The NHL is about to freeze over. Today as part of the Expansion Draft process, the freeze on trades, signings and waivers by anyone but Seattle goes into effect at 3 p.m. (all times are New York Time in NHL rules).

The purpose is to freeze the rosters, as Seattle then gets to talk to free agents, make their selections, and eventually, we’ll find out who those players are. This is the timeline, stolen from some blog site somewhere:

Saturday: At 3 p.m. the Expansion Draft trade and waiver freeze begins. No NHL SPCs can be signed in this period except by Seattle in relation to the draft. All other teams must live with their roster as it exists during the freeze. Seattle is able to sign pending UFAs and RFAs to SPCs (see below) and also to make trades with teams that will be finalized by the league when the freeze is lifted. But two other teams cannot make side deals, nor can they re-sign their own UFAs or RFAs during this period.

Saturday: By 5 p.m., teams must submit protection lists for the Expansion Draft to the league.

Sunday: The NHL must approve and distribute the protection lists to all NHL teams by 10 a.m. They will likely be made public at about that time. At that time Seattle may begin interviewing UFAs and RFAs who are available for selection (on the exposure list), and they may sign them to contracts if they reach agreement. That signing counts as their selection from that team. This might need to be pointed out: they cannot talk to any Vegas free agents.

For example: if Seattle were to sign Frederik Andersen to a contract in this period, he would become their selection from the Toronto Maple Leafs. They may only speak to players who are exposed, not anyone on a protection list. And by default, they can only sign one player per team.

Wednesday, July 21: Seattle must submit their Expansion Draft choices to the NHL by 10 a.m. They must also submit any SPCs for signed players, and the distribution of the list of choices to the public will take place by 8 p.m.

Thursday, July 22: The trade and waiver freeze and signing moratorium are lifted at 1 p.m.

Once the freeze is lifted, all the teams are operating under the same rules and will proceed to the entry draft portion of this July offseason on July 23.

News!

It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key.

While you’re frozen, and waiting for the Expansion Draft lists to be made public, here’s some Mock (Entry) Draft reading for you:

NHL Mock Draft 2021: Buffalo Sabres select Owen Power with No. 1 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Anaheim Ducks select Dylan Guenther with No. 3 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: New Jersey Devils Select Luke Hughes with No. 4 Pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Columbus Blue Jackets select William Eklund with No. 5 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Detroit Red Wings select Mason McTavish with No. 6 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Sharks select Kent Johnson with No. 7 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Los Angeles Kings select Simon Edvinsson with No. 8 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Vancouver Canucks select Brandt Clarke with No. 9 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Ottawa Senators Select Fabian Lysell with No. 10 Pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Chicago Blackhawks select Jesper Wallstedt with No. 11 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Calgary Flames Select Cole Sillinger With No. 12 Pick
2021 NHL Mock Draft: Minnesota Wild select Aatu Räty with No. 13 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Dallas Stars Select Corson Ceulemans With 14th Pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: New York Rangers Select Chaz Lucius with No. 15 Pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: St. Louis Blues Select Matthew Coronato
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Winnipeg Jets select Logan Stankoven with No. 18 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Nashville Predators select Oskar Olausson with No. 18 pick
SB Nation NHL Mock Draft 2021: Pick 19
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Bruins select Isak Rosen 20th overall
2021 NHL Mock Draft: Minnesota Wild select Fyodor Svechkov with No. 21 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Vegas Golden Knights select Zachary Bolduc with No. 22 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Florida Panthers select Carson Lambos with No. 23 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Columbus Blue Jackets select Nikita Chibrikov with No. 24 pick
2021 NHL Mock Draft: Minnesota Wild select Francesco Pinelli with No. 26 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Carolina Hurricanes select Brennan Othmann with No. 26 pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: New Jersey Devils Select Simon Robertsson with No. 29 Pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Detroit Red Wings select Zach Dean with No. 30 pick (acquired via mock trade)
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Montreal Canadiens select Xavier Bourgault with 30th overall pick
NHL Mock Draft 2021: Columbus Blue Jackets select Daniil Chayka

I think SBNation headline writers could use this:

From The Branches