[Promoted FanPost.]

Wanted to pose this question to my fellow GT'ers, and I guess the more general question of what to do with our defensive roster once Cola and Huskins return.

I looked at our depth chart on D, noting the so far positive trade for Russell and the overall defensively solid play of Ian Cole. Eventually, Huskins will be back too, leaving us with 8 NHL-level defensemen: Petro, Polak, Jaxx, Shatty, Huskins, Cola, Russell, and Cole. Pretty sure we can all agree that Petro, Poalk, Jaxx, Shatty aren't going anywhere. I'd argue the same for Russell since he's a Hitchcock guy and has played well so far for us.

What does that give us? Three guys for the 6th spot, with one of the other two riding the bench as the 7th d-man. There is always the option to send Ian Cole back to Peoria and having either Russell, Huskins, or Carlo as the 7th guy. Still, I feel like Cole is getting ready to make the jump to the NHL, and I'd rather have him up here. That said, we could then trade Russell, or in my opinion, Cola since both are younger (24 & 28) and have offensive upside, which teams tend to desire or over-trade for. Right now, with Russell's play and Cola's recurring problem with injuries, I feel like trading him would be best. Of course it depends on what we can get for him, but in the end, it's a great problem that we have depth this year. That said, trading Huskins is an option (not sure what trade value there is in Veteran, defensive d-men), but I don't see it as a likely one.

What does everyone else think? Clicky on the polly because Kent Huskins cares.