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I'm hopeful the Ducks blow it up more than you have here but not a bad start

I don't think they give up on Steel until next season if he still hasn't took that step

I dont see a scenario where Rico is on the team come training camp (As much as I want to keep him)

Lines are a bit off from what I'm expecting to see (Mainly keeping Comtois-Zegras-Terry together)

Comtois-Zegras-Terry (once they started playing together last season they looked great and were our best line)
Steel-Getzlaf-Rakell (Try to get Steel going by moving him to the wing, no room for him up the middle moving forward which you wisely pointed out)
Jones-Lundestrom-Silfverberg (Have Silfy mentor the two young guns, Lundestrom earned a top 3 C spot on this team to me with his play last year)
Milano/Volkov-Grant-Deslauriers (Not much to say here, I expect Milano and Volkov to rotate in the lineup to start the year)

Lindholm-Drysdale (What I'm hoping for, best defender with Drysdale to get used to the NHL game whether it be for a few games or a full season)
Fowler-Shattenkirk (They weren't terrible last year, this pairing can help out with weaker forward lines getting offense moving)
Mahura-Manson (Eakins values playing Manson with our young defenseman, LD3 will likely be a competition between Mahura, Larsson and Guhle)

Obviously not much to say about the goalies.

If Rico isnt moved I feel like Eakins puts him on the 4th line (Rico is one of my favourite players in the league, he has been since he played for my hometown Windsor Spitfires, just trying to be as realistic as I can)

My prediction is the Ducks finish last in the west (assuming some of the vets are moved out), seems like a fun series to do!

"drysdale likely needs another year of development but he will definitely get games this year."

Drysdale will play full-time with the Ducks next year. He played with them full-time after being called up. It wouldn't make sense to send him back to the OHL. (He'd have to because it seems that the agreement with the CHL will be U20 players who played 20+ AHL games can play in the AHL again next season. Drysdale only played 14 games with the Gulls.)

I think a return on Rakell is really going to depend on how the first couple of months of the season go. I'd be playing him on the wing with Comtois and Zegras for now, trying to squeeze some offence out of him. My hope would be that he could get the Foligno package, or potentially more given the Ducks ability to retain on him.

With Steel, I don't think there's any rush moving him. He's actually been a pretty decent 3C, with decent faceoff and possession stats. The offence obviously hasn't come out yet, and maybe it won't, but I think it's dangerous to move him for little to no return at this point, given how Eakins has pretty much smothered any potential offence with his horrible system.

With Drysdale, I don't disagree at all-He should probably spend some more time in the minors. The NHL recently created an exemption for Jr aged players who played a certain amount of games last year in the AHL to be able to do it again, but Drysdale doesn't meet that number so it'll be interesting to see what happens with him. There's probably not much point putting him back in Jr, so if he can't play in the AHL, the best move is to probably insulate him from the tough matchups by utilizing Manson and Shatty more (though Shatty doesn't offer a ton in those situations).

*Hopefully* the team will extend Lindholm. Manson *could* be used as a trade chip, but the value coming back would have to be an overpay, as again, he'll be needed to insulate Drysdale instead of throwing him to the wolves.

Cheers!

youre right. i wasnt aware that he wasnt eligible for the AHL. he is certainly too good for the OHL.

thanks for the input. drysdale is certainly a huge wild card this season.