Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolven
To be fair, I am primarily suggesting that Desnoyers may be less untouchable than Iginla.
The numbers game is going to get interesting with the Mammoth. Even if Hayton and Crouse are out, Schmaltz would be hard for them to walk away from this summer unless they want to gamble on Iginla or Desnoyers being ready for #2C next season. I think they need to offer him an extension and I doubt he takes a short, cheap deal.
And then there is But. #12OA 2023 pick who is already knocking on the door and will want a top 6 LW spot.
Their near term future top 6 is still crowded:
Peterka-Cooley-Keller
But-Schmaltz-Guenther
X: Iginla, Desnoyers
Someone in that group is going to be on the third line... and that is writing off a guy like Beaudoin who was also a 2024 1st round pick (#24). With the current depth chart, he's hoping to get #3C but likely won't even get that.
And, of course, Iginla may or may not be satisfied playing wing. Just because the team is okay moving him to the wing to make the numbers work doesn't mean he will be happy with it. If Iginla joins the team as a C it will be harder to push him to the wing when Desnoyers shows up unless Iginla is really struggling.
Then the next problem will be the cap structure. With that many star players you eventually run out of cap space to keep all of them.
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I hear you on the broader points, but I still think it is highly unlikely.
Their forward group is actually setting up nicely. I think guys like But and Beaudoin project to be more third liners anyways, that can play up the line-up sometime but are ideally suited in more of a middle 6 role. But could also be a complementary player on a higher line.
So I think it shapes up something this in terms of the top 6.
Peterka-Cooley-Keller
Iggy-Desnoyers-Guenther
And then some of the veterans, like Schmaltz, Crouse, Nayton start to move down or move out.