SEATTLE — The Blues are down a defenseman thanks to the NHL's newest team, the Seattle Kraken.
The Kraken selected Blues forward Vince Dunn in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on Wednesday night. Dunn is currently a restricted free agent.
The Kraken passed on selecting Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko with their selection from St. Louis and opted to go with Dunn instead. Tarasenko, once a 30-goal-scoring star for the Blues, has played in just 34 regular-season games the past two seasons because of shoulder injuries and requested a trade away from St. Louis earlier this summer.
Dunn, 24, has played four seasons for the Blues, helping the team win the Stanley Cup in 2019. A native of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the Blues drafted Dunn with the 56th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In four seasons, Dunn scored 32 goals, tallied 70 assists and had a +/- of +22. In that 2019 run to the Cup, Dunn played in nine games, tallying three assists.
Among the other notable players Seattle opted not to select was unrestricted free agent Jaden Schwartz, who the Kraken would have had to sign to a new contract. Here's the full list of the players the Blues left unprotected:
Forwards
Sam Anas
Sammy Blais
Tyler Bozak
Kyle Clifford
Mike Hoffman
Tanner Kaspick
Mackenzie MacEachern
Curtis McKenzie
Austin Poganski
Zach Sanford
Jaden Schwartz
Nolan Stevens
Vladimir Tarasenko
Nathan Walker
Defense
Robert Bortuzzo
Vince Dunn
Niko Mikkola
Mitch Reinke
Steven Santini
Marco Scandella
Jake Walman
Goalies
Evan Fitzpatrick
Jon Gillies
Ville Husso
With the loss of Dunn, the Blues are left with Robert Bortuzzo, Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, Niko Mikkola, Colton Parayko, Steven Santini, Marco Scandella and Jake Walman on defense.