My last point on DeMelo is that we don’t need him going into next year. We would have to offer a sizable deal and lots of ice time to a guy that we’d rather not do that with.
Wolanin, Branstrom will both likely be up to start the year next year, and with Zaitsev and Chabot, Boro and Reilly, we already have 6 NHL defensemen. If bring in an experienced vet that can play for a year and bring character and leadership, that makes 7 guys already.
DeMelo is not a core player, and this shouldn’t be taking up significant funds, nor perhaps more importantly significant ice time on a multi year deal.
Nice player and nice guy, but his type of player be had for free in the summer, and like DeMelo, we can take a guy who needs some ice time, and turn him into a 3rd!