The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft is officially less than one month away. For most teams, not including the four that continue their battle for The Stanley Cup, a lot of time and energy is spent finalizing their protection lists for submission by July 17th.

Though it is a practice done by many writers at this point, it only felt write to compose my St. Louis Blues protection list.

For starters, this exercise will consist of two separate posts. One focussed on the forwards, and another one highlighting the defensemen and goalie. As I expect the Blues to do, I will follow the seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie format.

Before we dive into the protected forwards, there is an interesting twist one must consider. St. Louis has some important decisions to make regarding upcoming UFA forwards, especially Jaden Schwartz. He is not included in my current protection list because he has not signed an extension as of this piece being written. However, if Schwartz does re-sign with the Blues before the expansion draft, one would imagine St. Louis protecting him.

Anyways, on to the potentially protected forwards...

Ryan O'Reilly

Even if the team went into full rebuild mode, which they are not, the captain and arguably the most important roster piece is going nowhere.

Brayden Schenn

The $6.5 million cap hit until 2028 may convince some that leaving the 29-year-old Schenn unprotected is a smart move. On the other hand, a few might believe that St. Louis can leave him exposed, and Seattle will not select him because of the remaining term and salary on the contract. Regardless, Brayden Schenn is an important piece to this roster, and you do not run the risk of losing him for nothing.

David Perron

He led the Blues in scoring last season and could look to extend his contract past this year. St. Louis is not letting him go anywhere.

Jordan Kyrou

St. Louis finally provided him the opportunity to be a mainstay on the roster, and he did not disappoint. Yes, they need to sign Kyrou to a new contract, but he is an important piece for this franchise both presently and down the road.

Robert Thomas

Regardless of whether the organization is pleased with Robert Thomas to this point, he remains just 21-years-old with loads of potential. Of course, there is a possibility he ends up with another team, but it won't be through the expansion draft.

Oskar Sundqvist

Injuries aside, Sundqvist is too important a player to this current roster. There really is not a player remaining that should be protected over him, so why risk the chance of losing him?

Vladimir Tarasenko

For obvious reasons, this is the player I struggled most with. We all know the storylines that paint a picture of an ending relationship between Tarasenko and the Blues. On the surface, freeing up $7.5 million in cap space seems great as well. However, is St. Louis truly ready to lose their not-too-far-removed star for absolutely nothing? Especially with the possibility that he returns to full health and gets back to his desperately needed scoring ways. If there were a forward that deserved protection over Tarasenko, I would be more for leaving him exposed. Unfortunately, that player does not exist. Similar to Thomas, Tarasenko could be on the move this offseason. One would imagine that the Blues want a return for his departure, though.

In terms of protected forwards, there should not be any real surprises to the Blues list. They run the risk of losing Ivan Barbashev, Zach Sanford, and Sammy Blais. All individuals St. Louis could manage without. However, Seattle may look towards the franchise's unprotected defensemen instead.

We will dive into those names next time.

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