Feels like they may be battling it out for 1 spot on the big club...Batherson was certainly pencilled in but wondering if his less than stellar camp (well exhibition games anyway) have put that spot in jeopardy?
Loving they are together and hope they shine to make it a tough call on the organization.
Stoked we get a feed too! Will be great to hear about Canucks from their homers and also hear what they think of the Senators.
I don't think they are competing with each other for 1 spot. Dorion mentioned that the team will carry around 22 players to start the season. We already have our two goalies and then we have 10 forwards and 5 on defense. Forwards: (Anisimov, Boedker, C.Brown, Duclair, Ennis, Pageau, Ryan, Tierney, Tkachuk and White ). Defense: (Borowiecki, Chabot, DeMelo, Hainsey and Zaitsev).
That leaves 5 roster spots open. Jaros is pretty much a lock so that leaves 4 remaining. Brannstrom will have to push someone down the lineup to stay with the team so he will need to step it up or he will get sent down. I doubt that Golobouef makes the team. So that leaves 3 to 4 forward spots open. The players competing for those spots are Balcers, Batherson, L.Brown, Chlapik, Kelly, Paul, Sabourin and Szwarz. Dorion mentioned that he doesn't want to keep many bodies around to sit or to only play a few minutes a game. Paul, Szwarz and Sabourin (if signed) are all waiver eligible which gives them the inside track to take an extra forward spot. Paul is the most valuable and biggest risk to be lost on waivers so he has the best bet to take that spot. That leaves either 2 or 3 spots open. Balcers, Batherson and L.Brown are the most talented so they have a good chance to crack the roster as long as they prove they can play meaningful minutes. I think Batherson is better than Balcers so he gets the nod and L. Brown is better than most of our centres so he has an edge on Balcers as well. Kelly and Chlapik can both play depth roles so they might get a serious look but they both don't have to go through waivers so unless they steal a spot they are getting sent down.
My current prediction is that all of Batherson, L. Brown and Paul make the team and depending on performance that they might give a contract to Sabourin as an extra body.
