Nick Jensen-MM.jpg

Young defenseman Nick Jensen is among the Red Wings who could be left unprotected before the NHL expansion draft, according to The Hockey News.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

If The Hockey News is correct, the Detroit Red Wings' list of unprotected players for next month's NHL expansion draft will include young defensemen Nick Jensen and Ryan Sproul.

Niklas Kronwall, Darren Helm, Jonathan Ericsson, Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening will also be among those exposed if THN writer Matt Larkin is correct in his assessment of the 11 players the Red Wings will protect before the Vegas Golden Knights stock their roster.

Each NHL team can protect either seven forwards, three defenseman and one goaltender or eight skaters and one goalie.

Larkin sees the Red Wings protecting forwards Henrik Zetterberg, Justin Abdelkader, Frans Nielsen, Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha. Nielsen must be on the list because his contract contains a no-movement clause.

Defensemen Danny DeKeyser, Mike Green and Xavier Ouellet are also on Larkin's list along with goalie Petr Mrazek.

Kronwall, Helm and Ericsson are unlikely to be selected given their past injuries and salaries. All were sidelined by injury at some point last season while Kronwall is under contract for two more years at $4.75 million, Ericsson for three seasons at $4.25 million and Helm for four years at $3.84 million.

But Larkin thinks Sheahan and Glendening could be attractive to Las Vegas. Both can fill defensive roles and their 2017-18 salaries of $2.075 million for Sheahan and $1.8 million for Glendening aren't considered unreasonable.

Larkin wouldn't be surprised if general manager Ken Holland attempts to trade one of goalies before the protected lists have to be submitted.

Although Jimmy Howard outplayed Petr Mrazek last season, Howard is eight years older than the 25-year-old Mrazek, who appears to have more upside moving forward.

Teams also might be reluctant to assume Howard's contract, which has two years remaining at almost $5.3 million per season.

"Third-string netminder Jared Coreau is expansion draft eligible now," Larkin wrote. "If Holland can't find a trade partner for Howard or Mrazek, what about exposing both and hoping the Knights bite on one? They earn more than $9 million combined, so it would give the Wings some salary relief."

First- and second-year pros are exempt from the draft along with unrestricted free agents and unsigned draft choices.

That means the Red Wings don't have to worry about losing young forwards Dylan Larkin, Evgeny Svechnikov or Tyler Bertuzzi as well as defensemen Robbie Russo and Dan Renouf among others.

All five of the aforementioned players appeared in at least one game for the Red Wings last season but have not played more than two pro seasons so they're exempt from the expansion draft.

Players with potential career-ending injuries who have missed the previous 60 consecutive games cannot be exposed in the expansion draft.

Las Vegas must select at least one player from each team and can take a maximum of 30 players in the draft but have to select at least 20 who are under contract for the 2017-18 season.

Teams must submit their protected rosters by 5 p.m. June 17, Las Vegas must submit its selections by June 20 and the picks will be made public June 21.