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To be honest, I’d rather see Bergevin add an experienced center as well as a puck-moving defenseman, but so far, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. So, considering what Dominique Ducharme now has in hand, forwards wise, I’ll tell you today what I’d like to see up front, and tomorrow, I’ll tackle the blue line.
First things first, the following players have jumped ship: Phillip Danault, Tomas Tatar, Eric Staal, Corey Perry and these ones have been added: Mike Hoffman, Mathieu Perreault, Cedric Paquette and Jonathan Drouin (since he wasn’t available at the end of last year). It’s also worth noting that Paul Byron has undergone an operation and will not be available until December at least.
Taking this into account, here’s the line-up I’d want to see when the puck drops on the new season:
Mike Hoffman-Nick Suzuki-Cole Caufield Tyler Toffoli-Jesperi Kotkaniemi-Josh Anderson Jonathan Drouin-Jake Evans-Brendan Gallagher Artturi Lehkonen-Ryan Poehiling-Joel Armia Extras: Mathieu Perreault, Cedric Paquette Injured : Paul Byron
First off, neither Toffoli nor Anderson really clicked that much with the Suzuki-Caufield duo, so I think putting a sharpshooter like Hoffman on their left makes sense. Suzuki will now have two very viable option to feed his sweet dishes to. On the second like, I’d want to see KK get at least a chance to show he is up to the task and what better way to do that than by giving him offensively gifted wingers and last year’s new guys Toffoli and Anderson sure fit the bill.
With Danault gone, I think the defensive center job falls squarely on Jake Evans’ shoulders and since Brendan Gallagher was Danault’s right hand man so to speak, it makes sense to put him there, especially since he specializes in “garbage goals… and doesn’t need big set-up plays to get his share of goals. As for Jonathan Drouin, it might have been interesting to see him on the first line, but I think he needs to earn it. For now, he gets 3rd line duties but some power play time to allow him to show his offensive talent.
Finally, I would very much like to see Ryan Poehling get a shot at being the 4th line center with defensively responsible Lehkonen on his left and gifted puck holder Armia on his right, he would be put in winning conditions to succeed. I’m not convinced Bergevin will let that happen though, but we’ll see. I have left out Perreault and Paquette for now because I do see Ducharme giving the guys he won with last year get first crack, but if they don’t perform, I’m certain he won’t hesitate to make some changes. Poehling is easy to send back down to Laval being waived exempt and Paquette or Perreault would be all too happy to step in in the void his retrogradation would create. Paquette could also take over Lehkonen on the left and Perreault over Armia on the right if needed.
What about you? How do you see them line-up to start the season?