With the Flames rolling 3 top 6 lines by the time the home opener is here I have no worries about the Lucic - Rooney - Lewis line which will also have Ruzicka taking reps through out the year. I still don’t think Treliving is done either, once Ruzicka is inked the Flames will have roughly a mill, maybe 750K in remaining cap. I think if they see an opportunity to sign someone like Milano, Rodrigues or Kessel on a 1 year low AAV if they’re wanting to reload their UFA status for next year then we’ll see Valimaki flipped to bring the cap space up to 2 to 2.5 mill depending.
With Kessel and his cup history in Pittsburgh, his history with Kadri and the fact that he put up 44 assists on a terrible Arizona team while only scoring 8 and shooting a career worse percentage I really am leaning towards a one year deal to add him into the middle 6.
Even if we don’t though I still think this team is better positioned with their lineup and depth throughout though it’s not a significant improvement it is a noticeable one, especially the top 4 D and the overall D group in general, which is huge. I still can’t believe how Treliving managed to pivot the way he has since July 12th, it’s remarkable really.
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