Quote:
Originally Posted by kyuss275
Maybe. Remember they still have to still have to fill out the AHL roster. I could see them offering him a one year 2 way contract, but him declining and going to Europe.
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Problem for him is that there are 4 new young guys coming in to the system next year who will need playing time (Granlund, Elson, Hanowski and Ferland).
I'm counting 33 forwards in the mix for the 24 NHL and AHL spots next year as of today, before any free agency additions. If the team loses 3 or 4 games down the stretch we might end up with one kid from this year's draft who is fighting for a roster spot (please hockey gods) but it's looking likely we'll have a top prospect back in junior/europe at this point.
8 NHL forwards we have rights to(Cammy, Hudler, Tanguay, Glencross, Stajan, Stempniak, Jackman + Backlund (RFA))
3 "tweeners" who could end up playing at either level (Baertschi, Reinhart, Horak)
9 probable minor league guys who already are signed (Howse, Bouma, Granlund, Jones, Elson, Eddy, Street, Ferland, Hanowski). Even though Howse and Eddy look like ECHL fodder, they are still going to burn two contracts next year.
20 forwards under contract. Lets say they bury Howse and Eddy, for the 26 forward spots at the NHL/AHL level that leaves 18 pros with 8 spots open.
We have 7 RFA and 6 UFA forwards, any free agents we sign and maybe one high end draft pick if we're lucky:
Byron, Bancks, Patterson, Bouma, Aliu, Cameron and Nemo are the RFAs
Cervenka, McGrattan, Begin, Walter, Kolanos and Testwuide are the UFAs.
Of those 8 slots, people may disagree but thinking Byron, Bouma, Aliu and McGrattan are almost locks... maybe 4 spots for free agents and the other 9 guys on the list to fight for? Tough sledding for Nemo.
