Forward, Defense, and Prospect Roster Battles

Twenty-five contracted forwards are competing for roughly 13-14 places, with Hallander, Robertson, Koivunen, McGroarty, Lapierre, Chinakhov, Soderblom, and the younger challengers under evaluation. Pickering and Brunicke continue to impress, while Galvas remains questionable because of physical and skating concerns; defensive depth could also create an AHL development bottleneck.