He did nothing in Edmonton last year. I certainly hopes for the sake of Stars fan that this is just an AHL signing.
It is. We needed another veteran done there.
He is, at absolute best, probably 16th on the depth chart.
Benn, Seguin, Sharp, Janmark, Spezza, Nichushkin, Hemsky, Faksa, Roussel, Eakin, Ritchie, and Eaves all seem to be locks. That's 12.
Then we've got McKenzie, Dickinson, and Shore - three young guys who have performed well in the AHL, two of whom have had some NHL time.
And then we've got Travis Morin, Justin Dowling, Brendan Ranford, and a handful of other AHLers and raw prospects. This is the group I'd put Cracknell in, especially considering Nill is in charge of the roster call-ups, not Ruff.
If we move a defender out, Cracknell might sit up in the NHL as the 14th forward, but more so that our youngsters are getting ice time in the AHL as opposed to sitting in the press box.
I don't expect him to play more than a couple dozen games at most this season, barring some crazy injuries.