There are only 2 guys locked in - Seth Jones and Connor Murphy - 1st and 2nd pair RD's. Everything else will be fluid. The only other RD is Zaitsev so he will get a lot of games at the 3rd pair. Tinordi is the only other veteran and is LD but can play either side so he will get a bunch of games but him and Zaitsev will also get some press box time.
The prospect d-men are Korchinski, Kaiser, Phillips, Vlassic and Roos, and they're all LD's. Most likely two of them will be playing every game but I could see three of them playing some games. Korchinski is the biggest wildcard because he'll most likely get some games early in the season but then may go back to the WHL depending if he's ready for the NHL yet. I expect the other 4 prospects to cycle in and out until one or two of them rise above the others and grab a permanent spot.
Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro are a year or two behind Kaiser/Phillips/Vlasic, so not as likely to see extended action, but may also factor into the mix somewhat if they end up being better.
Alex Vlasic: June 5, 2001 6’6, 198
Year 3 of ELC
Isaak Phillips: September 28, 2001 6’3 194
Year 3 of ELC
Wyatt Kaiser: July 31, 2002 6’0 172
Year 2 of ELC
Ethan Del Mastro: January 15, 2003 6’4 205
Year 1 of ELC
Nolan Allan: April 28, 2003 6’2 194
Year 1 of ELC
I think that KK has to look absolutely dominant to stay up. Assuming he will get a short taste at the NHL level, and then go back to the WHL.
Agreed, there's just too much of a log jam of young LHD at the moment, so the Hawks need to figure out which ones factor into the medium or potentially long-term plans. Korchinski would really need to turn heads for the brass to not make the decision to slide his contract another year and let him develop in Juniors before he joins that mix in the pro ranks.
Just based on contracts, Vlasic and Phillips seeing the highest amount of time makes the most sense (this particularly HF Hawks board though is very high on Kaiser and very low on Vlasic, which if a correct assessment could certainly mean more Kaiser nonetheless).
Roos is still waiver-exempt and will turn 25 in the middle of the season, so he's a pretty low ceiling guy that doesn't factor into medium or long-term plans in all likelihood, so he will likely move around a lot as someone we will see in the lineup, playing off his natural side, to the press box, to the AHL throughout next season.
