Seravalli: I see no scenario that involves the Oilers signing Larsson before the Expansion Draft

We don’t yet know if Adam Larsson is going to be a member of the Edmonton Oilers next season.

And, according to DFO Hockey’s Frank Seravalli, it looks like we won’t be getting an answer to that question until after the upcoming Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.

Seravalli appeared on The Lowdown With Lowetide on TSN 1260 on Thursday and said that he sees no scenario in which the Oilers re-sign Larsson to a new contract ahead of the Expansion Draft…

This week’s trade for @Duncan Keith had altered the way in which we look at Edmonton’s Expansion Draft situation.

Before, it appeared as though the inevitable outcome was doing the 7-3-1 protection scheme with @Caleb Jones as the odd man out that Seattle would likely take a flyer on. Now, with Keith in the mix with a no-movement clause and Jones gone, it’ll have to be somebody else who ends up a member of the Kraken.

Signing Larsson after the Expansion Draft is a no-brainer. If Edmonton were to sign him now, they would have him, Keith (NMC), and @Darnell Nurse as their three defenders. The only way to fit in @Ethan Bear would be to use the eight-skater protection scheme, which would ultimately leave one of @Jesse Puljujarvi or @Kailer Yamamoto open to Seattle.

I suspect we’ll see this as Edmonton’s protected list… McDavid, Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, Puljujarvi, Yamamoto, Archibald, Khaira, Nurse, Keith, Bear, Skinner. I also suspect Larsson will be re-signed shortly after the Expansion Draft before the beginning of free agency.

We’ll see.