Will be pretty surprised if Ek doesn’t make the team. You see him at development camp? He’s transformed into a man. He’s going to make the team.

He's indeed a beast and very much looking forward to him being on the team. His omission is just reflective of my pessimism of management to see things the way we do.

I think Eklund will make the team in camp, and Bordeleau will start in the AHL. I also think it is more likely that the Sharks move Hill than pay a team to take Simek. I think you also overpaid Ferraro, he should be closer to $3.25m. With that cap saving you could just keep Simek and Hill, as long as you start with a 22 man roster. It isn't much of a risk because the Sharks play in the same area as the Barracuda.

All this makes sense. To be clear this roster isn't reflective of how I would or how I would argue would be best to approach what's left of the offseason until opening night. I just don't have faith that Grier and Quinn will see things this way. I'm too hoping that Grier doesn't overpay Ferraro (and Gregor) and properly deals with the Simek/Hill situations, while Quinn starts Eklund with the Sharks, but I don't have faith in either of them. Hopefully they can be somewhat reasonable and deal with the situation as you and Forsman suggested.

I’d be devastated if Merkley was snubbed 😩

this will be a season for the ages

I think he has promise, but he was the worst defenseman in the team according to the moneypuck xgoals% metric. He dragged down every single partner he was paired with. I'm not sure exactly what he needs, but he definitely isn't ready to play real NHL minutes.