2021 NHL expansion draft
The 2021 NHL expansion draft was an expansion draft that was conducted by the National Hockey League on July 21, 2021, at Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington. The draft took place to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 2021–22 season, the Seattle Kraken.
The Kraken were approved to join the NHL in 2018, and they officially joined the league in the beginning of 2021. Prior to the draft, the Kraken had an exclusive three-day free agent signing period, in which they signed Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, and Chris Driedger, all of whom would be counted as selections by the Kraken in the draft. The draft itself followed the same rules as the 2017 NHL expansion draft, held for the Vegas Golden Knights, in which 30 of the league's 31 teams released lists of protected players, and the Kraken selected 30 players, one from each. Out of the 30, 25 players ultimately ended up playing for the team.
Background
On December 4, 2017, the NHL Board of Governors agreed to consider an expansion application from Seattle for a new NHL team, with an expansion fee set at US$650 million. On February 13, 2018, the Oak View Group filed an application with the NHL for an expansion team and paid a $10 million application fee. On December 4, the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the addition of Seattle's expansion team into the league.On July 18, 2019, the organization hired Ron Francis to serve as their general manager to initiate operations for the team. As general manager, Francis was given responsibility for managing all of the club's hockey operations, including facets like player personnel, coaching staff, scouting, and minor league operations. Francis later stated that three things he wanted to prioritize in the team's roster were speed, character, and competitiveness. In July 2020, the franchise announced their team name—the Seattle Kraken—as well as their team colors, branding, and home jersey.
On April 30, 2021, the franchise paid the final installment of the US$650 million expansion fee, officially making the Seattle Kraken the 32nd team of the NHL. On May 12, the Kraken signed their first player—Luke Henman—to a three-year, entry-level contract. In June, the Kraken named Dave Hakstol as their inaugural head coach.
Rules
Seattle followed the same rules for the draft as the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2017 NHL expansion draft, with the provision that Vegas was exempt from losing a player, a deal made between the team and the league in 2016, in exchange for forgoing a share of the Kraken's expansion fee. The 30 other teams submitted their lists of protected players on July 18. Teams could protect eight skaters and a goaltender, or seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goaltender; and they had to expose at least two forwards and one defenseman who were under contract for the 2021–22 season and had played in at least 27 games in the 2020–21 season, or more than 54 games in the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons combined. Teams also had to expose a goaltender under contract for the 2021–22 season or who would be a restricted free agent in 2021. Teams were required to protect any contracted players with no-move clauses with one of the team's slots for protected players, unless:- The contract expired on July 28, 2021, in which case the NMC was considered void for the draft.
- The player had an NMC continuing past July 28, 2021, was deemed to have a career-threatening injury, and was thus declared exempt from selection and use of a protection slot.
- The player with an NMC waived his no-movement clause for the expansion draft.
At least twenty of the thirty players selected by Seattle had to be under contract for the 2021–22 season, and the team was required to select a minimum of fourteen forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders. Furthermore, the 2021–22 salaries of the thirty players selected had to add up to between 60% and 100% of the 2020–21 salary cap. Seattle was granted a window prior to the draft from July 18 to 21 to sign any unprotected pending free agent. Teams that lost a player to Seattle during the signing window did not have a player selected from its roster during this draft as the signed player counted as Seattle's selection.
Protected players
On July 18, the protected player list, a list of players whom the Kraken were not allowed to select during the draft, was released.'''Key'''
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Pre-draft
On July 18, 2021, the period during which the Seattle Kraken could negotiate with unrestricted free agents began. On the morning of the draft day, July 21, the Kraken signed defensemen Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak and goaltender Chris Driedger to a four-year US$16 million deal, a five-year US$23 million contract, and a three-year US$10.5 million deal, respectively. Larsson, Oleksiak, and Driedger would count as the pick from their respective teams.Draft selections
| Abbreviation | Definition |
| LW | Left wing |
| C | Center |
| RW | Right wing |
| D | Defenseman |
| G | Goaltender |
| Number | Player | Position | Team drafted from |
| 1 | D | Boston Bruins | |
| 2 | D | Buffalo Sabres | |
| 3 | D | Detroit Red Wings | |
| 4 | G | Florida Panthers | |
| 5 | D | Montreal Canadiens | |
| 6 | G | Ottawa Senators | |
| 7 | C/LW | Tampa Bay Lightning | |
| 8 | LW/C | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| 9 | RW/C | Carolina Hurricanes | |
| 10 | D | Columbus Blue Jackets | |
| 11 | RW | New Jersey Devils | |
| 12 | RW | New York Islanders | |
| 13 | C | New York Rangers | |
| 14 | LW | Philadelphia Flyers | |
| 15 | LW | Pittsburgh Penguins | |
| 16 | G | Washington Capitals | |
| 17 | C | Arizona Coyotes | |
| 18 | C | Chicago Blackhawks | |
| 19 | RW | Colorado Avalanche | |
| 20 | D | Dallas Stars | |
| 21 | D | Minnesota Wild | |
| 22 | RW | Nashville Predators | |
| 23 | D | St. Louis Blues | |
| 24 | C | Winnipeg Jets | |
| 25 | D | Anaheim Ducks | |
| 26 | D | Calgary Flames | |
| 27 | D | Edmonton Oilers | |
| 28 | D | Los Angeles Kings | |
| 29 | C | San Jose Sharks | |
| 30 | RW | Vancouver Canucks |