Well, it was quite the weekend in the NHL. We had a lot of significant trades, some weird expansion protection lists, some significant injury news, and whatever else popped up. Those out enjoying their double-vax summer may have missed some important news; all our Ramblings can be found right here. Dobber and Ian had the duties over the weekend, so click that link for their thoughts. The team covered some of the trades that we saw go down, from a fantasy slant, including Ryan Ellis in Philadelphia and Jared McCann in Toronto.

The expansion protection lists were submitted and that means we have an idea of what the Seattle roster will look like. Remember that Seattle can still make trades this week so the expansion lists may not be exactly who is available. We saw a lot of side deals in the Vegas expansion, and it's likely we see some here.

What those side deals are, what the final roster looks like, we'll let all the chips fall where they may. For now, I want to look at the actual expansion lists and who is available. Namely, which players that are theoretically available to Seattle could see a big fantasy boost with a change of scenery? We saw that in Vegas with guys like William Karlsson, Shea Theodore, and Alex Tuch. While they would all have varying levels of success, each player went from waiver fodder to a meaningful fantasy contributor in Year 1 with their new team. Is there anyone like that available for Seattle? I think so. Here are three of them that I think could be big fantasy contributors with a bigger role on the Kraken. (This won't include guys like Vladimir Tarasenko or James van Riemsdyk. They have already been big fantasy contributors in their careers.)

Vince Dunn

This is the first guy that immediately came to mind. For years, many fantasy owners and analysts – present company included – thought he would be the top-pair, puck-moving defenceman of St. Louis's future. To date, he has yet to play 19:30 per game in any single season, saw his ice time decrease in 2019-20 before in increase in 2021, and has 102 points in 267 career regular season games. His breakout has definitely not come to fruition.

The belief in Dunn is not unfounded. Over his first three seasons in the NHL, this is where he ranked in various areas like shot assists (passes leading to teammate shots) and zone entries/exits (source here):

Being in the top quintile of the league at the ages of 21-23 in some of the important transition/playmaking metrics that are tracked is generally good news. Unfortunately, it hasn't translated to fantasy success with the Blues. Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko ate tons of minutes in recent seasons, and the addition of Torey Krug this year ensured Dunn would not see PP1 minutes. There were obstacles constantly put in the way and now he might have the chance to start anew elsewhere.

What is his upside? Well, I do think he can be a 45-point PP1 defenceman who can flirt with triple-digit hits and blocks as well as push past two shots per game. That is in a situation where he's play 22 minutes a night and is running the top power play. I don't think he has the raw upside that Shea Theodore does (or did) when he was selected by Vegas, but he can be a lot better than he's shown in his four seasons thus far. Whether he ends up in Seattle or not, we'll see, but I will be very interested in him if he's wearing Kraken colours a week from now.

Frank Vatrano

It wouldn't be an NHL offseason if I didn't spend a few hundred words talking about Vatrano. I have probably spent a few thousand words on him every offseason since 2016.

Vatrano just finished his worst production season in Florida, despite the Panthers being a great team. With Verhaege/Duclair on the top line, and Huberdeau/Hornqvist frequently on the second line, Vatrano largely remained on the third line, despite the team losing both Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov. In fact, despite the team losing two of their top-6 wingers in the offseason, Vatrano had a three-year low in TOI. It would seem Florida is in their Cup window and they may add even more pieces this summer.  That means if Vatrano isn't taken in expansion, he could see even less ice time in 2021-22.

The reason we love Vatrano here are his rates. Over the last three years, Vatrano's shot attempt rate is inside the 90^th percentile of NHLers (comparable to Tyler Seguin) and his hit rate is inside the 75^th percentile. If he were ever to play a full season at about 18 minutes a night, he genuinely has 30-goal, 150-hit, 250-shot upside. Those are massive, massive totals in multi-cat leagues. He already had a season with 24 goals, 208 shots, and 139 hits, and that was in 2018-19 when he was playing 14:40 a night. Again, there is big fantasy upside here with 17-18 minutes a night for 80 games.

There are a lot of bridges to cross before that upside is reality, but I would love to see Vatrano in a feature role with the Kraken.

Haydn Fleury

Ok this guy doesn't have Theodore-like upside either, but that doesn't mean he's without big multi-cat upside.

Fleury is a guy that doesn't pop for fantasy owners a lot because he only has 179 career games and his career TOI is only 15:10 per game. However, we should note that Fleury was over 20 minutes a night once he got to Anaheim at the deadline this year, so we have at least some track record of him playing second-pair minutes.

The reason he pops for me is, like Vatrano, he has some very solid rates to his name. Over the last three years, he's in the top-third of the league's defencemen in both hits and blocks per 60 minutes at all strengths. He also has shot rates similar to Justin Faulk and Miro Heiskanen. Not that he would put up Borowiecki-type hits with 21 minutes a night, but Fleury would cruise past 100 hits and 100 blocks with that level of TOI, and could flirt with two shots per game. Those types of peripherals are very valuable in the fantasy game.

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Have you picked up your copy of the 2021 Dobber Fantasy Prospects Report?

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One situation that is kind of throwing me for a loop is what's going on in Carolina. It is one of those teams where I look and I think, they have to have some sort of deal in place, right? Dobber had that exact same thought in his Ramblings yesterday. Otherwise, why risk losing Jake Bean, a potential top-pair defenceman, for Brady Skjei, at best a second-pair guy who is good on the PK? Is it possible they aren't as high on Bean as others?

The reason I think there's a deal in place is that I cannot imagine Carolina decides to lose Bean for free. He's a 13^th overall pick from only five years ago, they've put a lot of time and money into his development, he had a great AHL season in 2019 and was solid this year in the NHL. He is not a top-pair guy right now, but he only has 44 career NHL games. If the Hurricanes were genuinely unafraid of letting Bean walk, I have to imagine they would have traded him before it got to this point. A 23-year-old defenceman with pedigree and has shown great performances in the minors would draw significant interest in a flat-cap era.

Were I to make a bet, it's that Carolina is working on a deal to clear Jake Gardiner's cap space and then they'll fill in his role. What that deal looks like, who knows, but it may cost them a couple second-round picks to do so.

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I will say I was surprised to see the Sharks actually protect Brent Burns. I think it's the right move because that team has so much bad money that trading futures to get rid of one of them probably won't move the needle that much. This team needs a full overhaul, and it'll take years. No one likes to hear it, but there is some pain ahead for the next few years, Sharks fans.

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A very important message from Luke Prokop, a Nashville draft pick:

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 pic.twitter.com/7zqT0A2gJj

— luke prokop (@lukeprokop_6) July 19, 2021

He becomes the first openly gay NHL player under contract, and him just saying this publicly will help many others. He seems an upstanding young man, from the reports throughout the day, and I wish him nothing but success and happiness in the future.