What remains unknown heading into the final preseason game is how the defense shakes down, especially with GM Jim Nill telling reporters Friday there's a good possibility the team will carry eight defensemen.
How this impacts talented young defender Julius Honka remains unknown.
Honka, 21, has had an up and down camp but when he's been up he's been very good, especially on the offensive side of the puck. If Honka, who will play Saturday, stays with the big team he likely starts the season out of the top six, which means if he's in the lineup it will be as a seventh defenseman where he will play sparingly (likely on the power play). And that's if he plays at all.
It's possible Hitchcock would use his seventh spot on more experienced players, Patrik Nemeth or Greg Pateryn, both of whom have been solid in camp. Lineup numbers and the salary cap dictate that if Honka stays one of Pateryn or Nemeth has to go. The bigger question is whether Honka staying with the big club, but not playing regularly, hampers his development.
Is there more value in working every day with defensive coach Rick Wilson, and simply being around NHL players, than playing big minutes every night as a top-pairing defenseman in the American Hockey League a few hours down the road in Cedar Park? Discuss amongst yourselves.
The regular season is when teams really get a feel for where players are at, Nill said.
"And things change quick in this business," he added. "We'll go game by game here. See where we're at. We've got lots of flexibility. Lots of different options."