Who the Chicago Blackhawks will protect against Seattle Kraken

Any player that has only played in one or two seasons is exempt from the expansion draft and does not need to be protected, which means Chicago has a number of players safe heading into the event.

Dominik Kubalik, Adam Boqvist, Kirby Dach, and Ian Mitchell will all be safe from the expansion draft and will not need to be protected by the Blackhawks. So Chicago can use those spots to save players that have played in three or more seasons at the time of the draft.

Last time around the Blackhawks were lucky enough to not need to worry about Artemi Panarin because he was coming off his second year in the NHL at the time. The ‘Hawks did not need to protect him during the event and did not have to worry about losing one of their brightest stars at the time, Bowman would throw Panarin away all on his own just a few weeks later!

This also means rookies like Pius Suter, Lucas Carlsson, and any other young prospect the Blackhawks have in their system is pretty much safe during this expansion draft, which is great for this team’s future. So, let’s take a look at the first variation of how the Blackhawks could protect their star players.