Proposal: Free agency edition Trade Rumours/Proposals [MOD - Stay on Topic] 5

[UglyPuckling]

We have a head coach that was run out of town by the fans of all the teams he's coached in the NHL.

Two of our core players have been chronically injured over the past few years.

To date, the younger core players have not necessarily shown the required focus on two-way play that will also be required to improve our overall competitiveness. Meanwhile, Giroux has been admirably battling Father Time to date, but how long does he keep that up?

We have no idea what Perron, Amadio and Gregor can bring to the table now that the games will matter.

We have no idea if Jensen was deemed expendable by the Capitals because his abilities have fallen below a certain threshold due to age.

We don't know how many games Ulmark can actually start and be effective as a #1 goalie.

Question marks abound with this team.

I'm excited to see what this team can do - the off-seasons have been long for us over the past few years.

But I don't think it's going to be an instant transformation, and with the amount of scrutiny on the early season in Ottawa, it could turn very ugly very quickly around here.

The bolded text is something that I’ve thought about a few times. How many games do we think Ullmark can start? What’s the upper limit?

How many games will Forsberg (or whomever) start?

 

[Hale The Villain]

We're going to score plenty this year. My question marks are on defense and in goal.

Defense should be solid when healthy. Only question mark when everyone is playing is who will be the 3rd pairing RD, but if that pairing has it's minutes managed JBD/Hamonic should be able to survive in that role with minimal impact.

My concern is what the backup plan is if we experience a single injury to one of our key D. There's zero good LD besides Sanderson, Chabot and Kleven. Roos is terrible and Davies/Sebrango just aren't NHL quality guys. On the right side an injury to Zub or Jensen means JBD/Hamonic on the 2nd pairing, which isn't exactly ideal. Guenette should be able to fill in reasonable well if JBD/Hamonic get injured, but I really wish Staios had added better depth on D in case the injury bug hits.

Goaltending overall should be significantly improved with Ullmark playing 50-60 games, but the other 20-30 games where presumably Forsberg/Sogaard/Merilainen will play worries me, as Forsberg looked as terrible in pre-season as he did last year, and Sogaard has never been able to stop a beach ball when facing NHL shooters. Not sure what to make of Merilainen yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if he became the backup at some point due to lack of alternatives.

Good news for us is that the other teams that will be fighting for wildcard spots have question marks as well, and arguably bigger ones than we do.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

I think Ullmark will at least allow them to settle in as the biggest key. It's not just about him stealing the show, but rather, giving them a foundation they can actually build off of. I don't expect an elite team, but a team that actually has the chance to find its footing now. I think some things will fall in to place and not look nearly as bad as they have.