I like the idea of Poulin on the roster but it will not be on the 4th line playing 8 minutes a night.

Friedman probably doesn;t get claimed

POJ and Smith dont really play defense well, which makes keeping ruhwedel important. Theres also a lot of age on the RD. One of POJ/Amith probably goes down/traded but not sure theres a huge price tag for them.

Just not sure Poulin gets the ice time to develop, (or even if Kapanen will get the ice time to produce) down that RW.

Theres part of me that thinks moving Kapanen still makes sense, (cap reasons too), put Poulin on 3rd line with Carter and either Heinen or McGinn. And maybe get a 4th line C, for a combo of Blueger/mcGinn/heinen/4th line center/physical 13th.

Maybe a 5th or 6th to PHI for tough guy/physical MacEwen as 13th forward and then trade Kapanen for a youthful (but maybe not there yet) 4th line center? (Morgan Frost and MacEwen for Kapanen?)

That’s true. I feel like he’d be a pretty strong contributor to a 4th line still. Especially playing with McGinn and Blueger where he can probably bring offence to that line and at the same time still be a defensively capable 4th line.

I personally don’t think Kappy gets moved. But if no Poulin then I think Archibald could very well earn a spot as he does have some physical attributes to his game. But however he is still a signing that I wished Hextall never made due to the younger players trying to make the team. But moving Kappy would make some sense but as of right now we’re stuck with him which isn’t a bad thing.

Keeping Ruhwedel around would be pretty nice but he really won’t get the playing time here like he did last season. I would honestly want to see him get some real playing time rather than be stuck as a 7th dman again. He’s actually too good for that.

I like Ruhwedel, and I really think one of POJ or Smith are good at LD on 3rd pairing, but wouldn;t keep both up. neither are solid defensively, but are nice puck rushers. I just think with Letang, Petry, Rutta = thats a lot of age, and keeping ruhwedel as 7th and RD makes the most sense.

Kapanen doesn;t have to go, and unlike most, I think his deal/caphit/length is okay, but when your key players are all old, and really old, it makes bringing in some youth AND having at least one guy to throw them if somebody gets too physical with one of the older stars is very important. (just 3 players under 25 yrs old out of 22 isn;t good)

Poulin making the team is a must, and while the system might not have anybody ready, Kapanen as a good trade piece (on a team that has few with Kapanen's value or mid level cap hit) for a ready now/upside young guy and a tough guy/13th makes sense. McGinn, Heinen, Blueger dont get the return kapanen could, or create needed cap space for nagging injuries/short term callups on a team that is old.

Its probably not doable but some kind of Morgan Frost and MacEwen deal for Kapanen (for example) would work well. I just think that with the KEY players all being so old, that some kind of transition has to begin to get more than just one young guy in there (Poulin). Nothing against heinen, blueger, etc... but this team needs some youth.

Poulin getting extra work at camp is a good thing, but he isn't making this team. If this roster is healthy he isn't one of the top 13 forwards. He needs to be sent down and prove his offensive game has taken a jump.