The Blues’ protected list won’t be officially released until June 18th, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that Dmitrij Jaskin, Carl Gunnarsson, or Carter Hutton might not be protected, and could be tapped by the leagues’ newest franchise in the 2017 Expansion Draft.
Out of this group, losing Carter Hutton might just hurt the most. He’s been a stellar goaltender when called upon, and the depth at the goaltending position behind Hutton is mediocre at best. Copley got shipped back to the Capitals, Binnington has largely underwhelmed, and Husso, while promising, may not be totally ready to take the reigns if Allen gets hurt.