I wonder how many deals Seattle made. I mean, we now know they made zero deals to avoid taking somebody, or else those would have been announced before yesterday afternoon. So, now it is all about the 30 players he currently has.
Francis can't really afford to trade Gourde, he is his No. 1 center by default! And he is going to miss time. He can't really afford to trade Eberle, McCann or Donskoi because where are the goals going to come from? He has 11 defensemen, but one is an AHLer who needs a contract, one is a 7-8 D-man at best and then he has nine more. Assuming he keeps 8, he probably trades one defenseman. Pitlick is superfluous, so I assume he will be moved. I also assume that he is bringing in Vatrano from Florida (as was rumored). But that whole Giordano, Blackwell thing? Is that still happening, after Giordano was there yesterday to greet the fans and all that?
Francis better hope UFA's other than defensive defensemen want to play for his team.