After a 30-minute dramatic delay, the NHL has released the official list of each team’s protected players for the Vegas expansion draft. By the time the official list was released, most of the team lists had already been leaked by various members of the media, but to no one’s surprise, the team managed by Fort Knox Francis was not one of them.
Going into the expansion draft, the Carolina Hurricanes held a couple of advantages: a flexible roster without difficult no-movement clauses or other constraints, and a core of young players who were exempt from draft consideration.