So the blueline has been strained this year whenever part of their top two pairings have been out. The jumble gets worse when the injuries get compounded. They have one possible signee in Johnson whose season is still probably a three weeks to a month from being over right now, but looking out into the summer... these things aren't going to be fixed by UFA spending alone.
So I thought maybe we could do for the defense the same thing that we've done with the goaltending (again... *sigh*) and take a dive into who they might find or more specifically who we would like to see. I know I've been sifting through some draftees going back to about 2015, trying to find someone who is 26 or younger and might be under-utilized by their current team either in the NHL or down in the AHL or even not yet signed (think Marino moving to the Penguins).
There is internal on their protected list are draftees - Ryan Johnson if he signs, Komarov, Novikov (under KHL contract), Lindgren, Albert Lyckåsen, and Philip Nyberg.
That's not a list that inspires a lot of confidence for near-term improvement though we'll know sooner if Johnson is coming in or not. The rest are either a ways off or still need development time (Komarov, Lindgren) or are distant longshots at this point (Lyckasen, Nyberg).
Nearer term guys might be in the guise of collegiate UDFA:
Jake Livingstone from Minnesota St., Sam Malinski from Cornell, Zack Metsa who was at dev camp from Quinnipiac, Jacob Bengtsson from LSSU, Colton Huard from UNH...
It's a mixed bag, without a slamdunk like Whitecloud was when he came out.
European UDFA's:
Hardy Haman Aktell from Vaxjo in the SHL, LHD; Grigori Dronov from Magnitogorsk in the KHL, LHD; Valtteri Pulli from TPS in the Finnish Liiga, also LHD... I'm sure there are more just those have come up in the various articles and chatter.
NHL UFA's... that's a list. I sorted this on Capfriendly by UFA's who are free agents this summer: 2022-23 Active NHL Players - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps
And then there is trade. Small trade, big trade... something. That could be anyone.
Who do you have and what are the pros and cons of that player or players coming in? Do we see them making multiple moves or just one? How much is Johnson's situation going to impact this if at all?
I got tired of talking about goalies...
So I thought maybe we could do for the defense the same thing that we've done with the goaltending (again... *sigh*) and take a dive into who they might find or more specifically who we would like to see. I know I've been sifting through some draftees going back to about 2015, trying to find someone who is 26 or younger and might be under-utilized by their current team either in the NHL or down in the AHL or even not yet signed (think Marino moving to the Penguins).
There is internal on their protected list are draftees - Ryan Johnson if he signs, Komarov, Novikov (under KHL contract), Lindgren, Albert Lyckåsen, and Philip Nyberg.
That's not a list that inspires a lot of confidence for near-term improvement though we'll know sooner if Johnson is coming in or not. The rest are either a ways off or still need development time (Komarov, Lindgren) or are distant longshots at this point (Lyckasen, Nyberg).
Nearer term guys might be in the guise of collegiate UDFA:
Jake Livingstone from Minnesota St., Sam Malinski from Cornell, Zack Metsa who was at dev camp from Quinnipiac, Jacob Bengtsson from LSSU, Colton Huard from UNH...
It's a mixed bag, without a slamdunk like Whitecloud was when he came out.
European UDFA's:
Hardy Haman Aktell from Vaxjo in the SHL, LHD; Grigori Dronov from Magnitogorsk in the KHL, LHD; Valtteri Pulli from TPS in the Finnish Liiga, also LHD... I'm sure there are more just those have come up in the various articles and chatter.
NHL UFA's... that's a list. I sorted this on Capfriendly by UFA's who are free agents this summer: 2022-23 Active NHL Players - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps
And then there is trade. Small trade, big trade... something. That could be anyone.
Who do you have and what are the pros and cons of that player or players coming in? Do we see them making multiple moves or just one? How much is Johnson's situation going to impact this if at all?
I got tired of talking about goalies...
