[Itse]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I think that's an exaggeration. There's room for five centres on a 23-man roster. Monahan, Backlund, and Stajan are all locks to be on the roster unless they're traded, and none of them are RH shots.
That's three centre spots taken, though any or all of them could be pushed down the depth chart by a new acquisition. It's unlikely any of them will be moved to LW with the number of players already at that position.

Quantity over quality. If someone takes their spot, sure as hell you put these guys on the wing over roster filler like Jones and Byron.

Then add in Hudler, Colborne, Byron, and Bouma

I don't see any of these guys as serious options for the center. (Bouma for example is just terrible on the dot.) I don't even see Byron having a future on this team. Nothing against the player, but we really need to get bigger and he seems like an obvious guy to not re-sign or trade away. Alternatively, he's the guy that gets pushed out if Gaudreau makes the team next season.

Then you have Arnold and Reinhart in the system.

You're forgetting Granlund and Knight.

In my books, four prospects is a good number to try fill two spots with.

More importantly though, the spot we have open for next season is fourth line center. That seems like a good spot for Arnold to learn the ropes.

On the other hand, at RW the team hasn't even got a surplus of bad players. Out of all those centres I listed, I believe Arnold is the only one who shoots right; and for that reason, I'd be tempted to try him on the wing.

I get that. However, IMO it's better to try develop a guy as a center and move him to the wing if it doesn't work out than the other way around. Besides, most centers can play wing, but few wingers make good centers. It's too soon to say what our roster will look like in a couple of years.

Of course speaking realistically, there's no reason why you couldn't play him both as a winger and a center next season regardless of where he plays (Heat or the Flames) or how the coaching staff sees his future (wing or center). I'm just more opposed to the idea that we have a proper logjam. Mostly because I don't see our center prospects being that great really.

As an important note also. I see Arnold as a guy that could help fix one of our most fundamental weaknesses, not enough size at center. He's not huge, but he's bigger than most our other options. That's one of the main reasons why I'm less than excited about moving him to wing.