Mock Expansion Draft Results in Stud Defenders & Stellar Goaltenders

UFHL Mock Expansion Draft Results in Stud Defenders & Stellar Goaltenders

With the UFHL expansion franchise sale on the horizon — that auction ends March 1 at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT, now just over two weeks away — it is the perfect time for a mock expansion draft. The actual expansion draft will take place on July 21 — both for the Seattle Kraken in the NHL and the expansion franchise in the UFHL — but there will be several mocks conducted between now and then. The UFHL expansion process will mirror Seattle every step of the way, with the exception of Vegas players not being exempt since they are scattered across all 31 franchises in the UFHL. But no-move clauses will be honoured unless waived in the NHL and all the other rules will be in effect from CapFriendly’s expansion FAQ. The Seattle simulator tool was used to determine the eligibility status for all the players in the UFHL and is all kinds of fun for mocking Seattle’s potential draft results.

For this exercise, the UFHL rosters are reflective of Thursday, Feb. 11 — not accounting for a couple weekend blockbusters that went down on Friday and Saturday. The UFHL expansion franchise will select one player from each of the 31 franchises and must pick a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defenders and three goaltenders, plus five flex positions. The franchises are listed alphabetically, displaying their protected, exposed and exempt lists followed by the selection and a little analysis. There is a selection recap and a depth chart as well as some final thoughts to conclude this article. Without further ado, here are the results of the UFHL Mock Expansion Draft:

Battlehawks Protected Steven Stamkos (F) (NMC) John Tavares (F) (NMC) Kevin Hayes (F) (NMC) Ryan O’Reilly (F) William Karlsson (F) Jesper Bratt (F) Wayne Simmonds (F) John Klingberg (D) T.J. Brodie (D) David Savard (D) Jacob Markstrom (G) (NMC) Exposed Mattias Janmark (F) Alex Galchenyuk (F) Vinnie Hinostroza (F) Zemgus Girgensons (F) Josh Archibald (F) Jujhar Khaira (F) Riley Sheahan (F) Michael Frolik (F) Zach Bogosian (D) Cody Ceci (D) Greg Pateryn (D) Connor Carrick (D) Jani Hakanpaa (D) Kurtis MacDermid (D) Chad Ruhwedel (D) Jaroslav Halak (G) Exempt Ryan McLeod (F) Tyce Thompson (F) Sasha Mutala (F) Alexander Holtz (F) Kaiden Guhle (D) SELECTION: Alex Galchenyuk (F) ANALYSIS: Galchenyuk obviously hasn’t lived up to his draft position and potential, but he could be marketable for an expansion franchise as a high pick with some name value. Halak is the best player available from the Battlehawks, but there are plenty of quality goaltenders for this expansion draft. Janmark could be tempting if he continues to produce with Chicago, which could perhaps get him protected over Simmonds.

Blades of Steel Protected Auston Matthews (F) Mathew Barzal (F) Brayden Schenn (F) Jakub Vrana (F) Nikolaj Ehlers (F) Gabriel Landeskog (F) Jake DeBrusk (F) Josh Anderson (F) Ilya Samsonov (G) Exposed Mikael Backlund (F) Connor Brown (F) Sammy Blais (F) David Kampf (F) Sean Walker (D) Haydn Fleury (D) Jonas Siegenthaler (D) Ian Cole (D) Jon Merrill (D) Madison Bowey (D) Juuso Riikola (D) Darcy Kuemper (G) Exempt Ilya Mikheyev (F) Matej Pekar (F) John-Jason Peterka (F) John Marino (D) SELECTION: Haydn Fleury (D) ANALYSIS: With Marino exempt, it makes sense for the Blades of Steel to protect eight forwards under the eight skaters of any position configuration. That still leaves a few legit forwards with Backlund, Connor Brown and Blais, but Fleury flashed top-four potential in the bubble playoffs and is another top-10 pick just entering his prime years. Kuemper could certainly become one of the goaltenders for this expansion franchise if they aren’t high on Fleury’s upside.

Blizzard Protected Travis Konecny (F) Rickard Rakell (F) Max Domi (F) Ryan Strome (F) Lias Andersson (F) Andrew Shaw (F) Casey Cizikas (F) Noah Hanifin (D) Hampus Lindholm (D) Brandon Carlo (D) Thomas Greiss (G) Exposed Carl Soderberg (F) Tyler Ennis (F) Nic Deslauriers (F) Ryan Carpenter (F) Evgeny Svechnikov (F) Joey Anderson (F) Jonathan Dahlen (F) Alex Goligoski (D) Colin Miller (D) Gustav Lindstrom (D) Jacob Middleton (D) Kevan Miller (D) Anthony Bitetto (D) Jonathan Bernier (G) Calvin Pickard (G) Exempt Kaapo Kakko (F) Kristian Vesalainen (F) Hendrix Lapierre (F) Evan Barratt (F) Lean Bergmann (F) Adam Ruzicka (F) Daniel Torgersson (F) Isak Walther (F) Shakir Mukhamadullin (D) Filip Larsson (G) Victor Brattstrom (G) Keith Petruzzelli (G) Brian Boyle (F) (UFA) SELECTION: Jonathan Dahlen (F) ANALYSIS: Dahlen has been ripping it up in Sweden and will get another shot in North America, with San Jose wanting to get younger up front in the years to come. The expansion franchise will likely draft some players for the future and Dahlen could be a sneaky good selection. But the Blizzard could also go younger by protecting one or two of Dahlen, Evgeny Svechnikov and Joey Anderson rather than veterans Shaw and Cizikas. There aren’t a lot of options here, with Goligoski and Miller both overpriced on defence, though Goligoski’s cap hit should be coming down as a pending free agent. Miller might be more enticing to Seattle since he had the Vegas experience but that won’t factor into the decision making for this expansion franchise.

Brutes Protected Sidney Crosby (F) (NMC) Logan Couture (F) Zach Hyman (F) Eric Staal (F) David Krejci (F) Alex Kerfoot (F) Alex Nylander (F) Duncan Keith (D) (NMC) Shea Weber (D) Samuel Girard (D) Philipp Grubauer (G) Exposed Chris Tierney (F) Jason Spezza (F) Trevor Moore (F) Michael Amadio (F) Adam Brooks (F) Filip Chlapik (F) Gage Quinney (F) Brayden Burke (F) Damon Severson (D) Vince Dunn (D) Will Butcher (D) Brad Hunt (D) James Reimer (G) Pheonix Copley (G) Dan Vladar (G) Exempt Emil Bemstrom (F) John Leonard (F) Egor Korshkov (F) Marc Michaelis (F) Nick Abruzzese (F) Mackenzie Entwistle (F) Benoit-Olivier Groulx (F) Valtteri Puustinen (F) Fillip Hallander (F) Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (F) Ryan Suzuki (F) Michal Teply (F) Alexei Protas (F) Mikko Lehtonen (D) Timothy Liljegren (D) Kodie Curran (D) Joey Keane (D) Joseph Duszak (D) Joseph Woll (G) Drew Commesso (G) SELECTION: Vince Dunn (D) ANALYSIS: Dunn may not be available if the Brutes decide to protect four or even five defencemen — with one or two of Dunn, Severson and Butcher instead of Alex Nylander, Kerfoot and one or both of Krejci and Eric Staal. The Brutes could also expose Weber on the assumption that the expansion franchise wouldn’t want his contract — thus protecting Dunn or one of those aforementioned defenders instead of Weber — but Weber is still a fantasy beast in the present and would be a big loss for the Brutes’ blue line. If the Brutes do protect four or five defenders, then those forwards exposed as a result would become targets.

Crypto Knights Protected Mark Stone (F) (NMC) Taylor Hall (F) David Perron (F) Brock Nelson (F) Scott Laughton (F) Andrew Mangiapane (F) Ondrej Kase (F) Roman Josi (D) (NMC) Mark Giordano (D) Dmitry Orlov (D) Devan Dubnyk (G) Exposed Antoine Roussel (F) Michael Raffl (F) Mason Appleton (F) Dominik Simon (F) Sonny Milano (F) Zach Aston-Reese (F) Zach Senyshyn (F) Austin Czarnik (F) Tomas Jurco (F) Kole Lind (F) Dennis Cholowski (D) Jordan Oesterle (D) Luke Schenn (D) Fredrik Claesson (D) Martin Jones (G) Exempt Jakub Lauko (F) Arseni Gritsyuk (F) Nikola Pasic (F) Kaedan Korczak (D) Dmitri Samorukov (D) Jake Christiansen (D) SELECTION: Kole Lind (F) ANALYSIS: Lind is another promising forward prospect who could be on the expansion franchise’s radar but Crypto Knights owner Chericce Schulz might protect Lind over Ondrej Kase given her soft spot for Kelowna Rockets alums. In that case, Kase becomes the pick here as a top-six forward for the expansion franchise. The Crypto Knights would be exposing Jones in an attempt to dump his contract, but that seems unlikely with better options surely available between the pipes.

Duckman’s Domination Protected Nolan Patrick (F) Tyler Benson (F) Jordan Martinook (F) Brett Connolly (F) Jakob Silfverberg (F) Nick Bonino (F) Mark Jankowski (F) Dante Fabbro (D) Justin Schultz (D) William Lagesson (D) Antii Raanta (G) Exposed Loui Eriksson (F) Travis Zajac (F) Nate Thompson (F) Riley Nash (F) Brandon Pirri (F) Jordan Weal (F) Charles Hudon (F) Jason Demers (D) Niklas Hjalmarsson (D) Marc Staal (D) Scott Harrington (D) Patrik Nemeth (D) Scott Wedgewood (G) Cory Schneider (G) Exempt Alexander Barabanov (F) Ryan Poehling (F) Ty Dellandrea (F) Arthur Kaliyev (F) Jan Jenik (F) Matias Maccelli (F) Patrik Puistola (F) Connor Zary (F) Evan Vierling (F) Ryan Francis (F) Gunnarwolfe Fontaine (F) Pierre-Olivier Joseph (D) Philip Broberg (D) Matthew Robertson (D) Jordan Harris (D) Henry Thrun (D) Eemil Viro (D) Jacob Truscott (D) Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (G) Hunter Jones (G) Devon Levi (G) SELECTION: Scott Harrington (D) ANALYSIS: It’s slim pickings from Duckman’s but Harrington has had his moments this season for Columbus. Wedgewood could be another option but, again, there are better goaltenders to come. So Harrington becomes a less heralded selection with limited upside — not a sexy pick by any means.

Dynasty Protected Jeff Skinner (F) (NMC) Ryan Getzlaf (F) Jeff Carter (F) Phillip Danault (F) Dustin Brown (F) Tyler Johnson (F) Anthony Duclair (F) Jonas Brodin (D) (NMC) Kale Clague (D) Jacob Larsson (D) Sergei Bobrovsky (G) (NMC) Exposed Andreas Athanasiou (F) Artturi Lehkonen (F) Vladislav Namestnikov (F) Pat Maroon (F) Sam Gagner (F) Tobias Rieder (F) Dmytro Timashov (F) Denis Malgin (F) Olli Maatta (D) Justin Holl (D) Michal Kempny (D) Brian Dumoulin (D) Brett Kulak (D) Ben Hutton (D) Paul LaDue (D) Vitek Vanecek (G) Colton Point (G) Exempt Arttu Ruotsalainen (F) Logan Hutsko (F) John Beecher (F) Kasper Simontaival (F) Artem Zub (D) Theodor Lennstrom (D) Jack Rathbone (D) Brinson Pasichnuk (D) Josh Maniscalco (D) Max Crozier (D) Matt Kessel (D) Mason Langenbrunner (D) David Hrenak (G) Artur Akhtyamov (G) Melker Karlsson (F) (SHL) SELECTION: Andreas Athanasiou (F) ANALYSIS: Dynasty has some difficult decisions and Athanasiou might make the cut for the protected list if he continues to perform well for L.A. — especially knowing Dynasty’s owners are from L.A. and Kings fans. Essentially, they can protect two of Tyler Johnson, Duclair, Athanasiou and Lehkonen — Johnson could be dangled as a cap dump — but they could also expose veterans like Getzlaf, Carter and Dustin Brown in order to protect those aforementioned four. Ditto on defence, where Dynasty could protect another King in Maatta or potentially Holl over Jacob Larsson from the rival Ducks. Holl is trending up and making the most of his opportunity in Toronto, so he might play his way onto that protected list. Decisions, decisions … but if Athanasiou is exposed, he’d be the guy to grab. Lots of options to monitor here.

Eliminators Protected Jakub Voracek (F) Sam Reinhart (F) Dylan Strome (F) Dillon Dube (F) Radek Faksa (F) Lucas Wallmark (F) Josh Leivo (F) Alex Pietrangelo (D) (NMC) Ryan Murray (D) Markus Nutivaara (D) Tuukka Rask (G) Exposed Carl Hagelin (F) Cal Clutterbuck (F) Slater Koekkoek (D) Riley Stillman (D) Dmitry Kulikov (D) Kris Russell (D) Andrej Sekera (D) Steven Santini (D) David Rittich (G) Exempt Cody Glass (F) Martin Necas (F) Alexandre Texier (F) Joe Veleno (F) Drew O’Connor (F) Dominik Bokk (F) Philip Tomasino (F) Jakob Pelletier (F) Yegor Chinakhov (F) Theodor Niederbach (F) Vasili Ponomaryov (F) Josh Brook (D) Kevin Bahl (D) Wyatt Kalynuk (D) SELECTION: Cal Clutterbuck (F) ANALYSIS: The Eliminators don’t have much to offer — not with Glass, Necas and Texier being exempt — but Clutterbuck has a little value in leagues with hits as a scoring category like the UFHL. Koekkoek could be anothe