A few interesting news developments on Friday, which could lead to more over the coming days. Between the flat cap and Seattle expansion, this is shaping up to be a very interesting offseason.

We had a trade to announce on Friday, with the Red Wings acquiring Nick Leddy from the Islanders for Richard Panik and a second-round pick. You can read the Fantasy Take here.

One other consideration with this trade is that the Islanders don't have a defenseman to leave unprotected for the Seattle draft. Only Ryan Pulock, Adam Pelech and Scott Mayfield are eligible, and they are all likely to be protected. So there could be another move coming with the Islanders.

With about 20 hours to go until expansion protected lists are due, the #Isles currently have no eligible defensemen to leave unprotected — each team must have at least one signed D who played 27 NHL games last season on the unprotected list.

So there's another move coming.

— Arthur Staple (@StapeAthletic) July 17, 2021

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By process of elimination, Jared McCann might become a target for Seattle.

Potential Penguins expansion based off what I'd heard as of Thursday:
Forwards: Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust, Kapanen, Blueger, Tanev
Defensemen: Letang, Dumoulin, Friedman
Goalie: DeSmith

— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) July 16, 2021

My sense from talking to sources is Kraken likely would not select the following Penguins if unprotected…
Forwards: Zucker, Carter
Defense: Matheson, Pettersson, Ceci
Goalie: Jarry

— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) July 16, 2021

Tristan Jarry might be tempting if he can bounce back, and the Pens have a few defensemen that might be of interest. But if I'm the Kraken, I'd target a forward from the Penguins. There will be lots to choose from goalie-wise, and there will be lots of other opportunities to stockpile defensemen.

If the Pens decide to keep Kasperi Kapanen, Teddy Blueger, and Brandon Tanev, then they'll have their choice of McCann, Jeff Carter, and Jason Zucker. Given Carter's age and Zucker's contract, I could see McCann being the most appealing choice here. Especially since he has played center, and because that position will be harder to find than winger. McCann thrived last season when Evgeni Malkin was injured, finishing the season with 22 points in his last 26 games. In a way-too-early attempt to speculate, he might thrive in a top-6 spot with the Kraken. Or maybe there’s a trade on the horizon.

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According to his agent, Alex Edler is expected to hit free agency. The 35-year-old Edler has played over 900 career games, all with the Canucks. Between Edler and Travis Hamonic possibly leaving via free agency and Nate Schmidt possibly being traded, the Canucks defense could have a whole new look next season. Long-term, it is probably for the better. But short-term, it could be another disaster. The Canucks already had the third-highest shots allowed total in the league, which could make Thatcher Demko valuable if your league counts saves.

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The Rangers have re-signed Julien Gauthier to a one-year contract. Gauthier is on the bubble for being protected by the Rangers for the expansion draft, along with Brett Howden, Kevin Rooney, and Colin Blackwell.

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The Hurricanes have re-signed Morgan Geekie to a one-year, two-way contract. Geekie finished his first full season with nine points in 36 games. Much of his production happened in the final quarter, when he recorded seven points over his last 15 games.

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If you haven't been already, be sure to check out the Keeping Karlsson 32 Beats podcasts, which can be found on the Podcasts page. In their latest podcast, Elan meets with Murat Ates of The Athletic regarding the state of the Winnipeg Jets this offseason. The guys have also done interviews with the beat writers for Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and San Jose. Click on the date/time of the tweet for links to the interviews.

Our off-season beat writer 🗒️🖊️🧠 interview series is back!

We're bringing on elite beats who know their teams best to help us dissect every NHL team's 2021 season, and then look ahead and set expectations for 2021-22 🔮 #FantasyHockey

Welcome to #32Beats!

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— Keeping Karlsson (@keepingkarlsson) June 8, 2021

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The Top 100 Roto Rankings have been updated for July. Many players have remained about where they were last month, but a few players' values have changed drastically (I'll discuss one of those in a minute). Feel free to review and leave feedback, which I may reply to. You get to respond to me, so I get to respond to you. Seems fair? That response is important, because it gives me something to think about as I determine exactly where a player should be.

So with that, I'm going to respond to a couple of comments on social media (I'm paraphrasing these, not direct quoting).

Where is Tyler Seguin?

Good question, so I'll add Seguin to the wait list next month. As a player who quietly suited up for three end-of-season games this season (scoring two goals), Seguin might be a forgotten man in fantasy circles. The fact that he suited up for those end-of-season games should bode well for his chances of starting 2021-22 healthy.

Seguin was slowed by a torn hip labrum during the Stars' playoff bubble run. You may remember that he could only score two goals during that entire 26-game run, while his 13 points also seemed underwhelming for a player of his importance to the Dallas roster. During that regular season, his 0.72 PTS/GP pace (50 points in 69 games) was his lowest since joining the Stars.

Whether you believe that Seguin can bounce back to a near-point-per-game pace, you have to discount him at least a little bit in your fantasy drafts. He is now 29 and has been in the NHL for a decade while coming off a major injury, so there is now going to be some wear and tear. Don't forget that he also plays at a deep center position. Circling back, though, he is a player that you shouldn't forget about in fantasy drafts either and could make a sneaky pick once the usual big names at center are off the board.

Kirill Kaprizov is ranked WAY too high. Especially since he might hold out. 

Kaprizov was the player I increased the most from last month, as I moved him up to 35 from 57. I realize that's a major jump, and the possibility that he remains unsigned and could even return to Russia will scare a few fantasy owners away. However, there is another fantasy hockey site that has Kaprizov ranked even higher than 35, which is one reason right off the bat that I believe this spot is justified.

There has to be substance behind this change. As a rookie, Kaprizov finished in the top 10 in goals (27) and also tied for 22^nd in league scoring, numbers he should likely build from. Hopefully you don't need evidence of his talent, but all you need to do is look up his highlight-reel goals. There's that Calder Trophy as well, which he earned as the rookie scoring leader. His goal total was 10 clear of the next-highest rookie. There's just too much ceiling here.

I think the chances that he doesn't come to terms with the Wild and ends up as a holdout/in Russia are slim. The Wild have cleared the deck by buying out the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter contracts to make a major move. Imagine how foolish that would look if the Wild massively upgrade at center by acquiring Jack Eichel and Kaprizov is a no show? Talent seeks out other talent. The Wild will deal with the dead cap space later; they appear primed to take a run for it in 2021-22. Kaprizov might be the main reason that they would even entertain that discussion.

If you have Kaprizov targeted in your fantasy league, you're not going to be able to sneak him through your draft mid-to-late round again. If his unsigned status drags on throughout the summer, then I'll probably act accordingly and bump him down further. But at this moment, there are still many unsigned players.

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For more fantasy hockey discussion, or to reach out to me, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding