Sixteen games in and Columbus sits about where they sat last year, near the bottom of the conference.  That wasn't the plan though and it's left the team at a crossroad.  As a result, the team has decided to look for next year and gather up more picks and prospects for the future.

The decision is made easier by the large amount of players that will be ready to step into the lineup next year from the farm team and prospects list.  Most of them being exempt from the expansion draft.  Brandon Montour, Adrian Kempe, Sonny Milano, Charles Hudon, Anders Bjork, Jesper Bratt, Brock Boeser, Victor Mete are all contributing at the NHL level right now and look to be a big part of the team next year with others still possible as well.

Those players will join the existing group of core players for next season.  Mike Zibanejad, Nick Shore, Brayden Point, Sven Baertschi, Viktor Arvidsson, Jordan Weal, Austin Watson, Brandon Carlo and Brian Dumoulin.

That leaves a large list of players available out of Columbus:

Anton Lander

Andrew Ladd

Frank Vatrano

Magnus Paajarvi

Alexandre Burrows

Kevin Klein

Trevor van Reimsdyk

Fedor Tyutin

Dan Hamhuis

Clayton Stoner

The team hasn't decided what to do with Alex Steen and Thomas Greiss.  Salary isn't an issue so there is no rush to move them there and the goalie market is thin next season.