[Cali Panthers Fan]

My thoughts on how this will shake out:
Green=almost assuredly safe and on the opening day roster
Orange=in contention for one of the last few spots
Red=has a shot at a roster spot, but is a long shot
Purple=outside extreme long shot at the roster, but still has a chance
Bold=almost assuredly cut due to injury status or extreme lack of talent
So here's who's left:

Forwards (20):
Raymond (injured)
Monahan
Hudler
Gaudreau
Backlund (injured)
Colborne
Glencross
Stajan
Jones (injured)
Bollig
Bouma
McGrattan
Byron
Setoguchi (injured)
Bennett
Baertschi
Reinhart
Ferland
Granlund (injured)
Knight
Poirier (injured)
Klimchuk (injured)
Arnold
Elson
Jooris

Defence (10):
Giordano
Brodie
Smid
Wideman
Russell
Engelland
Brookbank (try-out)
Diaz (try-out)
Yonkman (try-out)
Wotherspoon (injured)
Potter (injured)
Kulak
Sieloff
Cundari
Culkin
Ramage
Acolatse

Goalies (3)
Hiller
Ramo
Ortio

Almost everyone who was cut needed to be at this point. Reinhart really hasn't shown much all camp, and I'm worried he's going to be a depth minor league forward for the foreseeable future. Not writing him off just yet, but this was an important camp for him to distinguish himself and he just didn't do it. Same exact thing can be said for Knight. These are not bad players at all, just guys that will fill a hole without hurting you, and not necessarily make you a better team. Arnold has potential as a checking center, but will need some professional experience first.

Acolatse didn't look awful, but he sure is inconsistent. Same for Kulak, but more inconsistent with a much higher upside. I see Acolatse as a career AHLer with a few games in the NHL over his career. Kulak I can see as an NHLer, but he needs a lot of work on his decision making and defensive coverage. At least 2 years in the AHL before he's likely ready. I never saw Brookbank, but judging by the reports he wasn't overwhelmingly great, and he's always been a 7th man/tweener throughout his career, so no surprises there. I can't understand how Yonkman made it this far in camp. Best of luck to both.

This leaves Diaz all but guaranteed to be our 7th man (not a bad thing at all), and Wotherspoon will likely be given a chance to practice with the team once he's recovered from surgery fully before being sent down. Potter is also injured and will likely start of in the AHL to get his conditioning back. That leaves Sieloff, and while he had a very impressive game against Colorado the other night, I'll be shocked if he beats out Diaz for the last spot. Stranger things have happened though.

Of course, the most interesting battles are at forward. Baertschi, Gaudreau, Ferland, and even Jooris have all been impressive in camp at various times, some more consistently than others. Bennett will get a chance to shine again, but obviously there has already been a toll on his underdeveloped frame, so I think management leans towards sending him back unless he's lights out the next two games. With the injuries up front to Raymond, Jones, Setoguchi, and Backlund, you could feasibly have all four of the guys mentioned in the first sentence on the team to start. Bennett will stay if Backlund remains injured to start the year.

Opening night lineup might be like this:

Glencross-Monahan-Baertschi
Gaudreau-Colborne-Hudler
Byron-Stajan-Ferland
Bollig-Bouma-McGrattan
Jooris

Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Smid-Engelland
Diaz

Ramo/Hiller