The San Jose Sharks’ expansion draft protected list has been revealed.
Sharks official protected list. No surprises.
Rudolfs Balcers (F) Logan Couture (F) Jonathan Dahlen (F) Tomas Hertl (F) Evander Kane (F) Kevin Labanc (F) Timo Meier (F) Brent Burns (D) Erik Karlsson (D) Marc-Edouard Vlasic (D) Adin Hill (G)
There were no surprises on defense, with Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson and Marc-Edouard Vlasic being protected. In net, the Sharks protected newly acquired netminder Adin Hill, leaving Martin Jones exposed.
In terms of forward protection, most of the decisions were pretty obvious, with Rudolfs Balcers, Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl, Evander Kane, Kevin Labanc and Timo Meier taking up six of the seven slots. However, one notable decision was the Sharks opting to protect Jonathan Dahlen over Ryan Donato.
Dahlen has been dominant in Sweden’s second-highest professional league over the last two years but has yet to play an NHL game. Donato was acquired by the Sharks last offseason for a third-round pick and scored six goals and 20 points in 50 games this year.
Other notable roster players who were left unprotected are Dylan Gambrell and Radim Simek, though Donato remains the player with the highest upside available for Seattle, if they’re willing to pay out a bit of money to sign him to a new contract.
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Do you agree with the decision for the Sharks to protect Jonathan Dahlen over Ryan Donato?
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