Originally Posted by FlameZilla
I don't really like the concept of 'making room for young players', but guys like Granlund, Jooris, Ferland and Baertschi have made a really good case for themselves as NHLers. Once Backlund is back and Raymond slots back in (inevitable IMHO) Jooris and Granlund are the most likely players to be sent down because of waiver exemption, and that completely sucks.
Guys like Byron, Bouma and Colborne are established NHLers now and doing a great job on the team, but they are in direct competition with the guys mentioned above. All 3 are young with some potential, and all 3 have had a positive impact on the team, but are they a part of the future here? There is no definitive answer; it's all subjective and based on each fan's perception of what this team needs going forward. Byron and Bouma bring speed, toughness and heart which are integral to a successful energy line. Can you really replace the level of commitment and personal sacrifice Bouma makes for this team every night? Colborne has great size and hands and has come along leaps and bounds recently.
I'm not an advocate of 'trading all the vets', but if one or 2 of the non-essential vets were traded (Jones, Raymond, Stajan, Smid: I'm looking at you) for young-ish talent on the blue line then it would go along way towards accommodating all our most talented, NHL-ready forwards. That's the most pressing place where the team is feeling the squeeze of this current logjam of very good depth forwards.
This is my assessment of the organisation:
A) Young Core: The Untouchables.
Monahan, Brodie & Gaudreau
B) Veteran core leadership: Setting the example; detrimental to trade them
Giordano, Hudler & Hiller
C) Top Prospects: Potentially part of the core; too early to definitively tell
Bennett (here because, well... 'counting chickens'), Poirier, J. Gillies, M. McDonald, Culkin, Klimchuk, Jankowski, Arnold, Smith, Gilmour, Hickey & Rafikov
D) Young Complimentary players: NHL-ready support players; untapped potential
Backlund, Russell, Baertschi, Colborne, Bouma, Jooris, Granlund, Ferland, Wotherspoon, Byron, Ramo & Ortio
E) Complimentary Prospects: Potentially useful role players
Kanzig, Sieloff, Reinhart, Knight, Carroll, Hanowski, Agostino, Van Brabant, Kulak, Roy, Mattsson, Wolf, Ramage, Harrison, Acolatse & Elson
F) Veteran Complimentary players: The Expendables IV: Cap Floor Edition
Glencross (only here because of UFA status and rumoured salary expectations), Wideman, Stajan, Raymond, Jones, Engelland, Smid, Bollig, Diaz & McGrattan
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A), B) & C) are untouchables.
D) & E) are players I would be weary of trading, but could understand losing one or two if it brought back a monster return.
I would have no problem if I heard Treliving was actively shopping any (but not all) of the players in category F). You could potentially get NHL-ready prospects for some of them and it wouldn't be catastrophic to the rebuild.
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