Markinson's last dance in Moscow?

[STZ 5,360]

Moscow, Russia.

 

After four straight years of losing in the finals, the Moscow Menace have once again re-tooled and are ready for yet another run. In year's past, they had to move on from superstar players like Paul Atreides and Aurelien Moreau. This off-season they had to make the decision to move on from arguably the best player in the league, in Duncan Idaho. This season they build around 2x Labatte Winner Hard Markinson and The Seabasstard... But does this mark the final season for those two to get the job done?

 

The "hard" truth might be that even with a NTC, this could be the final dance for Markinson. It seems as though the only max cap player that is untouchable is goalie Papa Emeritus. The next generation of Menace talent will be coming up, and the veterans could be sacrificed for cap space once again. We get to watch highly touted prospect Tomas Sogaard make the jump to the VHL, as well as rookie Jason Argos who has been a very pleasant surprise from late 3rd round in S82. Sergey Preobrazhensky could be the future 1C and Wattson Power could be the future 1D, and that future could be as soon as next season.

 

Menace fans probably don't want to see or hear this, but it's likely to be the truth - I find it hard to imagine a S85 roster with both Markinson and Seabasstard on the roster. Crazier things have happened, and GM Spartan has done wonders every off-season showing incredible creativite and courage to pull off big moves. Markinson wants to win a championship in Moscow. The time has to be now.