[foshizzle11]

Ok. Here is my list. I tried to avoid any RFAs and UFAs in 2017, which was quite hard. Some teams just didn't have much available. Anyway, here is my list. I am sure it is terrible and I have loads of cap space. So signing free agents is a must but I think I spread out the picks pretty well.

RW
Brouwer, Hemsky, Stempniak, Weise, Colborne, Letestu, Beagle, Smith-Pelly, JT Brown, Armia

LW
Calvert, Smith-Pelly, Colin Wilson, Colborne, Scott Wilson

C
Colin Wilson, Colborne, Letestu, Marchessault, Sheahan, Zack Smith

I would go after Thorton, Eric Staal or Hanzal to fill the 1st line centre roll, hoping to sign at least 1 of them. Not that they are really 1st line material but they have to be better than guys I have picked in the draft. I would also try to get Mike Fisher if he doesn't re-sign in Nashville.

So my lines would look like this.
Calvert - Thorton/Staal/Hanzal/Fisher - Hemsky
Stempniak - Marchessault - Brouwer
C. Wilson - Sheahan - Armia
Colborne (or Smith-Pelly) - Letestu - Beagle

Bench/Minors: JT Brown, (Colborne or Smith-Pelly), Scott Wilson

D
RD - Vatanen, Schenn, Bortuzzo, T. Van Riemsdyk, Biega, Carrick
LD - De Haan, Gorges, Brayden McNabb, Brandon Davidson,

Lines would look like:

De Haan - Vatanen
Gorges - Bortuzzo
McNabb - Schenn

7th/8th: van Riemsdyk and Davidson

Minors: Biega and Carrick (probably not great for waivers but I see them at the bottom, Biega is 29 and doesn't have much upside but could be a depth defender. Carrick has potential since he is only 23, so maybe some time in the minors for the first season might not be a terrible thing...not sure how much he played in TO this past season, but looking at the rest of the D, he is in the bottom, mostly because of his inexperience at the NHL level (ie less than 100 games).

For the goalies, I went off the wall.

G
Antti Raanta, Malcolm Subban and Aaron Dell.

I would send Subban to the minors and run with a tandem of Dell and Raanta. I think both are close to becoming good goalies in the league. Dell has had some awesome numbers in the last few years as a back up and so has Raanta, both in Chicago and in NY. I am not sure I would run with a potential #1 in the first year of expansion (ie a Bishop, Fleury, Elliott). These are good options, you might find a diamond in the rough. Actually I hope the Flames give a guy like one of these guys a chance, possibly Gillies next season as a backup to start.

Anyway, my projected cap hit is about $53.5 million, with about $19.5 million in cap space (to sign one of the centres mentioned above). I am not sure I would spend any more than that in the first year, ie about $10 - 15 million+ in cap space would be great for trades for LV.

This feels too much like NHL 2016 or any other year where you can be a GM.

There will be a lot of changes next season and I can't wait. Too bad the Flames are out of the playoffs and this is the most exciting thing until October.

Stupid Oilers.