I say play the guys who show the best in the preseason. There should be a bout 8-9 spots up for grabs. Nobody outside the best 15 guys or so should be guaranteed a spot.
This teamhad too many black holes last year. There are a lot of guys knocking on the door. If I were Yzerman, I'd make it clear to everyone that you better come in hungry, if not you won't be here long.
Who starts the season in the NHL will be by
1. Detroit landing FA stars. If a Marner or another big name lands, the bottom six gets much better. Current bottom six guys likely moved, bought out, or waived for cap space. I'd like Danielson as a 3C and penalty killer. MBN and Mazur as cheap wings would fit too. Same situation on defense. Adding a top 4 guy increases the chance other vets are gone.
2. Cossa. He needs to clearly be the guy in preseason. Don't give the team the option of holding him back anymore.
3. With the cap going up, this is the year to move bad deals. Guys like Copp, Compfer, Rasmussen, Tarasenko have some value to teams that miss on the big guys and want to add depth for a run this year.
Ideally Steve lands Marner, a solid defenseman, an is able to free some money from the bottom of this team.