Jordie Benn is a no from me. He just isn't worth it, I'd rather give Heinola another shot. I also don't see Nash being scratched, or Perfetti making the lineup, but who knows

No need for LD in SJ, I do like Beaulieu, though.

Niku is #9 on your depth chart. If Detroit had wanted him, which we don't, why wouldn't we just file a waiver claim when the season starts?

That's where Niku's headed, the waiver wire and if not claimed(which is likely, I doubt he gets claimed) he's Moose bound.

How bout jomo schmitt henny pionk dillon melo as your shut down pair

I hope Niku is able to get a fresh start somewhere when he likely hits waivers for the first time in his career. At a $725k cap hit, hopefully someone takes him on as a project or perhaps a fill-in for a training camp injury.

Perfetti on the second line is a bit of a stretch to start I’d say 4th line to start then he can constantly go up the ranks

Putting Prefetti in the 4th line would be a disaster. He’s a skilled player who will likely struggle playing with 4th line checkers. From a development perspective, he needs to play in the middle 6 to start, with players who complement his skill set.

I am 99.9% sure he starts the season in the AHL and plays on the top line and top PP unit. He needs to play against men to develop. 8 minutes a night on a checking line would hurt his development.

He might have gained 15 lbs if functional muscle and improved over the summer...will be great if that happened. If it does... then slotting into the middle six would be possible. But even he admitted that he needed to gain strength at the end of last year, and that is a process.

People forget that at this point in their development arc, Scheifele, Ehlers and Conner were all playing outside the NHL their second year post draft!

Same goes for almost every other non-top 5 draft pick.