Speculation: Which teams have the most potential to make improvements to their rosters this upcoming season?

[10YearsAfter]

Doubt it unless they want to throw a lot of money at both Tavares and Bennett and get both. Flyers have probably the worst center depth in the league and too many teams need top 6 centers and are more enticing destinations at this time

not at all where I was going FYI

 

[10YearsAfter]

I think next year is their push the chips in time. They have a bunch of dead cap space expiring and they need 1 more top 10 pick.

expecting a big move up in draft

 

[LeProspector]

You’d think so, but we’ve already got most of our roster filled up.

Kap - Ek - Boldy
X - Yurov - Zucc
Ohgren - Hartman - Foligno
Trenin - Gaudreau - Hinostroza

Brodin - Faber
Buium - Spurgeon
Middleton - Jiricek
Bogosian

Gus
Wallstedt

That roster has just under $16M in cap space, but we still have to re-sign Rossi. If they move Rossi for picks, then I could see them signing Nelson + Boeser. Otherwise, I think they’re really only going to be in the UFA market for one player.

You’re banking on Yurov to just fill in at 2C and have no complications, same thing with Ohgren?

Also don’t you think it would be wise to have Hinostroza as a depth guy, move Foligno down to 4th line then sign a good 3rd liner in F/A?

A lot of flaws with how you think this roster will fill out, you can’t back on THAT much youth.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

expecting a big move up in draft

I think there is a better chance of moving up from 22, or bundling 2nds to get into the 1st, than into the top 5. Personally I’m kinda hoping they keep all the later 1sts and 2nds as I think 6 picks from 22-48 gives you a decent chance at a homerun, or 2-3 good supporting players

 

[Chainshot]

Fools and their money and all that...

 

[Spurgeon]

You’re banking on Yurov to just fill in at 2C and have no complications, same thing with Ohgren?

Also don’t you think it would be wise to have Hinostroza as a depth guy, move Foligno down to 4th line then sign a good 3rd liner in F/A?

A lot of flaws with how you think this roster will fill out, you can’t back on THAT much youth.

That’s their plan. The lines aren’t set in stone, but those players will all likely be on the NHL roster. Hinostroza is the 13th forward here, that’s why I mentioned Rossi + 1 UFA signing.

Didn't Wallstedt have a rough year in Iowa? I feel like he wouldn't be a lock to make the team unless there's more that meets the eye.

Same with Jiricek. Is he going to make the team or play a year in the AHL on a first call up basis?

Guerin gave Wallstedt a 2-year $2.2M extension last offseason that begins this year, so it’s pretty likely he’ll start out as the backup.

Regarding Jiricek, he gave up a lot of assets for him, so I’d be shocked if he’s not up here to start the year. He looked good in the few games he played here, but was blocked by all the other D-men we had (and the limited cap space).

 

[slybel]

The youngest playoff team ever will. Watch the Habs with their 12 picks and good cap space!

 

[MNRube]

You’re banking on Yurov to just fill in at 2C and have no complications, same thing with Ohgren?

Also don’t you think it would be wise to have Hinostroza as a depth guy, move Foligno down to 4th line then sign a good 3rd liner in F/A?

A lot of flaws with how you think this roster will fill out, you can’t back on THAT much youth.

Will be something like

Top 6: Kap, Ek, Boldy, Nelson, Rossi Trade Return, Zucc

Bottom 6: Ohgren, Yurov, Hartman, Foligno, Trenin, Gaudreau

Most of the youth comes on very tested. Ohgren PPG and 0.5 GPG in AHL, Buium dominates NCAA two years in a row, Yurov a longtime KHLer, etc. Not exactly raw rookies.

 

[ctmagic]

Will be something like

Top 6: Kap, Ek, Boldy, Nelson, Rossi Trade Return, Zucc

Bottom 6: Ohgren, Yurov, Hartman, Foligno, Trenin, Gaudreau

Most of the youth comes on very tested. Ohgren PPG and 0.5 GPG in AHL, Buium dominates NCAA two years in a row, Yurov a longtime KHLer, etc. Not exactly raw rookies.

Jiricek too. That’s potentially 4 rookie starters. No matter how ready we think they are, that’s a lot of youth to break in one season…

 

[57special]

Detroit but they'll probably overpay for some veteran bums.

Wings are by no means the only team that has that habit.

 

[Fatass]

The youngest playoff team ever will. Watch the Habs with their 12 picks and good cap space!

And smart management who won’t waste big cap dollars on old players July 1.

 

[SirPaste]

Too many teams have a ton of cap space. July 1st is going to be a train wreck.

Yep, gonna see a lot of buyers remorse this year. Well, I guess we do every year, but even more so this year lol

 

[Volica]

Calgary is in a really solid position to make some significant improvements on their roster.
That all said, I really don't think they'll go that path. Some tinkering, but I think the plan is to stay the road they're on.

 

[Sendhelp2Anaheim]

I think SJ, Chicago, Utah and Anaheim will have some fun this offseason with UFAs and/or trades

Anaheim does have to be a little careful

Mctavish + dostal this year

Gauthier zegras carlsson Mintyukov lacombe and zellweger next year due raises

Granted we lose a lot of money off the books too, but if the team is successful…. It’s going to some dough to those contracts.

I’d like to get a top 6 forward, bottom 6 faceoff/penalty killer type that can chip in offensively, maybe a guy like Frederic/Jeanott for our 4th line. And a top 4 rhd(assuming we’ll move gudas or Trouba )

 

[Djp]

I'd assume Minnesota is in a good position getting 15 million dollars of dead cap space off the books, with a really nice season overall despite that massive financial boat anchor.

Its more than just UFAs. It's development from within and trades

 

[JKG33]

95% of the league has an abundance of cap space, or is a move or two away from having enough cap space to make things happen. There are going to be some disgusting overpayments on July 1.

The teams with the ability to improve the most are the ones with cap space and an abundance of tradeable futures based assets. I'm looking at Anaheim, Utah, Carolina as the first ones who come to mind here.

 

[Indy18]

Columbus is a goaltender and two defensemen away from becoming a true threat and they have plenty of space, assets and the momentum to make it happen. They are still probably two years away from actually being a contender as the kids are more seasoned but the pieces are coming together.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Setting up to be a pretty active trade market with the UFA class pretty weak aside from the top (assuming most of the big names make it there) and the draft isn't really considered very good outside of the top 4 and then there's reportedly a large fall off after the first couple of rounds.

I think movement of guys who teams are wanting to move on from due to contract or not being a good fit are going to be a lot more frequent than years past - only issue is there aren't many teams that are racing towards the bottom right now so what are they going to do with the free cap space?

 

[Patdud]

Boston was so shit, only way is up!

 

[TLEH]

This is going to be the worst year for UFA deals in a long f***ing time.

Too many teams with a ton of cap space (the bad teams) that will have to overpay to beat out the more competitive destinations with better rosters, that still have decent space, like Utah.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Sounds like the Habs will be busy this off-season.

Habs will be busy exploring options but our actual management is not desperate to make moves just for the sake of it.

Certainly a team to watch out for because we have cap space and futures we can use.

 

[Go Wings]

Wings are by no means the only team that has that habit.

I'm good with other teams doing that, not my team.

 

[DJJones]

Flames have a ton of space and early rumors were we wanted to go big game hunting. Hopefully some other teams with cap can hand out all the big dumb contracts before Calgary gets their chance/no one wants to come here lol.

There will be $500+ mil signed July 1st and not one dime will be remotely close to good value.

Can't imagine we do anything drastic this year. Anyone we sign we'd need to ship someone out anyway.

Unless a 1C is somehow available anyway. Maybe a defensemen to replace Andersson but that's about it.

Skip this summer which as you said is going to be a disaster. Save it for next summer when the new building opens.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Montréal will add the the 2025/2026 Calder Trophy Winner Ivan Demidov to their roster

 

[allsilverdreams]

Buffalo!!
Unless people don't care about their jobs.