The 2026-27 forward group: four lines to compete now and grow into a contender
Here is the part that makes the forwards easy: the blue-line plan I sent you spent the cap and the one moveable asset on defense, and it did that on purpose, because it left the entire young forward core untouched. Eklund stayed. Bystedt and Musty stayed in the chamber. The No. 20 pick stayed. So unlike the back end, the forward group does not need building. It needs setting and deploying. The future is already in the room and it is cheap.
So the question is not "who do we sign," it is "how do we line them up so the kids develop in prime minutes and the team still wins enough games to matter." Here is the answer.
The four lines#
| Line | LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (scoring) | Chernyshov | Celebrini | Will Smith |
| 2 (scoring) | Eklund | Misa | Graf |
| 3 (vet/two-way) | Sherwood | Wennberg | Toffoli |
| 4 (energy/PK) | Goodrow | Ostapchuk | Gaudette |
13F and spot-center: Ty Dellandrea (signed, plays any center slot or right wing) and Philipp Kurashev (qualify him, a skilled tweener who can move up when injuries hit). First callups from the AHL: Quentin Musty (the scoring-winger heir to Toffoli) and Filip Bystedt (center depth, or a trade chip if a deal calls).
The logic: youth on top, experience underneath#
Look at who plays the top six: Celebrini, Misa, Smith, Eklund, Chernyshov, Graf. That is the entire young core, all of it, getting the prime minutes. That is the future developing in real time. And notice the centers are split the smart way: Celebrini is a 1C who elevates whoever rides shotgun, so he gets the developing power winger (Chernyshov) on his flank, while your proven, established winger (Eklund) goes to the younger center (Misa), who needs the support more. Two dangerous lines instead of one stacked one, which is what a playoff-fringe team actually needs, depth scoring wins more games than a loaded top trio.
Then the bottom six is the grown-up floor. Sherwood, Wennberg, Toffoli is a genuine third line that can score a little and check a lot, exactly what the $5.8M and $6M veteran money is for. Goodrow, Ostapchuk, Gaudette is a heavy, penalty-killing fourth line. That is a bottom six that wins you a Tuesday in Calgary while the kids up top win you the future.
The moves (there are barely any, and that is the point)#
Qualify Collin Graf (a real top-nine right-shot winger, easy yes), qualify Zack Ostapchuk (the heavy 4C the staff likes), and qualify Philipp Kurashev (cheap, versatile insurance). Let Pavol Regenda walk or take an AHL deal, and treat Ryan Reaves as an optional cheap-toughness 13F at most, the spot is better spent on youth. No big UFA forward needed, and that is the whole design: the cap went to the blue line because the forward group was already built.
One bookkeeping note: Logan Couture's $8M still sits on the active cap in 2026-27 (on IR, not LTIR, to keep flexibility). He is not in these twelve, but the money is real, factor it into any in-season add.
Special teams (where the real gains are)#
The 2025-26 power play ranked 17th and the kill ranked 28th. Both should climb. PP1 is loaded now: Celebrini, Eklund, Smith, and Misa up front with Carlson quarterbacking from the point (that signing pays for itself here). PP2 gets Chernyshov, Graf, Toffoli, and Sherwood with Cagnoni or Dickinson running it. The penalty kill leans on Wennberg, Goodrow, Sherwood, Dellandrea, and Ostapchuk, that group has to drag the kill out of the bottom five for this team to make the jump.
The one decision for camp#
The summary line#
The top six is the entire young core in prime minutes, the bottom six is a competent veteran floor that kills penalties, and Musty is the reinforcement waiting in the AHL. You spend the offseason qualifying three RFAs and otherwise stay out of the way. The forwards were never the problem. The blue line was, and that is where the money went.
Positions, contracts, and RFA/UFA status verified against state/cap.md (PuckPedia/CapWages). Pairs with the blue-line plan in docs/2026-offseason/2026-06-05_blue-line-plan_top7-and-transactions.md. Prospect roles per the Musty and Bystedt deep-dives.
