The Chicago Blackhawks, along with the rest of the National Hockey League, are preparing to submit their protected list to the Seattle Kraken ahead of the 2021 Expansion Draft. Each team can submit a list of either seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie, or eight skaters and a goalie. It is an interesting conversation for the Blackhawks because some hard decisions are needed.
It is impossible to predict exactly who they are going to go with but we are going to give it a try. It is fair to assume that they are going to go the route of seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie. They don’t have a good enough defense to sacrifice extra forwards for them. Players that are on entry-level contracts are exempt from this draft so you won’t see anyone like Kirby Dach protected or exposed.