7 Days Away: To Move or Not to Move

When the Tampa Bay Lightning hoisted the Stanley Cup last Wednesday, there were 52 NHL players with no-movement clauses in their contracts, in turn requiring a spot on their teams' protected lists for next Wednesday's NHL Expansion Draft™.
Stop and savor that timeframe: We are seven days away from the Kraken taking a giant step toward building its roster on opening night and beyond, selecting 30 players July 21 and likely announcing trades for other players and draft choices.

The no-move clauses across the NHL are now officially down to 48 as of the end of Tuesday's business day. The reduction can be explained by the three ways a player's no-movement clause can be removed:
Tuesday marked the deadline for teams to ask players to waive their no-movement clauses (NMC) and Friday is the final day that players can waive their NMCs if so, ahem, moved. Fans can keep one on any others beside Keith and Johnson to indicate they are willing to be traded and/or left unprotected for the Expansion Draft.

For Keith, who led Chicago in ice time during all 16 seasons with the club, letting go of his NMC was motivated by a desire to play closer to his British Columbia home, especially to spend more time with his son during the season with a much shorter travel distance for possible off-day trips.
The trade allows Chicago to save $5.5 million in salary cap space as Keith's whole 2021-22 salary will be covered by Edmonton. Jones is a young defenseman you figure Chicago wants to protect, potentially leaving promising young defenseman Riley Stillman available to the Kraken as a possible selection. If the Blackhawks decided to protect Stillman, then Jones would likely be unprotected.
The Johnson decision effectively saves Colorado from exposing both defensemen Devon Toews (from whom the Avalanche traded for last offseason) and Ryan Graves. Most media members think Toews will now be protected. Johnson, 33, with two years remaining on a contract that will pay him $6 millon annually, will be on the draft-eligible list.
Minnesota's news day surprised lots of fans and media observers, plus probably a number of hockey operations executives around the league. It appears Parise and especially Suter were surprised themselves. Instead of needing to protect the two now-former Wild alternate captains (for nine seasons), Tuesday's media speculation is players such as defenseman Matt Dumba and forward Jordan Greenway among others might not be exposed.
Minnesota has two goalies who posted solid seasons in net this past season, veteran Cam Talbot and rookie Kaapo Kahkonen (eligible because he has played three professional seasons in North America, two in the American Hockey League). Unless GM Guerin makes a deal before the July 17 noon trade freeze, the Wild will have to make Talbot or Kahkonen eligible for the Expansion Draft.

The trade freeze prohibits NHL teams from making trades with any team except the Kraken during a period that extends to July 22 at 10 a.m.
The buyouts afford the Wild $10.33 million in salary cap space this summer, which will be highly useful in looking to re-sign scoring stars Kirill Kaprizov and Kevin Fiala, plus perhaps being a "buyer" when NHL free agency begins July 28. But the buyouts also will take up more than $6 million in salary cap space for the 2022-23 season and more than $7 million in both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
The remainder of the "work week" through Friday will reveal if any additional no-move clauses have been cleared by trade, voluntary player waives or buyouts. By this Saturday, 30 teams (Vegas is excluded but does stand down on trades) will be required to submit their protected by 2 p.m.
You might argue-let's say successfully-the "real" fun starts Sunday at 7 a.m. when Kraken GM Ron Francis and his staff receive the protected lists. The huge multitude of mock drafts conducted by the Seattle group of executives, scouts and hockey analytics experts will switch from mock to real.
Plus, other NHL teams and fans will be able see and debate those protected lists Sunday too. It's going to make for engaging weekend reading. Check back in this space Sunday for the lists, which players become officially eligible and more. The wait for Kraken fans is on a short clock.