The Expansion Draft rules clearly state any player with a No Movement Clause (NMC) must be protected by his current team. The projections showed 51 players who had an NMC and must be protected. Well thanks to a league memo, and some sweet investigative work from SportsNet we now know there are exactly 66 players with NMCs.
Keep in mind the players on the list do have the option to waive their NMC, which would allow their current team to leave them exposed in the Expansion Draft.
Here’s the list of all 66. (Stick tap to SportsNet)
Anaheim (4)
Kevin Bieksa
Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Kesler
Corey Perry
Arizona (1)
Alex Goligoski
Boston (4)
David Backes
Patrice Bergeron
Zdeno Chara
David Krejci
Buffalo (1)
Kyle Okposo
Calgary (0)
Carolina (1)
Jordan Staal
Columbus (5)
Sergei Bobrovsky
David Clarkson
Brandon Dubinsky
Nick Foligno
Scott Hartnell
Chicago (8)
Artem Anisimov
Corey Crawford
Niklas Hjalmarsson
Marian Hossa
Patrick Kane
Duncan Keith
Brent Seabrook
Jonathan Toews
Colorado (2)
Francois Beauchemin
Erik Johnson
Dallas (2)
Jamie Benn
Jason Spezza
Detroit (1)
Frans Nielsen
Edmonton (3)
Milan Lucic
Andrej Sekera
Cam Talbot
Florida (1)
Keith Yandle
Los Angeles (1)
Anze Kopitar
Minnesota (4)
Mikko Koivu
Zach Parise
Jason Pominville
Ryan Suter
Montreal (2)
Jeff Petry
Carey Price
Nashville (1)
Pekka Rinne
New Jersey (1)
Ryane Clowe
N.Y. Islanders (3)
Johnny Boychuk
Andrew Ladd
John Tavares
N.Y. Rangers (4)
Dan Girardi
Henrik Lundqvist
Rick Nash
Marc Staal
Ottawa (1)
Dion Phaneuf
Philadelphia (1)
Claude Giroux
Pittsburgh (5)
Sidney Crosby
Marc-Andre Fleury
Phil Kessel
Kris Letang
Evgeni Malkin
San Jose (0)
St. Louis (0)
Tampa Bay (4)
Ryan Callahan
Valtteri Filppula
Victor Hedman
Steven Stamkos
Toronto (1)
Nathan Horton
Vancouver (3)
Loui Eriksson
Daniel Sedin
Henrik Sedin
Washington (0)
Winnipeg (2)
Dustin Byfuglien
Toby Enstrom
SportsNet also pointed out a few players who “narrowly missed the cut.”
Anaheim Ducks centre Antoine Vermette and Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask each hold no-move clauses that run until June 15, 2017 – just two days before each team must submit a list of protected players. That makes them eligible to be exposed (although, in Rask’s case, it’s virtually guaranteed not to happen). Arizona Coyotes goalie Mike Smith saw his no move expire last June and falls into the same category. -Chris Johnston, SportsNet
There’s been plenty of debate over how many players will decide to waive their NMC. My guess is it will happen with a few, but it won’t be terribly common. Why would these guys waive something they specifically had written into their contract in the first place?
We’ve talked about the Marc-Andre Fleury situation at length on this site, and this list confirms he has the power to put Pittsburgh in a terrible spot.
Chicago’s eight NMCs puts them in a bit of a pickle. The rules state you can protect either one goalie, three defensemen, and seven forwards, or one goalie and eight skaters. The goalie (Crawford) is set, and three of the other NMCs are defensemen (Seabrook, Hjalmarsson, and Keith). Therefore, if they want any flexibility on defense, to protect say Trevor van Riemsdyk or Brian Campbell, they’ll have to use the 8/1 strategy. Should be an interesting case when June rolls around.
If you are interested in playing around with the Expansion Draft protection lists, the best tool (now that Vegas scooped up GeneralFanager) is PlanMyTeam.com.
James
You might enjoy reading this article on the expansion draft by Frank Seravalli. Appears to be slim pickings. That suits me fine. I’m in favour of slowly building through the draft.
http://www.tsn.ca/vegas-isn-t-getting-a-lot-for-500m-1.615117
Tom
I thought Dustin Brown had a NMC. I would love to see him in a Golden Knights jersey with a captain’s C on it. He’s not what he used to be but he’s gritty and a born leader. And he’s got 2 Cups. LA change of scenery might be just what he needs.
James
@Tom
I can see where you’re coming from, but his contract sucks. I wouldn’t touch him with a bargepole.
Jarome Iginla’s captain material. Iginla is a respected veteran locker room leader
Tom
@James
I like Iginla. That would be cool
James
@Tom
Young, skilled and fast is the way the league is trending, but I wouldn’t mind adding the odd grizzled veteran. How about a future Hall of Famer? Jaromír Jágr anyone?