Protected Players and the Expansion Draft

The Wizards have released the list of the players that are to be protected from the new expansion team, the Philadelphia Union.

Here is the list:

M Davy Arnaud
D Jimmy Conrad
D Michael Harrington
M Jack Jewsbury
F Kei Kamara
D Jonathan Leathers
M/F Claudio Lopez
M Kevin Souter
F Josh Wolff
M Graham Zusi
F Zoltan

Right off the bat I have a couple of issues with the protected list that I feel will come back and bite us very quickly. I understand that Kamara and Lopez had to be protected if we intend to resign them but there are a couple of picks that are puzzling.
First, protecting Kevin Souter; I might not be a big Santiago Hirsig fan, but he is a step up Kevin Souter any day, and if we were to protect a fourth international player it should have been Hirsig over Souter, who spent more time in the TV booth than on the field (yes, due to injury, but one must call into question his durability).

Second, protecting Jonathan Leathers over Matt Besler, Aaron Hohlbein or Kevin Hartman. I like Leathers’ work ethic and toughness, but I feel there was less of a threat to lose him than there is to lose either Besler or Hohlbein (plus Besler did play wide for much of the year, making him more versatile).

Also, I know people might argue that Hartman is too old to be picked, but remember that if there was one player that set the foundation for a good season for the Seattle Sounders it was Kasey Keller. I believe that if the Union look at the Wizards exposed players and think who can give them that veteran influence to hold a team together starting from the back it would be Kevin Hartman.

They will a lot of players that have never played together and a few young ones from the draft that could use his experience. He had an outstanding year, he will turn 36 midway through the season (Keller is 40) and even if not in their plans initially, Hartman would make a great addition to the new team, not only for his quality and leadership, just by the factor of hurting KC by taking who I saw was our MVP this past year.

Think about it: Pardo or Kronberg to be in the KC goal next year? This time last year we knew Keller was going to be the Sounders keeper so exposing Kevin was understandable, this year maybe not so much.

I’m sure there is some logical reason for these choices; I’m just trying to figure what it is.

Who do you think should not have been protected? (You can pick 3)

Who should we have NOT protected?(surveys)

Category: Team News