from Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch,
If the tentative expansion rules agreed upon last week by the NHL and players’ association hold true, an expansion draft is not something the Blue Jackets want to think about, much less discuss....
The Blue Jackets have six players with no-trade clauses: forwards David Clarkson, Brandon Dubinsky, Nick Foligno and Scott Hartnell, defenseman Fedor Tyutin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. They would be required, then, to choose the 7-3-1 protection plan heading into the expansion draft.
The Blue Jackets would be required to protect Clarkson, Dubinsky, Foligno and Hartnell. The hardest of those to swallow, clearly, is Clarkson, who can barely stay healthy more than a week at a time.
The Jackets would, of course, protect Brandon Saad and Boone Jenner. But that leaves just one spot for the following: 27-goal scorer Cam Atkinson, 2013 first-round pick Alexander Wennberg and scrappy Matt Calvert, not to mention top prospects Oliver Bjorkstrand and Josh Anderson.
On defense, Tyutin would require protection, and the Blue Jackets would want to keep young blue-chippers Ryan Murray and Seth Jones off-limits. Top prospect Zach Werenski would be exempt, as would other players with two or less seasons in the NHL, such as Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Buffalo’s Jack Eichel.
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