Breaking: One NHL team makes shocking expansion decisions

Not one, not two, but three top young players will be left exposed to Vegas.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Breaking: One NHL team makes shocking expansion decisions
Keystone Press

New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow has always marched to the beat of his own drum. And, while he may not always follow convention, he’s managed to pull off some pretty smart moves for his team over his 11 seasons as the Isles GM. So it should really come as no surprise that the Islanders list of protected players for the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft is one of the most scrutinized and debated list in the league.


The Islanders were the only team to protect five defensemen, using their picks on Johnny Boychuk, Travis Harmonic, Nick Leddy, Matt Pelech and Ryan Pulock. Surprisingly, Snow left Thomas Hickey and Calvin De Haan unprotected on the blue line. Up front Snow was forced to protect John Tavares and Andrew Ladd and used his last selection on Anders Lee, leaving Nikolai Kulemin, Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Dizikas and Josh Bailey unprotected. Perhaps most surprisingly, Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome will be left up for grabs. In goal, there were no surprises as the team elected to protect Thomas Greiss. 

If Snow has a move up his sleeve with Vegas GM George McPhee then the Islanders protection list makes perfect sense. If not though, Islanders fans will be left scratching their heads once again.