Pretty bummed about losing Tony D...I wasn't following hockey when he was getting in trouble all the time and he seemed like a great guy for the Canes this season....great on the power play and great production from the defense. But if he really did make homophobic or racist remarks before, I don't think I'd want to keep rooting for him.
It hurts what I already think is a thin defense. Who replaces him? Do we break up what seems like a good pairing in Pesce/Skjei? I'm not sure I've seen enough of Chatfield or Lajoie to know how they will or would fit in.
Actually I just realized Jake Gardiner is still on the team....do we trust him to fit back in coming off both back AND hip surgeries? Is he even Top 4 able anymore? I read that a buyout is probably the best and most likely move with the last year of his contract.
Who might be a free agent target? If we even have enough cap space to sign anyone of note...I never know anything about salary caps or how that financial side of the pro sports works. What kinda space are we talkin here?
Right now I'd guess our D will look something like this:
Slavin -- Pesce
Skjei -- Cole
Bear -- Smith
??? -- ???
EDIT: Jesus, I just looked into free agents and I had no idea that we had Niederreiter, Trocheck, Stepan, Domi, Cole, and Smith all as free agents. What is the likelihood we keep those guys? Who here, who's more in the know about these kinda things, can maybe say who's most likely to leave?
It would really suck to lose Niederreiter or Trocheck....the others I think we could replace pretty easily, even though that's 2 more defensemen on that list. ACK!!