The National Hockey League has announced that it has approved an expansion franchise to the city of Seattle. The franchise marks the first League expansion since 2017-18, when the NHL added the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas was the first expansion team since 1997, when four franchises – Nashville (1998-99), Atlanta (1999-00), Columbus and Minnesota (2000-01) were added to the league.

Protected Players

Teams will be permitted to protect a certain amount of their players, meaning that they would not be exposed as available players in the Expansion Draft. Teams will be permitted to protect a group of players that fall under one of the following two options:

Option 1
Forwards7
Defense3
Goalies1
Option 2
Skaters (F / D)8
Goalies1
In our Expansion Draft Tool, these requirements are shown as:
No Movement Clauses

Players with a “No Movement” clause that is currently in effect, and continues to be in effect at the time of the Expansion Draft, must be protected by their respective team, unless such players choose to waive their NMC, at which point the team is free to expose them.

In our Expansion Draft Tool, these players are shown as:
First & Second Year Pros

All players who have accrued two or less professional seasons at the end of the 2020-21 season, as well as all unsigned draft choices appearing on the teams reserve list, will be exempt from the upcoming expansion draft.

Minimum Exposure Requirements

Teams must expose a minimum number of players that meet the following criteria for selection in the upcoming Expansion Draft:

Position#Criteria
Forwards2
  • under contract in 2021-22, AND
  • played in 40 or more NHL games last season, OR
  • played in 70 or more NHL games in the last two seasons
Defense1
  • under contract in 2021-22, AND
  • played in 40 or more NHL games last season, OR
  • played in 70 or more NHL games in the last two seasons
Goalies1
  • under contract in 2021-22, OR
  • who’s contract is expiring & is an RFA in 2020-21
In our Expansion Draft Tool, these requirements are shown as:
Injured Players

Players with potential career-ending injuries who have missed the previous 60+ consecutive games due to an injury, do not meet the criteria set forth by the league in respect to the minimum exposure requirements for players, and in certain cases these players may even be deemed as exempt from the Expansion Draft selection process.

In our Expansion Draft Tool, these players are shown as:
Expansion Rules when Drafting
  1. Expansion team must select one player from each team for a total of 30 players.
    In our Expansion Draft Tool, these requirements are shown as:
  2. Expansion team must select the following number of players at each position:
    Position#
    Forwards14
    Defense9
    Goalies3
    In our Expansion Draft Tool, these requirements are shown as:
  3. Expansion team must select a minimum of 20 players who are under contract for the 2020-21 season.
    In our Expansion Draft Tool, these requirements are shown as:
  4. Players selected for the Expansion team must have a total cap hit value of between 60% and 100% of the 2020-21 salary cap upper limit.
    In our Expansion Draft Tool, these requirements are shown as: