As the expansion bid for Seattle to get an NHL team proceeds apace, it's fair to wonder about what the roster for the Seattle Fill-In-The-Blanks will look like on opening night. Nothing will have more bearing on that initial version of the roster than the expansion draft. So with Vegas' clear success that night to refer to, and knowing Seattle's forthcoming team will get the same rules to play by, let's take a look at some possibilities.

Some loose guidelines here:

-- I'm assuming the team will show up for the 2020/2021 season (how optimistic an assumption that is will vary on how you feel about if that's when the next lockout's coming, but I digress). Thus any contract I'd look at is probably going to last at least that long. It'd be great if they could sign some really awesome free agents between now and then but I just don't see it.

-- I'm only looking at the rosters as is, with not a lot of alluding to farm teams unless noted otherwise. If there's a team that has a bunch of prospects at a given position coming up in a few years it might be worth alluding to but, again, in fairly general terms.

-- Lots of referring to cap friendly.com for some of the base numbers here as well as which players has contracts that last long enough to be eligible for the projected 2020/2021 season.

So with the preamble out of the way let's look at some possibilities for each team one at a time starting with my personal favorite team, the Carolina Hurricanes

Any guess you'd make about the near-term of the team, were you to glean it from shaking a Magic 8-Ball, would definitely be Outlook Hazy Try Again Later. Between the new ownership putting its own stamp on things and the impending extension of the NHL's longest playoff drought, I'd expect/hope for a lot of changes to the team in the near future. That said, Ron Francis has left a much better personnel group in place for his replacement than he was afforded when he took the job. That should generate a lot of players on the way up and out, but who might be going to the Emerald City?

Players Signed through 2020/2021:

Forwards: Jordan Staal, Victor Rask

Defensemen/Defencemen: Brett Pesce, Jaccob Slavin

Goalie: Scott Darling

Staal being a current team co-captain and lynchpin of the lineup, I'd have a hard time imaging him go. Even more so since he has a No Movement Clause. Unless he actually wanted to go, he's plenty empowered to stay put or go elsewhere in the league. And as big a void as it'd leave in the lineup it's hard to imagine any scenario putting him in Seattle.

Slavin and Pesce are one of the more effective defensive pairings in the league at a very affordable price. Carolina has a lot of defensive prospects on the farm that will push somebody or somebodies out of Carolina's defense in the next couple of years. That said, these two are generally regarded as more crucial to the team's future than arguably either of the team's recent all-stars in Justin Faulk or Noah Hanifin

Darling is a bit harder to read. His first year as a starter in Raleigh is a disappointment by most metrics, but being only one year into a four-year contract provides some options not in play otherwise. He might eventually evolve into a bonafide starter (as a Hurricane or someplace else if he were traded or even bought out). With Cam Ward's impeding free agency, this decision is the biggest one the new braintrust will have to deal with. There's a decent chance that neither Darling nor Ward (hypothetically returned on term long enough to qualify for our hypothetical purposes) are even on Carolina's roster by the time this is an issue.

As a Canes fan, I'd prefer Darling becomes the answer between the pipes here. But there's too much uncertainty here to think he'd be exposed to Seattle. So, that really only leave us with one choice today.

Victor Rask (Center/Centre)

Why Carolina Would Make Him Available: He's on a decent contract (four million AAV isn't huge, but isn't a pittance) and he'd be singing for his metaphorical supper with its imminent expiration after the next season. His lack of No Trade or No Movement Clauses means the Hurricanes certainly don't HAVE to protect him. He's incredibly inconsistent and Carolina's prospects down the middle should push him in the next few seasons. If he's not traded between now and the expansion draft as part of some bigger move, he's going to have to fight for his job in a league that's trending younger and younger.

Why Seattle Would Want Him: He's got talent, maybe he just needs that proverbial change of scenery to get more consistent. He's scored around 35-45 points every season he's played in the NHL, but always seems like he can do more. He gets some power play in Carolina, wins face-offs and (when at his best) can be a second-line forward with some playmaking/finishing skill. Rask would have at least some familiarity with the area from playing junior hockey in the Western Hockey League. With his next big NHL contract looming, this would be a great opportunity for him to Prove It. And that contract is big enough to help get to the salary floor but not so onerous to tie you down to him if he doesn't work out.

Also Considered: Derek Ryan (Center/Centre)

It'd be great if there was a guy actually born and raised in Washington State on the roster. That said, he shouldn't be higher on any NHL team than their bottom-six and it wouldn't be that hard to get someone with a similar skillset.

Ironically, one of Ron Francis' last great moves as GM was how he handled the Vegas Expansion Draft. I feel comfortable speaking for most Hurricanes fans when I hope his replacement does just as good a job with the next one.