Troy Bodie, Brennan Evans, Josh Green, David LeNeveu, Joakim Lindstrom, Drew Miller and T.J. Trevelyan were sent to the AHL camp after Wednesday’s game.
That leaves the team with two goalies (shocker!) and seven defensemen (probably the seven that start the season in Anaheim) and 17 forwards (plus Matt Beleskey, who is injured). The team must start the season with 23 men on the roster; figure that three forwards (plus Beleskey) will not be on it.
Two likely candidates for demotion: Ryan Donally, who split last season between the ECHL and AHL, and Andrew Ebbett, who scored once in each game against San Jose but hasn’t lit the lamp since Sept. 26 (despite increasingly competent linemates). Who will be the third? Sending Bobby Ryan down would allow for financial breathing room (since he’s on a 2-way contract), and rid the roster of the only other forward (besides Ebbett and Donally) who didn’t end last season in the NHL.
Seven days and counting to sort it out.