Blackhawks protects 11 players in NHL draft, leave Nikita Zadorov exposed

Blackhawks ’11-player defensive list from the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, released on Sunday, surprisingly does not include defender Nikita Zadorov.

Zadorov, Adam Gaudette, Ryan Carpenter, Calvin de Haan and Malcolm Subban will be available in the new Seattle Kraken on Wednesdays. Kraken will select one player from each of the other 30 teams, with the exception of the Golden Knights.

The Hawks security list is as follows:

Attackers (7): Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Brandon Hagel, Henrik Borgstrom, David Kampf

Defenders (3): Connor Murphy, Riley Stillman, Caleb Jones

Goalkeeper (1): Kevin Lankinen

Players with at least two seasons, a group that includes Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik, Lukas Reichel, Pius Suter, Philipp Kurashev, Adam Boqvist, Ian Mitchell, Wyatt Kalynuk and Nicolas Beaudin, will be automatically exempted from the draft expansion.

Hawks ’decision to protect both the recently expanded Stillman and the newly acquired Jones over Zadorov was unexpected. Although the limited free agent said it was asking for a big deal, Zadorov, acquired from Avalanch last fall at Brandon Saad’s high prices, still has significant commercial value.

Among the attackers, the last place probably ended in a decision between Kampf and Gaudette, and the Hawks eventually decided to protect both of them longer-term.

Around the league, a steady wage rate clearly played an important role in the team’s decision-making process.It had a bunch of big veterans with a hefty heel hit like Canadiens Carey Price, Blues Vladamir Tarasenko, Flyers James van Riemsdyk, Predators Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen and Flames Mark Giordano left naked.