Are you referring to the player who will be suspended at the beginning of next season? Still have no idea who that player is or what the infraction was, only that somebody else will be suspended. Where have you heard another player will be booted?
As for darkhorses, Courtnall and Santana are both interesting candidates. If Courtnall can become at least above average in his D-zone coverage, his physical nature should make him a regular on the third or fourth line. As far as Santana goes, I could very, very easily see him doing exactly what Pereira did last year. He has the same tool-set –– great speed; a smart, aggressive style; and a penchant for forcing turnovers. Unfortunately, he also has a Pereira-like finishing touch*–– anybody else notice how terrible Pereira was on breakaways last year? He had at least 1-2 a game, and maybe scored on one or two of them all year.
Additionally, I think a summer of working with Mike Boyle could make Chiasson an absolute terror on the power play, especially with Warsofsky at lead-point. With a little more bulk and aggression, I think Chiasson could become a machine in front of the net, and nobody looks to capitalize on that more than Warsofsky.
Also wouldn't be surprised to see Escobedo logging big, big minutes on the blue line. I see a lot of Brian Strait in him, and honestly wouldn't be shocked if he and Warsofsky operate like Strait and Gilroy did two years ago. If the forwards in front of them can do some finishing, I wouldn't be surprised if they matched that production, too.
