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How Will The Expansion Draft Impact Canadian Teams?

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Continuing our look at different expansion draft angles,  CBC’s Amy Cleveland examines how the draft will affect the seven teams in Canada. Laying out the rules for the draft, Cleveland looks further and prognosticates who she sees as “potentially protected” versus those players who would be “intriguing” in being exposed. She further writes that all seven Canadian teams will be able to protect the bulk of their important players. The Flames sit prettiest without any non-movement clauses in contracts while the Leafs and Senators have only one player with an NMC (Nathan Horton, and Dion Phaneuf respectively).

Below are Cleveland’s picks for each team. Going to CBC’s page with the story includes in depth reasoning behind each of Cleveland’s choices.

Calgary Flames
NMC protected players: None.

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

Edmonton Oilers
NMC protected players: Milan Lucic (F), Andrej Sekera (D), Cam Talbot (G)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

Montreal Canadiens
NMC protected players: Carey Price (G), Jeff Petry (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed: 

Ottawa Senators
NMC protected players: Dion Phaneuf (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed: 

Toronto Maple Leafs
NMC protected players: Nathan Horton (F)

Potentially protected: 

Vancouver Canucks
NMC protected players: Loui Eriksson (F), Daniel Sedin (F), Henrik Sedin (F)

Potentially protected: 

​Intriguing exposed: 

Winnipeg Jets
NMC protected players: Dustin Byfuglien (D), Toby Enstrom (D)

Potentially protected: 

Intriguing exposed:

 

Bryan Little To IR, Marko Dano Up To Winnipeg

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When Bryan Little was injured in the Winnipeg Jet’s season opener, it was originally believed that he would only be out for a short time. Yet, two weeks later he has not made his return and head coach Paul Maurice stated yesterday that he could be out for another month. The team backed up those words today, placing Little on the injured reserve.

The team’s second-line center and a key point producer, Little’s long-term absence will certainly mean trouble for the Jets. The team is already off to a disappointing start, with just two wins thus far, and now they are missing one of the centerpieces of their team. A holdover from the Atlanta Thrashers days and a career member of the organization, Little has always been relied upon to play big minutes for the team. A strong two-way player who is a perennially puts up 40+ points, Little’s absence will be felt in all aspects of the game. Unlike the loss of unsigned Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg does not have the same depth up front as they do on the back end, and are not structured well to deal with the loss of a key forward. The team certainly hopes that Little returns before the end of November.

In his stead, the Jets have called up Marko Dano from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Once considered a top NHL prospect, Dano has had an interesting few years. A first-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013, Dano made his debut in 2014-15 with 21 points in 35 games, playing a complete and exciting game. He caught the eye of the Chicago Blackhawks, who asked for Dano in the Brandon Saad trade. However, Dano failed to find his footing in Chicago, and was once more traded after putting up just 10 points in 34 games. This time he was shipped to Winnipeg as part of the package for Andrew Ladd and finished the season with the Jets, recording eight points in 21 games. Dano failed to make the team out of camp this week, but will now get his chance to stick at the NHL level with Winnipeg. The 21-year-old winger has a ton of skill, and if he can put it all together like he did as a rookie in Columbus, that will greatly help the Jets cope with the loss of Little and turn their early struggles around.

Injury Notes: Zatkoff, van Riemsdyk, Little

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After news broke earlier today that Jeff Zatkoff had injured himself in practice, and would be unable to continue, rumors swirled about how long the netminder would be out. While an exactly length hasn’t been given, Zatkoff has been placed on injured reserve and been replaced by emergency call-up Jack Campbell from the Ontario Reign.

To fill in for Campbell on an emergency basis, the Reign will dress Dusty Imoo tonight to back up his son Jonah Imoo. The elder Imoo is a goaltending coach for the Reign and was one the Olympic starter for Japan at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. He hasn’t played in a professional hockey game in almost a decade, when he skated for the Oji Eagles of the Asian League.  The 46-year old will be cheering on his 22-year old son, who will be making his AHL debut.

Jets Center Bryan Little Out Indefintely

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Winnipeg Jets center Bryan Little will be out indefinitely, the team announced via Twitter.  He suffered a lower body injury on Thursday night against Carolina in the first period after just 2:48 of ice time.  He did manage to record an assist and a shot on goal in that little playing time.  No timetable has been provided for his return but it is believed to be a longer-term issue.  Ken Wiebe on the Winnipeg Sun reports that the team should know more about his status in a couple of weeks (Twitter link).

The injury occurred on a collision with Hurricanes winger Bryan Bickell.  After struggling to stand up, Little fell back to the ice before getting up again, limping straight towards the dressing room.

Little has had very little luck with injuries lately.  Last season, he missed the final 25 games of the year due to a neck injury and Thursday’s outing was his first regular season action in more than seven months.

The 28 year old is expected to be one of the Jets’ top two centers this season alongside fellow Barrie Colts (OHL) alumnus Mark Scheifele.  Last season, Little had 17 goals and 25 assists in 57 games and has averaged at least 0.7 points per game in each of the last three years.

Forward Alexander Burmistrov (coincidentally, another Colts alumnus) will likely take Little’s spot in the lineup, Wiebe notes in a separate tweet.  He adds that the team is expected to recall someone from their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

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