With the protection lists for the Seattle expansion draft in, the Nashville Predators have made the bold move of leaving not one but both of their $8M AAV centers unprotected. Ryan Johansen and Matt Duchene will be available to the league’s 32nd team, which guarantees that at least one of them won’t be selected but makes no promises about the other.
Exposing Duchene in particular is striking. The coveted free agent signed a seven-year deal, including an eventual modified NTC, in the summer of 2019, and has played only two seasons—amounting to a total of just 100 games, thanks to the COVID-19 shutdown and delayed reopening—with the Predators.