March 16th Dan Vladar had his first NHL start. It went quite well as he turned away 34 of 35 shots to earn his first win. While his next four starts resulted in a record of 1-2-1, that's not the reason why the Bruins need to keep him exposed in the upcoming expansion draft.
When it comes to this year's expansion draft, teams have the choice of protecting 7 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 1 goalie or 8 skaters and 1 goalie. Since they definitely need to protect McAvoy, they are obviously going to go with the first option which allows for a total of 11 players. While I have been pondering who the Bruins should protect, I'm only going to focus on why they shouldn't protect Vladar.
Yes, I do think Swayman is the next Boston goalie. No, that's really not the reason why I'm saying to expose Vladar. What it really comes down to is that in addition to having limits on who can be protected, there are also requirements for the type of players which teams make available. One such requirement is that the teams each need to make a goalie available. The goalie needs to be either under contract or a restricted free agent. He can also not be a first or second year player as they are automatically protected in the expansion draft. That being said, the Bruins can either expose Vladar or work a trade to bring in another goalie who is expansion draft eligible and then protect Vladar. If a good trade situation falls into their lap, then they might as well protect him.
Yes, I do think Swayman is the next Boston goalie. No, that's really not the reason why I'm saying to expose Vladar. What it really comes down to is that in addition to having limits on who can be protected, there are also requirements for the type of players which teams make available. One such requirement is that the teams each need to make a goalie available. The goalie needs to be either under contract or a restricted free agent. He can also not be a first or second year player as they are automatically protected in the expansion draft. That being said, the Bruins can either expose Vladar or work a trade to bring in another goalie who is expansion draft eligible and then protect Vladar. If a good trade situation falls into their lap, then they might as well protect him.
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