While the league's players can rest after the Stanley Cup champion was decided on Sunday, general managers across the NHL will have little rest this week.
The Wild along with the rest of the NHL will submit their Protection List to the league’s Central Registry and the NHLPA on Saturday. The players who are not on that list that will be eligible to be selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft held on June 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The 2017 NHL Draft will be held in Chicago soon after, on June 23-24.
Wild GM Chuck Fletcher talked to the media on Wednesday about the upcoming expansion draft. Fletcher said that this is coming as no surprise, as himself along with Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Brent Flahr have been preparing for this for a long time.
“We’ve known about this for a year,” said Fletcher. “So when we first saw the rules, Brent and I looked at each other and we did the math very quickly and we’re like, ‘We’re gonna lose a big player.’ and you know you can’t trade out of it.”
He said that while he understand that expansion is good for the league, there is a harsh reality about losing a player that they have developed over multiple years in the organization.
“The rules are the rules,” explained Fletcher. “We have to expose a certain number of players. It’s actually I think a compliment to our organization that we have so many tough decisions. We have a lot of really good hockey players and no matter what we do we’re gonna have to expose five or six players that we wouldn’t want to expose and certainly would have no desire to lose.”
The list isn’t due for submission until Saturday. Fletcher said that the Wild will use every last second of that time to make sure that their decision is the right one for the team.
“We have a pretty good idea of what we would do if we do if we had to put the list in right now and things can change," Fletcher said. We have until Saturday at 4:00 and there’s no sense in putting the list in early.”
The biggest question for the Wild is whether they will lose someone a forward or a defensemen. Fletcher said he is unsure what position the Golden Knights will be interested in next week, but he will be said to see whoever it is move on to Vegas.
“For us, we could lose a forward or a [defenseman],” said Fletcher. “There’s at least six players that we’re gonna have to expose and I’d like to have all six of them for next year. I know we’re only gonna have five.”
While losing a player may not be in the best interests of the Wild right now, Fletcher stressed that the Wild will survive the expansion draft. Though mysteries still remain going into next season.
“One way or another we’ll be fine on the other side, it’s just that there’s a few unknowns that we’re gonna have to try to decipher.”
The Wild could take control over who the Golden Knights will pluck from Minnesota. Fletcher said he has been on the phone with Golden Knights General Manager George McPhee as well as Vegas’ Assistant General Manager Kelly McCrimmon trying to figure out a deal that works for both clubs.
“I’ve been speaking a lot with [George McPhee and Kelly McCrimmon] and they’ve been very forthcoming on what they’re trying to accomplish. We’re just trying to put names to concepts to see if there is a way to make it happen.”
However, Fletcher says that regardless if there is a deal or not with Vegas, there isn’t a player that Minnesota will be happy to send to Sin City this summer.
“We know we might have to give them a very good asset to make them not take a good player from us,” said Fletcher. “So either way we’re gonna give up something we don’t wanna give up.”