@ItsDuckSeason
Not a bad crack at the roster. I think for a RHD UFA we can afford to go 5+ years term, the guys we have coming up the right side are further out, assuming they will need a couple years in the AHL we have plenty of time to hand out term for a top 4 RHD. That said, I would look for someone who is meant to be Fowler's partner on the top line. Fowler Drysdale get caved in as a pairing as they are both offensively inclined Defense, and though Fowler is an "all situations defenseman" he really suffers when the bulk of the defensive duties fall to him, and he gets bumped and rubbed from the puck often while refusing to play the body. The analytics on Fowler-Drysdale as a pair are also terrible. I would also consider Dumba or Mayfield as well as Severson.
I think assuming Zells makes the team out of camp is a bit aspirational as well, I think he is probably the third LHD to get up onto the main roster. LaCombe being older and more fully developed gets first crack at a full time spot on the roster, likely at 3LD. Mintyukov would be the next one up is my assumption. However, if we assume that Severson is playing with Fowler as a top pairing, we can look to bring in a defensive LHD veteran to babysit Drysdale for a season or two to further his development. While names like Graves or Gavrikov are nice to imagine, they will take to much term. MAYBE we can swing a very rich deal for Orlov, but I think a guy like Kulikov is probably what we can land. Yeah, he was a bit brutal for us last season, but we had the guy playing on first pairing with Fowler on his off hand, we were asking way too much of him. 2nd pairing as Drysdale's partner he should be much better suited.
I think Vaakainen's time with the Ducks is probably over, he just didn't cement himself on the roster well enough. Might stick around as a depth piece until his contract is up, but I wouldn't count on him doing anything this season. LaCombe and Benoit likely swap out at 3LW depending on the games needs, and I think Shattenkirk is a fine enough babysitter for them as well. People love him in the locker room too.
I also know that its a contrarian belief, but send Fantilli and Dostal back to San Diego, let them win a Calder cup down there. I get Dostal has nothing left to prove down there, but 50 games in the A is going to keep his sharper than 25 games in the big leagues. Bring Stolarz back for a one year deal or accept an expiring cap dump goalie for one season (Murray for example). I know all the scouting reports say Fantilli is NHL ready, but the same reports said that about McTavish, and he was still sent back down to the minors post draft to continue to marinate. It won't hurt Fantilli's development having a year in the AHL, they have a good chance to win some hardware, and he will be playing with several future team mates. It also gives us an ELC slide year and allows us to clear out some roster space with the subtractions of Henrique, Silfverberg, and anyone else we take on as a dump this offseason.