected and available players ahead of the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft:

Protected:

Aleksander Barkov (F)
Sam Bennett (F)
Anthony Duclair (F)
Patric Hornqvist (F)
Jonathan Huberdeau (F)
Mason Marchment (F)
Carter Verhaeghe (F)
Aaron Ekblad (D)
Gustav Forsling (D)
MacKenzie Weegar (D)
Sergei Bobrovsky (G)

Available:

Noel Acciari (F)
Patrick Bajkov (F)
Juho Lammikko (F)
Ryan Lomberg (F)
Brad Morrison (F)
Aleksi Saarela (F)
Frank Vatrano (F)
Lucas Wallmark (F)
Alex Wennberg (F)
Scott Wilson (F)
Lucas Carlsson (D)
Kevin Connauton (D)
Tommy Cross (D)
Radko Gudas (D)
Noah Juulsen (D)
Brady Keeper (D)
Brandon Montour (D)
Markus Nutivaara (D)
Ethan Prow (D)
Anton Stralman (D)
Philippe Desrosiers (G)
Chris Driedger (G)
Sam Montembeault (G)

So does Seattle take Driedger at the draft? Or do they have a handshake deal in place already with him, take Gudas (or someone else) at the draft and then sign Driedger when the UFA/RFA period opens? Is that within the rules?

I assume Tippett and Knight are exempt due rookie status? I thought they would have to be protected.

What do you guys think of the list? Kind of what I thought, maybe a guy or two available that I thought they might protect.




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