SBN Expansion Draft: Minnesota Wild Protected List
Last time the Wild participated in an expansion draft, it was the one plucking has-been's and wanna-be's from the other teams. And the Wild received:
| Draftee | Previous Team |
| Jamie McLennan (G) | St. Louis Blues |
| Mike Vernon (G) | Florida Panthers |
| Chris Terreri (G) | New Jersey Devils |
| Sean O'Donnell (D) | Los Angeles Kings |
| Curtis Leschyshyn (D) | Carolina Hurricanes |
| Ladislav Benysek (D) | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
| Chris Armstrong (D) | San Jose Sharks |
| Filip Kuba (D) | Calgary Flames |
| Oleg Orekhovsky (D) | Washington Capitals |
| Ian Herbers (D) | New York Islanders |
| Artem Anisimov (D) | Philadelphia Flyers |
| Stacy Roest (c) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Darryl Laplante (C) | Detroit Red Wings |
| Scott Pellerin (LW) | St. Louis Blues |
| Jim Dowd (C) | Edmonton Oilers |
| Sergei Krivokrasov (RW) | Calgary Flames |
| Jeff Nielsen (RW) | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim |
| Jeff Odgers (RW) | Colorado Avalanche |
| Steve McKenna (F) | Los Angeles Kings |
| Michal Bros (F) | San Jose Sharks |
| Joe Juneau (C) | Ottawa Senators |
| Darby Hendrickson (C) | Vancouver Canucks |
| Jeff Daw (C) | Chicago Blackhawks |
| Stefan Nilsson (F) | Vancouver Canucks |
| Zac Bierk (G) | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| Cam Stewart (LW) | Florida Panthers |
DUDE! Look at those names. Seriously, look at them. If there's one thing that can be certain, it's that the Winnipeg new-Jets and the Quebec new-Nordiques will have a better jump-start than the Wild had, if for no other reason than they don't have Doug Risebrough calling the shots.
The draft will take place today, on Thursday, and the results will be announced next Tuesday, after the Labor Day holiday. Stat-head Gabe Desjardins of Behind The Net is running the new Winnipeg franchise, and will face off against James Mirtle (formerly of From the Rink) of The Globe & Mail is running the new Quebec franchise.
So, who have the Wilderness chosen to protect and risk losing in the 2010 SB Nation Mock NHL Expansion Draft?
Protected:
D: Cam Barker, Brent Burns, Nick Schultz, Greg Zanon
F: Andrew Brunette, Matt Cullen, Cal Clutterbuck, Guillaume Latendresse, Martin Havlat, Mikko Koivu, John Madden
Unprotected:
G: Josh Harding
F: Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Kyle Brodziak, Chuck Kobasew, Antti Miettinen, Eric Nystrom, James Sheppard, Brad Staubitz
Two of our players will be taken in draft today, but we can only lose either one goalie OR one defenseman. Yes, I could have protected more players, but frankly, this gives us the opportunity to potentially lose some bad contracts. Is it likely? Not really, but I'll take a shot.
Who do you hope they pick? What would you have done differently?
Traverse City Roster Announced
Wild.com has the full roster for the Traverse City prospect tournament coming up on September 11-15.
The roster is:
Minnesota Wild 2010 PROSPECTS TOURNAMENT ROSTER
* = TRYOUT #Position / PLAYER BIRTHDAY '09-'10 TEAM HOMETOWN 62 F - CODY ALMONDJULY 24, 1989 WILD/HOUSTON (AHL) CALGARY, ALTA. 43 F - J.T. BARNETT*AUG. 21, 1992 VANCOUVER (WHL) SCOTTSDALE, AZ 73 F - JOEL BRODA* NOV. 24, 1989 CALGARY (WHL) PRINCE ALBERT, SASK. 59 F - BRANDON BUCK*AUG. 16, 1988 HOUSTON (AHL) DELAWARE, ONT. 54 F - BRETT BULMERAPR. 26, 1992 KELOWNA (WHL) PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. 52 F - ALEX EMOND*SEP. 16, 1991 RIMOUSKI (QMJHL) POHEMEGAMOOK, QUE. 65 F - JAY FEHR* MAR. 2, 1989 BRANDON (WHL) MORDEN, MTBA. 72 DEC. 12, 1990 CALGARY (WHL) CALGARY, ALTA. 76 F - TYLER JOHNSON* JULY 29, 1990 SPOKANE (WHL) SPOKANE, WA 56 f - MATT MACKAY* NOV. 27, 1990 MEDICINE HAT (Whl) CALGARY, ALTA. 57 f - dylan mckinlay apr. 20, 1992 chilliwack (whl) langley, b.c. 45 f - carson mcmillan sep. 10, 1988 houston (ahl) brandon, mtba. 79 f - jarod palmer feb. 10, 1986 miami (ccha) fridley, mn 75 f - chad rau jan. 18, 1987 houston (ahl) eden prairie, mn 63 f - casey wellman oct. 18, 1987 wild/umass (he) brentwood, ca 68 d - josh caron* feb. 10, 1991 kamloops (whl) campbell river, b.c. 71 d - tyler cuma jan. 19, 1990 ottawa (ohl) toronto, ont. 74 d - COLTON JOBKE APR. 20, 1992 KELOWNA (WHL) DELTA, B.C. 61 d - bjorn krupp mar. 6, 1991 belleville (ohl) manhattan beach, ca 78 d - nate prosser may 7, 1986 wild/colorado college (wcha) elk river, mn 64 d - marco scandella feb. 23, 1990 houston (ahl)/val d'or (qmjhl) montreal, que. 41 d - jared spurgeon* nov. 29, 1989 spokane (whl) edmonton, alta. 50 g - matthew hackett mar. 7, 1990 plymouth (ohl) london, ont. 70 g - darcy kuemper may 5, 1990 houston (ahl)/red deer (whl) saskatoon, sask.
I am not sure why Joel Broda is listed as a tryout contract, as he signed a fancy new three year entry level deal while at development camp.
For the record... No. The tournament is not being shown on TV. At all. Enjoy, instead, game 6 of the 1945 Stanley Cup.
T3I: Meet Your Houston Aeros Continues

Our friends over at The Third Intermission continue their series on the players coming in on the Aeros' 2010-11 roster. In the days since we last met, they have added four more players, bringing the total to nine. Keep in mind that some of the roster won't be determined until after the Wild host training camp, allowing the Aeros to know who they get to bring to their training camp.
Here are the latest posts:
Make sure you visit T3I throughout the year for the best Aeros coverage in the modern world. Yes, they have finally taken their place above the Visigoths on the rankings of Aeros coverage.
SBN Expansion Draft: Protected Players
HOCKEY WILDERNESS, An SBN Minnesota Wild Blog
Memorandum
To: All Hockey Wilderness Readers
Date: August 30, 2010
RE: Protecting players in SBN Expansion Draft
To All:
We have reached a stand still in the negotiations with the league, and despite our best efforts to prevent expansion, they insist that the plans will go through, and that our list of protected players is due by Thursday. The Commissioner's Office informs us that if we choose to continue our protest, and do not submit our list, we will lose prime talent in the expansion draft.
For the record, the rules are as follows:
- Teams can protect either "1 goalie, 5 defensemen and 9 forwards" OR "2 goalies, 3 defensemen and 7 forwards."
- If you go the two goalie route, at least one goalie left unprotected must have played in at least 10 games last season OR 25 games in the last two seasons combined. One game = at least 31 minutes.
- Each team must leave unprotected at least one defenseman who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.
- Each team must leave unprotected at least two forwards who appeared in 40 games last season OR 70 games in the last two seasons combined.
- Players who have played in 49 or fewer games are automatically exempt and do not need to be protected.
Please note that the franchise is not required to protect the full number of players. Please make your recommendations below, and we will take your suggestions into consideration. If possible, please provide reasons for your selections for the list, or non-selections. Also note that you are, indeed, allowed to protect James Sheppard.
Thank you all for working with us to convince the league that expansion was not needed, but we must now move forward or risk losing much needed talent.
Remember, we need to have our list in to the league by Thursday. No late submissions will be accepted.
Eternally yours,
Hockey Wilderness Office of Vengeful Beatings
SBN Mock Expansion Draft: Name the Teams
The mock expansion draft continues to make progress. Quebec City and Winnipeg have been chosen to be the host cities, but now they need names.
Please, vote for your favorite!
Prospect Overview at HockeysFuture.com
This is one of my favorite websites (other than our own CircularTheory) for prospect updates and analysis.
What does everyone think of the rankings? What would you change?
Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher and his team did a targeted reload at the 2010 Entry Draft, specifically adding skill players who can play along the wings. This strategy, along with some free agent prospect signings, gives the Wild's Top 20 a greatly renovated look from last March. With a lot of new youth, and a lot of players about to start their seasons in brand new leagues, the Wild's depth chart compares favorably with other teams around the league.
Russo: Pierre-Marc Bouchard is hopeful after missing most of last season
Russo has an excellent article explaining the progress of Butch over at the Strib today:
"I still have symptoms here and there, some pressure in the head, but it's not too bad. I'm trying to pace myself on the ice and in the gym, but my goal is to be ready for training camp [Sept. 17]."
Reading the article, it certainly sounds like it far from 100% he is allowed to skate. Make sure you check out the article for full details. Good to see Russo back in the paper.
Leaked: NHL guidelines for how teams credential bloggers - Puck Daddy
To add fuel to the fire ...
to those online journalists seeking access, concerned the access they have could be slowly restricted or if you're a reader of the alt-hockey media: Puck Daddy as obtained a draft proposal for "a credential policy pertaining to bloggers/web-based media" that was created after a NHL media relations conference call on Monday.
Here are the criteria:
1. Is part of a national news gathering agency does SB Nation count? - check
2. Reaches and broad audience Hong Kong to New Brunswick - check
3. Produces original content Umm yeah - check
4. Has an established record of developing original content over three seasons - check
5. Employs full-time journalists Are you effing kidding me? Some of us like to put food on the table. Hell, most beat reporters aren't full-time, they're seasonal. How the **** are we supposed to pull this one off? We're hosed.
So that was a nice run. Crap.





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