[StrykerSteve]

Woke up this morning, being the dog days of Summer and all, and felt like playing with the Flames' roster for the upcoming season. I made a few guesses based on what I believe needs to happen in order for this team to take a step forward. I also went with the idea that Calgary are focused on pairings, being Gaudreau with Monahan, Backlund with Frolik, and Bennett with Brouwer.

Tyler Wotherspoon, Matthew Tkachuk and Daniel Pribyl make this team out of camp. Ladislav Smid goes on LTIR.

Not a huge stretch, for sure, but in order for this to occur, three players that were NHL regulars last season would have to go.

Again, my best guess would Bollig, Wideman and Vey. All three are on expiring contracts, along with Engelland, Ferland, Chiasson, Bennett, Smid and Jokipakka. Of that group of potential free agents, only Bennett and Jokipakka are sure to receive a new contract offer from the Flames, IMO. Vey just signed a low-dollar one-year deal, so the only possibility I see happening is he ends up in the AHL.

That leaves Calgary in 2016/2017 with a roster constructed like so:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Pribyl
Shinkaruk - Backlund - Frolik
Tkachuk - Bennett - Brouwer
Ferland - Stajan - Chiasson
Bouma

Giordano - Brodie
Jokipakka - Hamilton
Wotherspoon - Engelland
Kulak

Elliott
Johnson

There's two glaring concerns with this lineup, as I see it. The first of which is Pribyl is still largely an unknown variable. None of us have seen him play and have no idea if he can handle top line minutes. Secondly, is Shinkaruk capable of successfully playing 2nd line minutes in the NHL.

Despite those questions, I feel it's a better scenario than this:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Chiasson
Ferland - Backlund - Frolik
Shinkaruk - Bennett - Brouwer
Bouma - Stajan - Vey
Bollig

Giordano - Brodie
Jokipakka - Hamilton
Engelland - Wideman
Wotherspoon

Elliott
Johnson

Thoughts?