Who doesn't love Rosie? Aside from me, that is...ahem...anyways, we have a guy who had career numbers last season and is a hustle machine, gets the home crowd going, and is a good ambassador for the club. That said, if the 'Canes are going to make a run at going deep into the playoffs, can they use up a roster spot on Rosie with so much talent in Charlotte itching for a shot?

You look at the forward lineup, and you have guys like Nodl, Dwyer, Stewart who are 3rd/4th line-type guys with occasional scoring punch. You have Tlusty who has shown the kind of potential he has. Throw in a guy like Welsh expected to make the club, sprinkle in Samson, Dalpe, and Bowman itching to get up here, plus the enigma that is Boychuk, and add to all that the looming spectre of the mysterious elite winger for Staal that is supposedly on the horizon. Where does Rosie fit in?

When we won the cup, if I'm not mistaken, he was a fourth liner, right? When we went to the ECF more recently, didn't he float around the 3rd line? And of course last year (under BOTH coaches I might point out) he saw time on the first line. IMHO, I just don't see a spot for him aside from the fourth line, if the organiZAtion is serious about developing its young talent. Is Rosie's career year last year (a year we missed the playoffs) more significant than the perceived upside of developing Dalpe and Bowman, not to mention Welsh? Who gets more minutes, and what does it mean to the long-term future of the club?

Yet another thing to consider going into the season.