The NHL will hold an expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, so on Saturday all NHL teams anounced their list of protected players. The Red Wings chose to protect goalie Jimmy Howard, defensemen Dan Dekeyser, Mike Green, and Nick Jensen, and forwards Justin Abdelkader, Andreas Athanasiou, Anthony Mantha, Frans Nielsen, Gus Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, and Henrik Zetterberg. Forward Dylan Larkin is exempt from the draft. Players left exposed who could be lost to Vegas include Petr Mrazek, Riley Sheahan, Darren Helm, Luke Glendening, and Xavier Ouellet. It is unlikely the Wings will lose veterans Niklas Kronwall or Jonathan Ericsson, who are both exposed.
