The NHL has made it official that David Clarkson will not be Expansion Draft eligible. This gives the Columbus Blue Jackets one more protected spot as Clarkson has a no move clause.
The Columbus Blue Jackets officially have one less player to protect. In what all were predicting would happen, David Clarkson has been officially exempt from the NHL Expansion Draft.
In a tweet from ESPN’s Craig Custance, Clarkson was one of many players with long term injuries and NMC listed as exempt. All others were in similar situations as Clarkson.
The NHL sent a memo to teams today declaring a list of players exempt from the expansion draft as agreed upon w/NHLPA. Full list: pic.twitter.com/xanQ1PS0QX
— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) May 2, 2017
Clarkson has been suffering from a chronic back injury that has effectively ended his NHL career. He will be the head coach of a Columbus suburb high school hockey team next year. Clarkson’s story has been well documented by Union and Blue.
Related Story: Clarkson to Coach High School Hockey Team
The extra expansion protection spot was predicted and will not affect the Jackets strategy. They still will be hard pressed to protect Josh Anderson unless Scott Hartnell waives his NMC.
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