The Marlies have a tough roster to crack though.
Last offseason, the Marlies signed three high-profile CHL UFAs (Matt Bradley, Hudson Elynuik and Giorgio Estephan) to AHL contracts and, so far this season, they've played a total of 9 AHL games.
By the way, it's not a contract spot issue because Brazeau only starts on July 1st.
The Marlies are going to have a spot for him if he earns it. It may only be on the 4th line, but that just means he'll learn a strong defensive game first before getting the offensive opportunities. Plus, it likely means he'll play with someone like McGregor, who is a lot better offensively than many of the guys we've been using on the 4th line in recent years, so maybe he could still put up a decent point total.
Bradley, Estephan and Elynuik have been solid in the ECHL, but not anything that really shows that they should be full time AHLers right now. Elynuik, due to injury, is playing as one for us right now, and next year (if he decides to come back), he could easily find himself in a 4th line or rotational role on the LW. I think the number 1 factor that will determine whether those guys will make it is if they can PK. We'll have much better offensive guys than them, so they won't get many offensive opportunities, but if they can PK and be versatile, then I think there will be plenty of opportunities to make the Marlies' bottom 6 next year.