Now that the hard part is over (figuring out who every NHL team would protect in the event of expansion), we get to the fun part: the draft. To see who’s protected and who’s available, see the link below.

Here are the rules from the 2000 expansion draft that will likely govern future expansion:

In a snake format, each franchise will select three goaltenders, then eight defensemen, then thirteen forwards. They can then make two additional picks of any position. Each existing franchise can have a maximum of two of its unprotected players drafted. Only one goalie or one defenseman can be selected from each existing franchise.

Without further adieu, let’s get started. By coin flip, Seattle was rewarded with the first pick in this simulation. Full rosters can be found at the bottom of the page.

Goaltenders

1. Seattle: Jimmy Howard

2. Las Vegas: Craig Anderson

3. Las Vegas: Calvin Pickard

4. Seattle: Michal Neuvirth

5. Seattle: Jake Allen

6. Las Vegas: Ben Scrivens

Analysis: Each franchise gets a solid NHL starter for right now (Howard/Anderson), a capable backup (Neuvirth/Scrivens), and a possible goalie of the future (Allen/Pickard). As a result of the great depth of the goaltending position, both teams are in a good position in net.

Notable Undrafted: Cam Ward, Kari Lehtonen, Ondrej Pavelec

Defensemen

7. Las Vegas: Dion Phaneuf

8. Seattle: Alexei Emelin

9. Seattle: Dan Boyle

10. Las Vegas: Dalton Prout

11. Las Vegas: Matt Carle

12. Seattle: John Moore

13. Seattle: Ben Chiarot

14. Las Vegas: John-Michael Liles

15. Las Vegas: Ladislav Smid

16. Seattle: Nate Schmidt

17. Seattle: Jamie McBain

18. Las Vegas: Matt Irwin

19. Las Vegas: Mike Weber

20. Seattle: Jyrki Jokipakka

21. Seattle: David Rundblad

22. Las Vegas: Matt Bartkowski

Analysis: Woof. That was a lot harder than the goalies. Defensemen are truly at a premium in the NHL, and looking at this group of defensemen, you can see why. The defense will likely be the biggest weak link of either expansion franchise.

Forwards

23. Las Vegas: Joffrey Lupul

24. Seattle: Dustin Brown

25. Seattle: Teddy Purcell

26. Las Vegas: Michael Grabner

27. Las Vegas: Brad Richards

28. Seattle: Mason Raymond

29. Seattle: Vinny Lecavalier

30. Las Vegas: Alexander Khokhlachev

31. Las Vegas: Linden Vey

32. Seattle: Erik Haula

33. Seattle: Pascal Dupuis

34. Las Vegas: Erik Condra

35. Las Vegas: Ben Smith

36. Seattle: Shawn Horcoff

37. Seattle: Cody McLeod

38. Las Vegas: Chris Terry

39. Las Vegas: David Legwand

40. Seattle: Dominic Moore

41. Seattle: Kyle Chipchura

42. Las Vegas: Matt Martin

43. Las Vegas: Jeremy Morin

44. Seattle: Brooks Laich

45. Seattle: Eric Nystrom

46. Las Vegas: Nate Thompson

47. Las Vegas: Patrick Eaves

48. Seattle: Dave Bolland

Analysis: See the complete rosters below for analysis.

Extra Picks

49. Seattle: Alex Stalock

50. Las Vegas: Nicklas Grossmann

51. Las Vegas: Torrey Mitchell

52. Seattle: Rene Bourque

The Las Vegas Aces

Joffrey Lupul – Brad Richards – Linden Vey

Michael Grabner – David Legwand – Ben Smith

Jeremy Morin – Alexander Khokhlachev – Erik Condra

Matt Martin – Nate Thompson – Patrick Eaves

Dion Phaneuf – Dalton Prout

Matt Carle – Mike Weber

John-Michael Liles – Ladislav Smid

Craig Anderson

Ben Scrivens

Scratches: Torrey Mitchell, Chris Terry, Matt Irwin, Matt Bartkowski, Nicklas Grossmann, Calvin Pickard

Seattle Kraken

Pascal Dupuis – Vinny Lecavalier – Dustin Brown

Brooks Laich – Shawn Horcoff – Teddy Purcell

Mason Raymond – Dominic Moore – Kyle Chipchura

Cody McLeod – Dave Bolland – Eric Nystrom

Alexei Emelin – Dan Boyle

John Moore – Ben Chiarot

Nate Schmidt – Jamie McBain

Jimmy Howard

Michal Neuvirth

Scratches: Erik Haula, Rene Bourque, David Rundblad, Jyrki Jokipakka, Jake Allen, Alex Stalock

Which roster do you think would have the better record in the inaugural season?