Jared McCann reveals that he thought that the Leafs were going to protect him in the expansion draft

McCann explained the situation when he was a guest on Luke Gazdic's Mitts Off podcast:

"I got the call from Hextall just telling me that they weren't going to protect me in the expansion draft and that they just wanted to get a pick. It's a business. That's just the way it goes. I didn't take it personally."

Being born and raised in Stratford, Ontario, McCann was relatively excited about the prospects of "returning home" and playing for the Maple Leafs but that was not to be:

"For most people being from Ontario, being a Leaf would be awesome."

He also admitted to being thrilled to have received a phone call from Kyle Dubas directly, which he thought meant that he'd have been protected in the expansion draft. However, that's not quite the news that he got on the call:

"I was like, relieved, (I thought) he's going to protect me... 'we're going to leave you exposed'", McCann said of the call. "When he told me I was exposed, I thought that was at least great of him to tell me, that ok we could be in Toronto or could be in Seattle."

One day later and being exposed to the Seattle Kraken for their Expansion Draft, McCann was plucked from the Toronto Maple Leafs, much to the chagrin of the fan base, who were hoping it would've been Alex Kerfoot instead.

In his first season with the Kraken, McCann had a career season with 27 goals and 50 points in 74 games. He added to that this past season with 40 goals and 70 points in 79 games, while also scoring his first career playoff goal and added 2 assists in 8 games. Don't look up Alexander Kerfoot or Justin Holl's stats from last season. Just don't.