okay final prediction for the fleet protected players is frankel, keller, winn. i don't see any world where we don't protect frankel, not even going to entertain it because it's absurd. sparre early indicated keller's protection but then again he immediately dipped afterward so who am i to say. her obvious talent aside i don't think the org wants to lose their captain again after losing knight or the fact that captain is the golden goal scorer which is frankly free pr money. fostering her partnership/synergy with winn which, when it works, really fucking works just makes sense. winn's also up for rookie and d of the year, she's fast and scrappy when needed and she's coming into her own on the larger stage, she's a great choice skill-wise because she's got a baseline but is clearly still growing with it, and she's a great choice in attempting to cement the franchise. it's certainly not a bad line-up.
now if we're talking dream scenario personally i would love to see müller protected again, she's such a crafty player, you can count on her to be unpredictable in the best way, she can play from the blue-line just as much as she takes it to the net, she's our no. 1 pick in the dot or in a shootout, and her on-ice rapport with whatever line she's on is kind of unfathomable, there's a reason you usually see her credited on assists. my wild card for the third slot would be eldridge, i know it's a total pipe dream but the way she came in this season was bonkers. her, what was it, 12 point streak? only a handful of games in with a new team after a last minute cross country move? she immediately meshed with this crew, and looking toward franchise defining chemistry, she and müller are certainly up there
gun to my head i would actually like to see keller on a new team. i think she is immensely talented and we are not getting everything out of her she has to give, i think the power play drought of the back half of the season is the perfect example of how they relied on her to do one specific thing that didn't always work and she wasn't able to grow beyond it. the other teams had very clearly gotten a bead on our entire deal relying on keller, usually for the one-timer, and it showed. i'd love to see her get a clean slate somewhere else and see what else she can get out of her hockey, plus she's absolutely someone you can foster a new franchise with. and from a fleet perspective i think we would adapt better to playing against her than someone like müller who is still evolving greatly within the team
no matter what happens the 2025-2026 fleet roster is always gonna outsell and we are going to lose some amazingly talented players whose continued success i hope for wherever they land
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