from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times,

Among the surprise names now available to the Kraken in Wednesday’s NHL expansion draft is Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price, the onetime Tri-City Americans junior team standout coming off a stellar playoff performance in which he made the championship round.

Price’s exposure to the draft on a list made public Sunday is one of the more jarring developments and leaves the Kraken with decisions to make. The Kraken, which received the final list Saturday afternoon, must decide whether Price’s salary-cap hit of $10 million for four more seasons is an anchor worth taking on in hopes of a late career resurgence akin to what Vegas got four years ago in plucking veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Other prominent unprotected names the Kraken could be in on include Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, a top-line forward and unrestricted free agent mired in a contract impasse, and Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Dougie Hamilton, another free agent whose protection status had been uncertain after that team allowed him to make preliminary inquires on the open market.

St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko, a former perennial 30-goal-scorer slowed by recent shoulder surgeries and who recently requested a trade from that organization, was also notably left unprotected.

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