Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaskal
He'll be fine. Brodie, Stone, Hamonic, Forbort and Gustaffson are all UFA. I'm guessing the following scenarios happen:
Brodie walks due to the rumored family reasons.
Stone gets a cheapo 700k to be the 7th D for another year. Why not, he's already on the payroll due to the buyout anyway and seems pretty cool about being pressboxed for long periods of time.
Hamonic signs somewhere out east for significantly more than Tre & Flames (and by extension, Calgarypuck!) were willing to offer. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
Gustaffson re-ups in Chicago for family reasons.
Forbort might be in a scenario where he considers signing with Calgary. But even if none of the UFA defencemen come back, this is what the blueline looks like next year:
Giordano - Andersson
Hanifin - Kylington
Valimaki - Stone
Which on paper actually looks not half bad. But if Brad signs Forbort, I expect we'll see one of the young D not named Rasmus to be traded for hopefully an impact top six RW.
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I'm not as unhopeful regarding a Brodie re-signing. I don't know as much about Gus' situation, and obviously a longer look is needed. I wouldn't mind him being a Hamonic replacement though they obviously play different sides. I suppose it's possible that, with a Brodie re-sign, and if Kylington and Valimaki impress, Hanifin could be dealt. I could see something like the following. I'd like to see Stone relegated to spot duty at best or preferably cut loose in favour of, say, Yelesin.
Gio-Brodie
Hanifin-Rasmus
Valimaki-Kylington/Forbort (wrong handed I know) or Yelesin
or
Gio-Brodie
Kylington-Rasmus
Valimaki-Forbort/Yelesin
or without Brodie
Gio-Rasmus
Hanifin-[Brodie replacement]
Valimaki-Kylington/Forbort/Yelesin