There is no way they can send Brunicke down before they know the extent of Karlsson's injury/absence. You cannot roll with Hollowell or Clurman. Neither is anything more than a short-term call-up when injuries pile on.
As much as I have been focusing on the forwards decisions, we have major issues on defense and in goal if Karlsson and/or Ned are out long term. Larsson has looked OK when I saw him, but we cannot rely on him I don't think. Although goaltenders are largely voodoo. I hope they give Blomqvist another game before they send him down. They should give him a full game against Columbus. He needs to finish the preseason on a high note after a shaky start.
On defense, in my opinion they STILL have yet to find the partner for Letang. I don't think Grz is going to pan out. Graves is a LONG way from being the player he was in Colorado. Aho is probably needed on the third pairing at this point. Sullivan almost never plays a righty on the left or a lefty on the right, but I wonder if St. Ivany should maybe be tried with either Letang or Karlsson. His steadiness back there is super important.
It's funny, when this team decides to ice all three of St. Ivany, Brunicke and Pickering, that is when our defense will look steady and reliable. Our youngsters are the ones who can bring stability to the defense. We are living in a Seinfeld Bizarro world episode.
