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Door Wide Open

July 13, 2012, 5:37 PM ET [17 Comments]
Travis Yost
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Nothing major going on right now in the nation's capital, but Assistant General Manager Tim Murray did offer at least one talking point for fans to discuss as we head into the middle of July.

When asked about the future of blue liner Andre Benoit -- who just recently inked a one-year, two-way deal -- Tim Murray suggested that the door isn't closed on his NHL candidacy, and that the Ontario native wasn't guaranteed to end up in Binghamton at the start of next season.

Now, Benoit's not exactly a spring chicken -- he's a twenty-eight year old that's bounced around a number of organizations, playing the majority of his North American action in the AHL with Hamilton and Binghamton. Benoit did see eight games of action in 2010-2011 with Ottawa, but jumped to the KHL for a one-year deal last season when given the chance by Moscow Spartak.

At this point, you're probably wondering why the hell I'm writing about Andre Benoit -- a journeyman, sub-level replacement defender that doesn't have a ton to offer with respect to long-term NHL presence.

Well -- that's precisely it. If Tim Murray's seriously entertaining the idea of giving Benoit a shot to fill that last blue line role with the big league club, I'd imagine that almost every other defenseman in the system has an equal or better shot.

Some would say that this is expected -- that NHL coaching staffs and front offices don't operate with tunnel vision, and to an extent, I'd agree. Still, the fact that the team is treating this final spot like a wide-open, system-wide competition is going to be pretty intriguing, especially with a number of desirable names in Patrick Wiercioch, Mark Borowiecki, Eric Gryba, et al. in the mix.

If you're head coach Paul MacLean, what player do you see as the odds-on favorite to win a spot out of camp?

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