No way Poirier was coming up any time soon. Ferland came up, showed a lot of promise but didn't score. Bennett is hurt and I'd rather he played bigger minutes elsewhere.
Raymond had a great year last year, and really has had only one off year. Stajan was here before, and does veteran stuff that is very useful. He has a lot to teach the young centres about on and off ice professionalism and has a ton of character. Bollig is not as advertised, sure, but if he plays like last game, he's useful.
Get rid of those guys and next year, with Glencross likely to be gone, you have forward vets of Jones and Hudler. And Backlund if you consider a guy like him as a vet. You don't just hand the keys to the kids. You need them to take second line minutes at most, not first line (see Hall, RNH, Eberle). You need them to take time in the AHL or minors like most rookies (see Draisaitl, Yakopov, Hall, RNH, Eberle). I predict Darnell Nurse will turn out better than those guys because he played an extra year on the minors. You need veteran leadership on a team usually not just airlifted in when the kids don't show it (see Ference v. Hall).
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