Solid work by Sweeney. The Kase deal was the big one, he’s here to hopefully be the 2RW answer. Heinen for Ritchie is more of a traditional “hockey trade.” Ritchie will bring some of the physical/toughness elements that the team has been criticized for not having. Heinen seemed to lose confidence over the year and slipped behind Bjork and Kuhlman on the depth chart. I think we could see Ritchie on either the 3rd or 4th line.
Marchand - Bergeron - Pastrnak
DeBrusk - Krejci - Kase
Ritchie - Coyle - Bjork
Nordstrom - Kuraly - Wagner
Blidh, Kuhlman
That’s probably their ideal lineup, but that have options. Kuhlman can go in, Ritchie can play the 4th line, etc. They could give Studnicka some run down the stretch.
On defense, they have 19 games to sort out the 6th D.
Chara - McAvoy
Krug - Carlo
Grzelyck - Lauzon
Moore - Clifton
Miller as a wild card #9. Vaakanainen #10.
Finally, the cap component to the deadline deals can’t be overlooked. They are in better shape today than they were a week ago. They’re talking with Krug’s camp so I’d imagine something gets done soon-ish.