Last March I wrote this primer going over the NHL expansion draft rules.
As we get closer to the actual expansion draft -- protected lists are due Saturday evening, and the draft is Wednesday -- it's worth going back over some of the specific rules regarding eligibility and exposure requirements that can be confusing.
There are two different sets of requirements general managers must adhere to when putting together their protected lists.
ELIGIBILITY
As most are aware, players who have accrued two or fewer professional seasons, as well as unsigned draft picks, are all exempt from the expansion draft. They don't need to be protected and can't be chosen.
What constitutes a professional season in this context? A professional season is defined using the same circumstances that the NHL uses when determining a player's waiver status: For players aged 18 or 19, a professional season must include 11 NHL games. For players 20 or older, a professional season can include one game in any professional league -- minors included -- as long as the player is on an NHL contract at the time.
For the Penguins, these are the players exempt from the draft:
Forwards: Drew O'Connor, Radim Zohorna, Samuel Poulin, Nathan Legare, Justin Almeida, Jan Drozg, Jonathan Gruden, Jordy Bellerive, Valtteri Puustinen
Defensemen: P.O Joseph, John Marino, Cam Lee, Josh Maniscalco, Niclas Almari, Will Reilly
Goaltenders: Alex D'Orio
Everyone else has met the two professional seasons requirement and can be taken by Seattle if unprotected.
EXPOSURE REQUIREMENTS
The NHL also has a set of rules regarding the number eligible players left exposed. These rules are for the team, and have no bearing on whether a player is or isn't exempt from the draft.
Of the eligible forwards, at least two who are left exposed must be under contract for 2021-22 AND have played in either 27 NHL games last season OR played in a total of 54 NHL games over the last two seasons.
Of the eligible defensemen, at least one who is left exposed must be under contract for 2021-22 AND have played in either 27 NHL games last season OR played in a total of 54 NHL games over the last two seasons.
Of the eligible goaltenders, at least one who is left exposed must be under contract for 2021-22 OR be a restricted free agent this offseason.
Not all players who are eligible help their teams meet those exposure requirements, though. One of the clearest examples of this is the Sabres' goaltending situation. They have two goaltenders -- Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Stefanos Lekkas -- who are exempt from the draft based on their number of professional seasons played. Their eligible goaltenders are Carter Hutton, Linus Ullmark, Michael Houser, and Dustin Tokarski. Of those four, though, Hutton, Ullmark, and Houser are all set to be UFAs this summer and thus do not meet the Sabres' goaltender exposure requirements. Only Tokarski can fulfill the exposure requirement for them, because he is under contract for next season. That means Tokarski must be exposed, and one of Ullmark, Houser, or Hutton has to be the one protected.
The Penguins have several players who are eligible to be selected in the expansion draft because of their accrued seasons but still do not help satisfy those exposure requirements because of their contract status or games played:
Forwards: Zach Aston-Reese, Colton Sceviour, Mark Jankowski, Evan Rodrigues, Anthony Angello, Freddy Gaudreau, Sam Miletic
Defensemen: Cody Ceci, Mark Friedman, Juuso Riikola, Kevin Czuczman, Jesper Lindgren
Goaltenders: Max Lagace
Players like Riikola and Friedman are eligible for the draft, because they've both played professional games in more than two seasons after they were age 20. They just don't help the Penguins satisfy the team's exposure requirements because of their games played in the last two seasons.
Again, to be clear: These players are eligible to be selected in the draft and thus must be protected if the Penguins want to be absolutely sure that the Kraken don't select them. They just don't help the Penguins meet the exposure requirements for the list of players made available to Seattle.
Luckily for the Penguins, they have enough skaters and goaltenders who fulfill those requirements that there aren't any circumstances like that of the Sabres goaltending where a certain player must be left exposed to meet the requirements.
