Blackhawks: Breaking down their protected list for the expansion draft

The NHL protection lists around the entire league are out, and now we can break down what the Blackhawks are working with going into the expansion draft.

The Chicago Blackhawks are going to want to make sure they do not lose anyone too important to the franchise when the expansion draft roles around. I think the team did a pretty good job of making sure no one too vital will be lost, thanks to their protection list. 

Blast from the past:

During the 2017 expansion draft the Blackhawks protected the following players:

Jonathan Toews*

Patrick Kane*

Artem Anisimov*

Marian Hossa*

Richard Panik

Ryan Hartman

Tomas Jurco

Brent Seabrook*

Duncan Keith*

Niklas Hjalmarsson*

Corey Crawford*

(Asterisk indicates some form of no movement clause)

I already like this coming year’s list better. While there are a lot of legendary players on that team, Hjalmarsson would eventually get traded, and Hossa would never play another game in the NHL after this.

So without further ado, let’s jump in with the entire protection list for this year’s expansion draft.

Henrik Borgstrom (F)

Henrik Borgstrom has not played a game in a Blackhawks uniform, and yet he is one of the best players on this list the team needed to protect. Borgstrom was added from the Florida Panthers this season in a trade that added the contract of Brett Connolly.

Borgstrom is a former first-round draft pick from the 2016 NHL draft, and he is someone that can play in a lot of different spots in the lineup. Honestly, I expect that we will see Borgstrom next season in some role, especially considering the team is taking up one of their protection spots on him.

Borgstrom has played in 58 games in the NHL and has nine goals and ten assists in that time. This past season he spent the year with HIFK Helsinki where he put up 21 points in 30 games.