It would be nice to see us pick up one more piece of the puzzle before the season started, but I figure the chances are that we're set now.
#1 - 2nd buyout window is over, right? Only way we're picking up another d-man is if we get rid of Ference or Nikitin. I don't think Ference wants to waive his NMC and I'm convinced that nobody is going to take Nikitin until he returns to form. If we keep both of these guys, I honestly don't see how either of Nurse or Reinhart start the year in the NHL. That's not a bad thing, either.
#2 - Salary arbitration. This could lead to teams making moves, but we don't have a lot of cap space. If the Rangers are asked to fork out 7M for their 1st line center teams with some cap space might be able to help them out, but I highly doubt we'd be able to get a player we really want from them because they want to stay compeditive.
#3 - We've got so many forwards who are fighting for roster spots.
- Pitlick is going to be on a make or break year. He has to stay healthy. If he can do this, he's solid. We probably let him walk.
- Gazdic is on a contract year and I don't see us retaining him. He isn't a good enough hockey player to be given a roster spot at this point. He might not clear waivers. He's a great pick-up for a team that wants to tank next year. He's cheap and one of the best fighters out there.
- Klinkhammer looks like he's good enough to be a 4th liner on a lot of teams but with his limited offensive upside there are surely more attractive options on the farm team.
- Draisaitl should surely be sent down to the AHL if we want him to play center, but I heard so much about him being moved to the wing. You'd think he'd be able to secure the 2nd or 3rd line left wing position, right?
- Slepyshev said that he isn't opposed to playing in the AHL. If he lights things up it'll surely bring up a lot of discussions involving the future of our top six.
- Pakarinen was looking like a diamond in the right last season. I figure he, Pitlick and Klink will be fighting for that 4th line RW spot.
- Yakimov has so many guys to beat out for a roster spot. If he can turn on the offence he could really get it done. At the same time his potential has me worried that he could get traded. I'm pretty sure Mcdavid, Hopkins, Lander, Letestnu and Draisaitl are all ahead of him on the depth chart, but he's got a lot of good things to contribute to our bottom six as well.
- Khaira is someone I feel goes fairly unappreciated among Oil fans. He's mean and responsible. Expect to see him play a few games in the NHL this year if we get bogged down with injuries.
Most of these guys I just listed aren't going to win us a ton of games, but PC isn't in a hurry to get us a cup this year. he's supposedly trying to raise us up in moderation. If he's going to follow this plan he can't afford to pick up too many established NHLers. He needs to give the kids in the minors a chance to show him what they've got so that he can better ***** what kind of moves he needs to make next off-season.
If we go out and pick up GlenX, Fehr and another d-man and move out as few players as possible none of these youngsters will get to prove themselves and our management and coaching staff won't have nearly as good of an idea of what they've got.