Study: Fans Are Concerned About Expansion, But Not Terrified

Here in Vegas it’s all positive news about the expansion draft and the rather loose rules that should allow the team to be filled with some solid talent. But around the rest of the country, and Canada, it’s obviously being viewed a bit different.

Every team in the NHL is going to lose at least one player if the league does indeed to expand. Seeing as teams can only protect one goalie, three defenseman, and seven forwards, deeper rosters are certainly at risk of losing a good piece.

So, I decided to take to Reddit to get a gauge of how scared fans really are about the possibility of an expansion draft and the ramifications it will have on their favorite team.

Here’s the question I asked…

On a scale of 1-10, how concerned are you over the player(s) your team will lose in the expansion draft?

There were more than 70 responses to the post but only 14 gave a number between 1-10.

Those numbers ranged included multiple people giving ones (fans of the Canucks, Rangers, Flyers, Red Wings, Ducks, and Devils) and three people gave an answer of eight or above (fans of theLightning, Wild, and Penguins). The average answer came out to 4.14.

10/10 worried we might lose Matt Murray. He’s our future in goal, but since we can only protect 1 goalie, I understand why they’ll probably choose MAF over him. – Wolf_Without_a_Howl (Penguins Fan)

7-8. Going to force Yzerman to trade a goalie this summer if it goes down. Head says Vasy, heart says Bishop. Rough. – csampson (Lightning Fan)

Not too concerned. Every team will lose someone so it’s fairly equal damage to all teams. Cbus is known for making big trades so I feel the expansion teams might not do as bad of damage to us with thoughts of future dealings and not wanting to tick our management off. – Ivanthecow (BJ’s Fan)

There was one comment that kept popping up though which should summarize the thoughts of just about everyone.

A lot of teams will be losing a good/decent player as well. We won’t be the only team that has a reaction of “F that” when it happens. That needs to be taken into account. It’s not like your team is the only one losing someone. 29 other teams, presumably, will as well. -Minnesota_MiracleMan (Capitals Fan)

If you want to read the whole thread just head over to Reddit, and if you have some opinions for yourself, put em in the comments section below and tag it with who you root for.