ShelbyZ
Registered User
- Apr 8, 2015
- 3,816
- 2,578
Consider this:
Saarijarvi is already a healthy scratch in GR some nights.
Chowlski and possibly Sambrook are joining the organization next year.
It's quite possible that Patrick Holway and Gustav Lindstrom join the organization the next year.
And there's also the outside shot that guys like Kotkansalo, Fraser or Webb sign too.
Plus - if we draft Dahlin, he's here next year.
There's also potential that Hughes, Dobson or Bouchard might be NHL ready next year.
Here are the guys we have coming off the books
NHL this year: Green (might be resigned)
NHL Next year: Kronwall, XO, Hicketts
AHL this year: Renouf
AHL next year: Russo, McIlrath, Lashoff
So next year, here are the defensemen signed:
1. Dekeyser
2. Kronwall
3. Ericsson
4. Daley
5. XO
6. Jensen
7. Witkowski
8. Hicketts
9. Cholowski
10. Hronek
11. Saarijarvi
12. Russo
13. Lashofff
14. Mcilrath
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Plus
Our first round draft pick (potentially)
Any UFAs.
If we're signing someone who fits atop that list, I can see it.
If we're signing someone who just fits somewhere in the middle, no thanks.
That logjam probably doesn't deter them from bringing in a "free" asset that might have some upside, especially for a position where they could use all the help they can get.
-They probably still look for a way to get Ouellet off the team this summer
-If Lindstrom signs this offseason, unless he has a real good camp, he probably spends the 1st year of his ELC assigned back to his team in Sweden
-Ouellet or Russo could get claimed on waivers at the start of next season
-Most of the teams veteran waiver fodder forwards (Puempel/Tangradi/Lorito/Street) and goalies (Coreau/McCollum) are UFA's this summer, so it's possible that once the dust settles with waivers at the start of the season, they leverage some of their newly cleared waiver fodder depth on D (Lashoff/McIlrath/Russo/possibly Ouellet) to fill G and/or F depth in GR (IE like the Sproul for Puempel trade).
As for Brickley, if the Wings promise that he starts 18-19 with the big club, the silver lining might end up being that his penciling into the roster keeps Holland from sneaking in a surprise Daley like signing with some term along with attempting to re-sign Green.
From the DeKeyser signing until the start of the next season, Ken Holland limited his blueline moves to letting go of some dead weight (Pretty much gave Huskins to the Flyers/Ian White walked as a UFA/Compliance buyout on Colaiacovo) and extended a couple of younger guys that seemed to (at the time) have regular spots locked down for the foreseeable future (Smith, Kindl and Lashoff). Holland didn't panic sign/overpay any veteran UFA Dmen that offseason. If signing Brickley brings a similar approach, I'm all for it...