Foo will be UFA by the time his KHL contract is up, so he goes to the bottom for me.
McKenna can be signed by any team in the NHL at any point, so he isn't even Flames property, so to the bottom of the heap he goes for me as well, though he does have upside.
Mattson hasn't progressed even though he has abundant tools - not sure what his story is, but he is at the bottom for me too (would be last if not for the above issues).
So that leaves Karnaukhov, Nielsen and Kirkland...
Karnaukhov hasn't shown much on the stats sheet since going to the KHL, though his VHL numbers look really good.
Nielsen has steadily declined from being a PPG defencemen in the WHL in his draft + 1 year, to a 39 points in 76 games rookie in the AHL, to flatlining.
Kirkland's numbers look underwhelming to me, and he doesn't seem to be much of a physical player out there judging by his PIM stat line, so I am not sure he can be counted on as a role player.
Karnaukhov it is for me. His VHL numbers at least look really promising, and that's enough to get my vote.
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