Random question, but has a Guds-Campbell pairing ever really been tried? If we brought in a Niskanen or an Orpik type vet, I don't see why Kuli couldn't play with them on our top line. Then put Soup and Guds on our second. Guds would play a shut down role, allowing Soup to take offensive chances. Also, putting Soup on the second pairing would let his minutes to go down because, lets face it, the guy looked gassed playing 27 min a night. Let him play 21-23 including extra PP time, Guds can play 16-19. Kuli and a good UFA are capable of playing 22-24 minutes easy. My main concern for this is that I just don't think Kulikov and Campbell work well together with their offense-first styles and I really want a good vet to play with Kuli. Best scenario would be getting a vet to play with all three (Campbell, Kuli, Guds), making our lines Cambell-UFA, Kuli-UFA, Guds-UFA. However, I highly doubt we add more than two Dmen this offseason. Plus we have to deal with Jovo. Also, although I am highly advocating for Ekblad, I don't think he should play here next season unless we get a good vet for him to play with (ie. nobody currently on our roster)
Perfect scenario:
Kulikov-Niskanen
Campbell-Greene
Guds-Stralman
Likely:
Kulikov-Orpik
Campbell-Guds
Jovo-UFA/Olsen