NHL Departures

Any updates on who is leaving early for the NHL? Next year's team could be even better, assuming we can keep the underclassmen in school and find a goaltender.

I'm honestly more worried about our defensemen than I am about Shibrowski in net. If we could stop turning it over at the blue line and giving up odd man rushes (or have Nate Schmidt not continuously let his man blow by him against BC), it would go a long way towards taking some pressure off the netminder next year.

From what I've read it sounds like Bjugstad will probably be back, but far from a for sure thing. The Panthers were saying in an article that they were not going to pressure him to sign a contract. The only way they will negotiate with him is if he comes to them first and wants to make a deal. The same goes for the Panthers and Rau, they want him to add more muscle in the next few years, understandably.

Between Shibrowski and Wilcox I think we will be just fine in net. I actually expect the D to be better next year than it was this year. Thus making goaltending easier for whoever is between the pipes. With Reilly and Skjei both coming in next year the competition at the blue line will really heat up. Both will probably be in the rotation so some guys, like Holl for instance, may see less ice time next year than he did this year.

The future is bright, just gotta keep the talent in school. Personally, I think the addition of Mike Guentzel is really helping these guys want to stay in school.

I think Guentzel was the single biggest difference from last season to this season. The man is a genius. I would expect we would know very soon if anyone is leaving, I would think that a team that is planning on bringing up players for next season would want them to get some time and experience in the AHL playoffs this year.