The Anaheim Ducks’ expansion draft protected list was revealed yesterday and in two days, we’ll find out which player will be joining the Seattle Kraken.
Here's a recap of the list:
FORWARDS (7): Nicolas Deslauriers, Isac Lundestrom, Max Jones, Rickard Rakell, Jakob Silfverberg, Sam Steel, Troy Terry
DEFENSE (3): Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Josh Manson
GOALIE (1): John Gibson
The Ducks chose to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and a goalie, rather than using the 4-4-1 format. As a result, Max Jones, Jakob Silfverberg and Nicolas Deslauriers were protected with the extra forward slots, leaving defenseman Haydn Fleury exposed.
The Ducks do have some other notable players exposed, like Adam Henrique, Danton Heinen, Sonny Milano, Alexander Volkov, Derek Grant, Josh Mahura, Kevin Shattenkirk and Jacob Larsson. Despite some of the exposed forwards being potential options though, it does seem likely that Seattle would be most likely to go with Haydn Fleury.
Fleury has 179 games of NHL experience and is still under contract for another year at a $1.3 million cap hit. He’s still young enough to remain with the team long-term and does have top-four potential.
The other options I could see would be Danton Heinen or Josh Mahura but I don’t think either is as appealing of an option. Both are due for new contracts and between Heinen’s underwhelming season and Mahura’s lack of experience, Fleury remains the most likely option. You could maybe include Alexander Volkov in there as well but again, he lacks experience.
The other potential scenario would be a deal being made for Seattle to select Adam Henrique, but I think this is probably less likely. Anaheim would have to give up assets to get the full contract off the books or would have to retain quite a bit of money to make Seattle want to take him. Even with a good chunk of salary retained though, I’m not sure Henrique, who’s 31 years old and cleared waivers this season, would become a more attractive option than Fleury.
So while it’s possible someone else gets selected, it seems likely that Haydn Fleury’s short tenure with the Ducks could come to an end.
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Do you think Haydn Fleury will be the player selected by Seattle?
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