So, I conducted the expansion draft with Hobbs (Seattle Sea Dogs) It was decided that the Las Vegas Aces would hold the first overall pick.

So, here is how the draft went down:

1	Las Vegas Aces		Victor Hedman
2	Seattle Sea Dogs		Ondrej Pavelec
3	Las Vegas Aces		Petr Mrazek
4	Seattle Sea Dogs		Mikhail Grabovski
5	Las Vegas Aces		Justin Faulk
6	Seattle Sea Dogs		Sami Vatanen
7	Las Vegas Aces		Nino Neiderreiter
8	Seattle Sea Dogs		Darren Helm
9	Las Vegas Aces		Malcolm Subban
10	Seattle Sea Dogs		Andrew Hammond
11	Las Vegas Aces		Nikolay Kulemin
12	Seattle Sea Dogs		Kyle Clifford
13	Las Vegas Aces		David Perron
14	Seattle Sea Dogs		Daniel Winnik
15	Las Vegas Aces		Charlie Coyle
16	Seattle Sea Dogs		Nicklas Grossman
17	Las Vegas Aces		Justin Braun
18	Seattle Sea Dogs		Viktor Stalberg
19	Las Vegas Aces		Alex Chiasson
20	Seattle Sea Dogs		Deryk Engelland
21	Las Vegas Aces		David Jones
22	Seattle Sea Dogs		Stephrn Gionta
23	Las Vegas Aces		Reid Boucher
24	Seattle Sea Dogs		Tommy Wingels
25	Las Vegas Aces		Luca Sbisa
26	Seattle Sea Dogs		Brandon Sutter
27	Las Vegas Aces		Jamie McBain
28	Seattle Sea Dogs		Jay Beagle
29	Las Vegas Aces		Gabriel Bourque
30	Seattle Sea Dogs		Dylan Olsen
31	Las Vegas Aces		Rickard Rakell
32	Seattle Sea Dogs		Steve Ott
33	Las Vegas Aces		Antti Niemi
34	Seattle Sea Dogs		James Reimer
35	Las Vegas Aces		Kevin Klein
36	Seattle Sea Dogs		Tom Gilbert
37	Las Vegas Aces		Michael Bournival
38	Seattle Sea Dogs		Erik Condra
39	Las Vegas Aces		David Rundblad
40	Seattle Sea Dogs		Barrett Jackman
41	Las Vegas Aces		Zack Phillips
42	Seattle Sea Dogs		Jay McClement
43	Las Vegas Aces		Rob Klinkhammer
44	Seattle Sea Dogs		Matt Hendricks
45	Las Vegas Aces		Dmitri Orlov
46	Seattle Sea Dogs		Nick Schultz
47	Las Vegas Aces		Joe Vitale
48	Seattle Sea Dogs		Nicklas Jensen
49	Las Vegas Aces		Jamie Oleksiak
50	Seattle Sea Dogs		Cody McCormick
51	Las Vegas Aces		Mike Weber
52	Seattle Sea Dogs		Zach Redmond
53	Las Vegas Aces		Andrew Desjardins
54	Seattle Sea Dogs		Derek Mackenzie
55	Las Vegas Aces		Gregory Campbell
56	Seattle Sea Dogs		Matt Halischuk
57	Las Vegas Aces		Freddie Hamilton
58	Seattle Sea Dogs		Peter Harrold
59	Las Vegas Aces		Michael Neuvirth
60	Seattle Sea Dogs		Jarred Boll

So, that's how our draft went. 

Lines for both teams should be posted soon. 

Thanks for reading,

Joel

So, as previously promised, I conducted a mock expansion draft, with the first of my hockey gurus, Hobbs, representing the Seattle Sea Dogs (I know Seattle didn't make an official application, but he wanted to be Seattle) and me representing the Las Vegas Aces.

First thing was to set out some rules for who could be protected, who was automatically exempt, Etc.
I borrowed most of these rules from the 2000 expansion draft. So here are the rules:

•   Each Team May Protect:

o   1 goalie, five Defense, 9 forwards

o   Or

o   2 goalies, Three Defense, 7 Forwards

•          Each team must leave unprotected 1 Defense with 40 NHL games last year or 70 last two years.
•          Each team must leave unprotected 2 Forwards with 40 NHL games last year or 70 last two years.
•          If protecting two goalies, teams must leave unprotected a goalie with 10 NHL games last year or 25 last two years
•          Each team loses exactly two players.
•          Any skater with less than 150 games NA pro (NHL, AHL, ECHL) are exempt from being selected. 
•          Any Goalie with less than 65 Games NA Pro (NHL,AHL,ECHL) experience are exempt.
•          A team can only lose 1 goalie
•          Any player with a NTC or NMC must be protected
•        Any unsigned draft pick is automatically exempt from being picked. 

        So, There are our rules for how to protect and select players. 

        Next, I went through all players under contract for each team, and made their lists for who had to be protected due to a NTC or NMC, who was exempt from being selected, and what players each team would have to choose between.  

       

      Several teams were forced into exposing players I assume they would not want to lose. 

      One such team was the Tampa Bay Lightning. Each team must protect any player with a NTC or NMC. Tampa Bay has five such defenseman: Matt Carle, Jason Garrison, Braydon Coburn, Anton Stralman, and Mattias Ohlund. These five players must be protected. This means Tampa Bay cannot protect any more defenseman, forcing them to leave Victor Hedman available to be picked. If this was a real expansion draft, Tampa Bay would simply have to trade one of the five protected defenseman, As it stands, Hedman is available for our expansion draft. 

      

      Carolina was another team that had some issues, Each team must leave unprotected one defenseman who played 40 NHL games last year, or 70 in the past two years. Carolina has four who fit these criteria. Ron Hainsey, John-Michael Liles, James Wisniewski, and Justin Faulk. Faulk, however, is the only one of the four without a NTC or NMC, forcing the hurricanes to expose their young All-Star defenseman. The hurricanes are also forced to protect Cam Ward, since he has an NTC, They do not have the option of protecting both Ward and Eddie Lack, since they do not have a third Goalie who played in 10 NHL games last year or 25 in the last two years. This forces the Hurricanes to expose both Faulk, and Lack. 

      So, without further ado, here's the lists with each teams available, exempt, and protected. If you have any questions, feel free to leave it in the comments. 

      https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1D9h57aYclGZm7ge4xkx1Kuc5akwaMP61wqHyldyV27I/edit?usp=sharing

       Coming up next: Our Draft 

Hello to anyone who may be reading this. If you are, I'll give you an early thank you. On this blog I, along with a few of my hockey gurus, will be doing hockey anaylsis, as well as some "what if" projects. Stay tuned for new posts coming very soon. First up: A mock expansion draft.

Joel