I agree what ur saying about the roster next year my only thing is with 3 forwards gone and a goalie that means we have to trade a bunch of prospects which i dont see us trading many that we have because i can tell you right now that the line up we have we already know what it can and can not do and with petti Luff gone we need ALOT of work... unless we can hit a HR with a goalie via trade or a key dman with Import or key forward i dont see us going for much of a impact with what we have as far as our prospects goes to trade for players.
I think I get the jest of what you're saying. Here's my thoughts since I was going to share them sometime anyway.
Hamilton still has scoring depth for next year. After losing 3 forwards (assuming Luff stays in the AHL since he was just called up), they will likely still have 3 scoring lines by the fall or Christmas because of the import draft and trades. I believe (and hope) the top 2 centers will be Saigeon and Entwistle (interchangeable), and then Roberts on third line. Where Kutkevicius fits in, I'm not sure but Gruden did rotate centers to wing this year. While I haven't been a huge fan of Luke most this season, it's undeniable that he finished the season strong (including playoffs). I really hope he returns in the fall the way he finished this year. One big thing the team must address is faceoffs. I think it can be improved with coaching and practice but it needs to improve somehow.
For defense, the foundation is Lemcke, Gleason, Walters, and Hanley. Candella improved a ton in 15-16 from the year prior in Belleville but this year I thought he regressed. Over time his minutes diminished this season and he was ultimately moved down to third line while Hanley's and Gleason's minutes increased. Hamilton could look at trading Candella with picks to upgrade D, which would also give him the opportunity to play more minutes on another team and hone his skills. If they upgrade D, I'd look for someone who isn't afraid to shoot from the blue line (like Stephen Desrocher), and can move the puck up the ice from their own end. Ideally the new person would become a #1D or #2D.
For goal, I think this is the biggest question mark. Fulcher was the go-to guy and won games early in the season. Once Hamilton acquired Carty, Gruden played both goalies as a 1A /1B tandem with no designated starting goalie. Around February Gruden was saying "you win, you're in" and Carty had a (6 game?) win streak but when Fulcher won games, Carty would start after anyway. Then in a 7 game playoff series Fulcher got just 40 minutes with no starts. Going forward I see 3 goaltending options.
1: Hamilton puts their trust in Fulcher and his 40 minutes of playoff experience and a rookie to backup for a big run. Mississauga is relying on 16 year-old Ingham for theirs right now so it's not unheard of.
2: They acquire another OHL veteran and let the two duel it out again for the starting position.
3: Trade Fulcher and pick(s) to upgrade goaltending and have a rookie backup in Donofio or Ceci. Personally I see Donofrio getting the opportunity and Ceci's days being numbered.
Going back to trading draft picks and current players for upgrades, I'll use this past trade deadline as an example. Firstly, Hamilton could use just draft picks to acquire reliable depth players - like Windsor did acquiring Adam Laishram and sending a draft pick back. However, when building for a run, picks and players is a real possibility too. Erie traded McShane and picks to Oshawa for Cirelli, and Neumann and a pick to Kingston for Foegele. London packaged Martenet and picks to Ottawa for Salituro, and Blacker and picks to Oshawa for Vande Somple. McShane, Neumann, and Blacker are all younger players with good upside, while Martenet is a veteran who can still improve his game and play more minutes elsewhere while London upgraded their defense.
Finally, a few guys I could see having to fight to keep their roster spots the most are Garagan, Templeton, and Nurse. The same happened to Mendona, Mizzi, and Krassy last year. I'll never understand why Saban AND a pick were involved to acquire Templeton. Saban logged a lot more minutes but the rumour is that Andlauer wanted Templeton brought home. Hamilton went from having a reliable defensive dman who was physical and blocked a ton of shots to a guy who got moved from defense to fill the fourth line and get just a few shifts per game. One guy I haven't mentioned is Jackson, who I'd be inclined to keep before the others for the fourth line (provided he sticks to his game and doesn't try to become a fighter).
Already can't wait for September!
