What's at Hershey that we see making a strong push to make the parent club next season?
Would like to see Vanecek compete for the back up against Copley. Let Samsonov have a second season in Hershey.
Orpik possibly retiring and Kempny not being available till December/January, will mean at least one d from Hershey getting a chance as of now.
Fourth line may have some spots with no DSP/Jaskin I would think.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see one of Vanecek/Samsonov supplant Copley next season. Both have been solid. Vitek probably is more likely a trade candidate if they don’t think he has a shot at the backup spot. He has earned an NHL shot somewhere at this point IMO but I don’t know where that is exactly.
On D I think Siegenthaler has pretty much guaranteed a spot in Washington to start next season unless he has a dog shit training camp. The other D who could compete that are currently in Hershey is a pretty short list. I’d say the two that could make the team are LuJo at LD and Lewington at RD as the 7th guy, especially if Orpik moves on. Lewy has an Orpik-esque game to him and has been the Bears best defender (talking actual defense not all around) for the past 2-3 seasons now. The other guys who have an outside chance are AA and Fehervary but they have yet to play a pro game in NA and I’d suspect they start in Hershey.
The forwards get super interesting. Liam O’Brien is the only real RFA in the forward ranks that could get passed over and not qualified due to reaching veteran status in the AHL. Nate Walker and Riley Barber are both going to be UFA and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see either player walk to find a better opportunity. Barber is an interesting case though. I could see him coming back if the Caps don’t re-sign Connolly. Could be a Matthew Peca/ Austin Czarnik situation all over again this offseason. In terms of prospects who will be around next year, the only two I could see pushing for a spot are Beck Malenstyn and Shane Gersich. Both are highly capable of playing a bottom 6 role and can use their speed. Beck has developed into an elite PKer at the AHL level and provides a physical presence when he’s on the ice. I would probably have them both get another year in the AHL under their belt though and not rush anything.
In all, there’s not much there forward wise that’s going to replace Connolly. Barber is the only one IMO and he will hit UFA status so who knows.