In no way does it say that. That's just making a link that isn't there based on any evidence. All not signing Marleau would mean is that Marleau isn't a Shark. It says nothing about who will be on the 3rd line this season.
But that was then and this is now. Radil may not be given the same opportunity this time around for various reasons. I agree Melker is unlikely to be put up there but we can't say that Chmleveski or Chekhovich are in that spot either. There's still too many unknown variables to make any declaration one way or the other. Even with the report from Friedman, it's possible for the Sharks and Marleau to still come to terms provided one side or both have decided to move from their current spots in the negotiations to make a deal and have him on board although that's very unlikely given that report. Plus, it just isn't likely that DW doesn't make a trade at some point because even if he brought in Marleau, having any internal option in the top six along with a shaky Labanc is problematic. The report doesn't change that a move is in the works to add up front.
I’m not making a declaration that it will be one of Radil, Chmelevski, Chekhovich, etc. in particular. I’m saying that it’s not going to be Melker Karlsson in that role. As much as we like the meme, DeBoer has actually moved on from Melker in that role pretty much entirely. He didn’t see significant time in that role even when half our forward group was seriously injured.
And yes, I agree that it’s far more likely that a move is in the works. More realistically, we see something like this:
Kreider-Couture-Meier
Kane-Hertl-Labanc
Sorensen-Thornton-Chmelevski
Radil-Goodrow-Melker
Replace Kreider with whomever they acquire and replace Chmelevski with Gambrell if you want, but it will probably be something like this. Either way, top-6 Melker is very unlikely. Even more so if DW actually does address our needs on the wing.
