Scott Takes: The Avs should protect Tyson Jost

Either way you look at it, the Avs are going to lose a great player to the Seattle Kraken.

As the hockey world and its fans gear up for the postseason coming up in the next couple of weeks, all eyes are on Lord Stanley—and rightfully so. It’s the most exciting time of the year, as the regular season proves to be a 56-game appetizer for the 34.5-pound porterhouse main course that will be dished out sometime in the first or second week of July.

The obvious hope here is that the Avalanche are the ones cutting into it this summer. But the celebration could be short-lived for one Avs member.

Looming around the corner, just a week or two after the Cup is hoisted and the dust is settling from the parades and parties, is the NHL expansion draft. As the league welcomes the Seattle Kraken as the 32nd member to its growing family, the newest NHL franchise will get to hand-pick one player from each of the other member clubs (save Vegas, which is exempt from the expansion draft) in order to build their team as they ready for their inaugural voyage into the NHL’s treacherous waters next season.

Given each club is only allowed to protect either nine total players (eight skaters and a goalie), or 11 (seven forwards, three D-men and a goaltender) depending on which protection structure the respective front office chooses, teams will be forced to expose a number of good players. And for a team bursting at the seams with talent, the Colorado Avalanche are sure to lose a great player come July.

My hope is that it isn’t Tyson Jost.