Baghdad (AP)
Bombers made significant progress this season, bolstered by two significant signings. Patrick Marleau and Martin St. Louis provided the necessary leadership and scoring and helped elevate the team into a conference final. St. Louis was especially thrilled at rubbing it in against his former team, Nokians, in the divisional final. "GM Ng has no appreciation for talent, that's why he dropped me during free agency last year. I'm glad my 10 pts that series helped put a nail in his team's coffin, " said the sniper.
The team succesfully jumped from 14 last year to being the 6th ranked team, and just barely losing out to the Bullies after a key injury to defensive stalward Niklas Hjalmarsson. The team will draft in the 18 spot in the upcoming draft and will also have either the 19th or 20th pick depending on who wins the BFHL championship. The team intends to continue building its core pipeline of prospects.
The team has high expectations next year. The bulk of the core will be in its final cap year at attractive cap hits (i.e. Teddy Purcell $1.3mm, Sam Gagner $2.3mm, Niklas Hjalmarsson $2.2mm, Milan Lucic $1.27mm) and this would be the year that the team truly tries to push for the cup. St Louis was the top scorer in the NHL and should have a very attractive rating. The defensive core (see below) will rate very strongly.
Significant Free Agents
[Left: Phaneuf and Franson after a key goal.] The Bomber's defense has never been as strong. Phaneuf and Franson were top defensive scorers in the NHL in 2012-2013 and will attract top dollars in the free agency market. Both players are expected to be on the Bomber's power play unit next year.
Roman Josi was a signficant cornerstone racking up over 23 mins a game for the Nashville Predators and will likely attract significant attention. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was a potential Norris candidate. Josi and OEL are expected to be big minute players solidfy the defensive core of the team.
[Right: Stepan fighting off a check.] Up front, the Bombers will resign Derek Stepan. 
As noted last year, with the departure of Mike Richards, Stepan was expected to step in meaningfully. He has done a superb job last year in the NHL producing 44 pts in 48 games and will solidify the Bombers down the middle. Kyle Brodziak was overpaid due to his decent stats last year, but is expected to settle back down into a defensive/checking role next year at a significantly lower cap hit.
Huge decisions will need to be made regarding Marleau and St. Louis. The duo was signed at significantly above market prices to keep a buffer for the other key free agents. It will remain to be seen if the Bombers resign both players. Marleau wispfully noted, that he "understood what he was hired to do, do provide short term help on the team until the quality younger players step up. The defense will be miles and above what we had last year, and significant cap room will be used on that."
Jonathan Bernier has shown in the NHL that he is a capable backup and will be retained to alternate with Jimmy Howard in net.
Promotions
[Left: Emerson Etem impressive in his NHL debut year.]
Bombers will likely offer pro contracts to Emerson Etem, Matt Calvert, Tyler Toffoli, and potentially Patrick Maroon and Austin Watson, as these players will graduate from the juniors to the Bomber's farm team.