So far this offseason has gone almost as expected but 2 big things are still missing but neither are immediate concerns. The first is the Andersson trade and unlike last year where Markstrom was dealt before the draft we are now post Stampede and Andersson is still a Flame. The end of the day he might start camp or the season here but he is on his way out of town at some point. The other item I am hoping for is the Wolf extension. Both Coronato and Bahl were made members of the core by inking 7 and 6 year deals at pretty big money. Wolf has next year to go but the team and player could come together early on a deal. 8.5-10M per on an 8 year deal should be the goal for both sides.
Zary seems destined for a bridge and that makes sense. Upside is high and so is the injury risk so a bridge makes sense. With that it would be a very similar team than last year outside of a new backup and Parekh likely forcing his way on the roster.
You read rumblings online that there are some huge trades being discussed league wide and outside of Pittsburgh there appears to be a lack of teams selling off for futures.
Here is a look at the squad right now
Huberdeau-Kadri-Coronato
Farabee-Backlund-Coleman
Sharangovich-Frost-Zary
Lomberg-Pospisil-Klapka
Kirkland
Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Parekh
Hanley-Pachal
Bean
Wolf
Prosetov
I see an option to subtract at least 1 forward and 1-2 Dmen. I see no space for Mirimanov and likely also see one or Solo/Kuz/Gris battling for that 3rd pair/7th Dman and making Bean expendable. Dumping Andersson for picks and prospects makes a lot of sense.
I am not optimistic about this lineup. If Wolf enters the Vezina discussion and Parekh is a Calder candidate maybe this team surprises. A big mix of the forwards in their 20’s (Frost, Farabee, Coronato, Zary, Sharangovich) would need to have career years and the old guys like Huberdeau, Kadri, Coleman, Backlund can’t fall off too hard. If some of it comes together this team is likely battling for a spot but not a lock to get in.
If things get off to a rocky start with injuries, slumps, bad luck then I could see next years deadline be dominated with talk of some of the veteran flames being available.
Conroy had a slow first summer as GM outside of Toffoli not much happened. That first season brought a lot of change and last summer he made some more selloff moves. We saw his first acquisition last season where he brought in Frost and Farabee but this summer has been incredibly slow. I am not opposed to it but hopefully an Andersson trade, Zary signing, and Wolf extension are yet to come
|
