2021 NHL expansion draft
2021 NHL Expansion Draft | |
---|---|
General information | |
Date(s) | July 21, 2021 |
Location | Gas Works Park Seattle, Washington |
Overview | |
League | National Hockey League |
Expansion team | Seattle Kraken |
Expansion season | 2021–22 |
The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft is an expansion draft that is being conducted by the National Hockey League on July 21, 2021, to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 2021–22 season, the Seattle Kraken.
Background
On December 4, 2017, the Seattle City Council voted 7–1 to approve a memorandum of understanding between the city of Seattle and the Los Angeles–based Oak View Group, co-founded by Tim Leiweke,[1] for renovations of KeyArena. On December 7, the NHL's board of governors agreed to consider an expansion application from Seattle, with an expansion fee set at US$650 million.[2] The Seattle ownership group was represented by David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer, who conducted a preliminary season ticket drive to gauge interest in Seattle.[3]
On February 13, 2018, the Oak View Group filed an application with the NHL for an expansion team and paid a US$10 million application fee.[4][5] At the time, the earliest the team could have begun playing was the 2020–21 season, pending the completion of arena renovations.[4]
On October 2, 2018, the NHL Executive Committee unanimously agreed to recommend the expansion bid to a vote of the Board of Governors in December.[6][7] The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve Seattle's expansion team on December 4, 2018.[8]
Rules
Seattle will follow the same rules for this draft as the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft,[9] with the provision that Vegas is exempted from losing a player in this draft in exchange for not receiving any of the money from the expansion fee paid by the Kraken.[10] The 30 other teams submitted their lists of protected players on July 17, and they had to expose at least two forwards and one defenseman who are under contract for the 2021–22 season and played in at least 27 games in the 2020–21 season, or more than 54 games in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons combined.[11] Teams also had to expose a goaltender under contract for the 2021–22 season or who will be a restricted free agent (with a qualifying offer received) in 2021. Players who made their professional debuts in North America in the 2019–20 or 2020–21 seasons are not eligible to be picked, and such players need not be protected from expansion.
At least twenty of the thirty players selected by Seattle have to be under contract for the 2021–22 season, and the team is required to select a minimum of fourteen forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders.[9] Furthermore, the 2021–22 salaries of the thirty players selected (as measured in terms of what is counted against the salary cap, otherwise colloquially known as the "cap hit") must add up to between 60% and 100% of the 2020–21 salary cap (i.e., the full nominal cap, not the prorated cap for the shortened 56-game season that was played). Seattle will be granted a 48-hour window prior to the draft to sign any unprotected pending free agent (restricted or unrestricted, one per team). If a team loses a player to Seattle during the signing window, it will not have a player selected from its roster during this draft as this will count as Seattle's selection.
Teams are required to protect any contracted players with no move clauses (NMCs) with one of the team's slots for protected players, unless:
- The contract expires on July 28, 2021, in which case the NMC is considered void for the draft.
- The player with an NMC continuing past July 28, 2021, has been deemed to have a career-threatening injury and is thus declared exempt from selection and use of a protection slot.[12]
- The player with an NMC waives his no-movement clause for the expansion draft.
Any player picked in the expansion draft cannot have his contract bought out until after the completion of the 2021–22 season.[9]
Protected players
The protected players' list was published on July 18, 2021.
Eastern Conference
Italics: Players protected for contractual reasons.[13]
Western Conference
Draft results
Trades
In return for agreeing to select certain unprotected players, the Kraken were granted concessions by other franchises.
See also
References
- ^ Baker, Geoff (December 4, 2017). "KeyArena MOU approved by Seattle City Council; will NHL announcement soon follow?". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "Bettman says NHL will consider Seattle expansion bid". USA Today. Associated Press. December 7, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Rosen, Dan (December 7, 2017). "Seattle can begin NHL expansion process". NHL.com. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ a b "Seattle applies for NHL expansion team". NHL.com. February 13, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Baker, Geoff (February 13, 2018). "Seattle group files application for NHL expansion team to play at KeyArena". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Kimelman, Adam (October 2, 2018). "Seattle expansion bid recommended for NHL Board of Governors vote". NHL.com. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ Baker, Geoff (October 2, 2018). "NHL executive committee unanimously recommends forwarding Seattle expansion bid to December vote". The Seattle Times. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
- ^ "National Hockey League approves expansion team in Seattle". NHL.com. December 4, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Seattle 2021 NHL Expansion Draft rules same as Golden Knights followed". July 23, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
- ^ "How the NHL expansion draft will work for the Seattle Kraken: Schedule, format, rules, players available". July 14, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
- ^ "Nine teams with interesting conundrums ahead of Seattle expansion draft". April 27, 2021. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Barr, John (June 22, 2021). "Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft injury exemption list". Sound of Hockey. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
- ^ "NHL announces protected list for 2021 NHL Expansion Draft". NHL.com. Retrieved 2021-07-19.