With the PWHL welcoming both Vancouver and Seattle as expansion teams, they’ve recently released the rules — and there’s no other way to put it, they’re pretty crazy. 

As per the PWHL Expansion Rules:

The six original teams in the PWHL will have the chance to protect three players during the Exclusive Signing Windowand Expansion Draft. After two players are selected from each of the six teams, they can then protect one additional player — bringing their total protection list to four.

This is nothing like how the NHL has done it in the past, but it’s definitely interesting. So let’s have some fun and look at who the San Jose Sharks would protect (including San Jose Barracuda players) if these same rules applied to a new NHL expansion.

First, let’s determine who their first three protected players would be. The Sharks would likely choose Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Yaroslav Askarov.

Now, who would likely get picked in the expansion draft? The two most likely selections from the Sharks would be Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Wennberg.

As per the rules, if the Sharks were to lose two players through either the Exclusive Signing Window or the Expansion Draft, they’d be allowed to protect one more player.

So, who would that fourth player be? If I had to guess, it would most likely be William Eklund.

The Sharks’ full protection list:

1. Macklin Celebrini
2. Will Smith
3. Yaroslav Askarov
4. William Eklund

This is drastically different from the NHL’s usual expansion protection options of either seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie — or eight total skaters and one goalie.

Would this style of expansion ever make its way to the NHL?

What would your protection list look like? Let us know below.

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