With the current team: Kreider/Stepan/Nash Hagelin/Brassard/Callahan Poliout/Richards/Zucarrello Pyatt/Boyle/Moore/Dorsett/Miller/Fast Miller should be on the team start the season. Hopefully he can take Hagelins Spot A trade is imminent..
I would like to see Miller spend one full season in the AHL perfecting his game. No rush. He's 20. I would not bring back Zuccarello. I don't see him being a playoff player. Fast has to put on muscle. To me, if he stays 160 he's a slightly better Prucha. If he gets up to 185-190, we have a better Hagelin. The organization is super high on Lindberg.
I wouldnt bring him back either Dump but the organization has said they're looking to bring him back, so with that in mind I think you gotta pencil him in for a third line spot. Plus, let's not forget he is as far away from a Tortorella hockey guy as you can find. Maybe a new system and especially a new power play will energize him. He might turn into an important PP guy
Right, so the ideal lines are Krieder/Stepan/Nash Hagelin/Richards/Callahan Poliout/Brassard/Zuccarello Boyle/Moore/Dorsett Pyatt, Millet or Haley will be in for Cally and Hags when they're out
I don't see Haley being used much this year, if anything I think Lindberg/Fast/Kristo will be used as injury fill-ins since they have offensive upside. When everyone's healthy I think Zuccarello will be the spare because of his size. Either Boyle or Pyatt should be gone, theyll have too many bodies around and it can clear a little more cap space. Miller could take either's place.
I cant wait to see how Kreider plays for AV. And others for that matter. Dump, you're the moderator? Wow, DDD is gonna have fits. lol. You dont look quite like I imagined though. Haha.
Have to keep in mind that Callahan and Hagelin are not going to be ready to start the season after their surgeries. I'm sure they will be able to do enough to get into shape but they will need guys to fill in until they're back.
To me this is pretty straight forward: CK-Stepan-Nash Hags-BR-Cally Pouliot-Brass-MZA Boyle or Pyatt-Moore-Dorsett (whichever one got me more return value in a trade is who I would deal between Boyle and Pyatt) With Hags and Cally out to start the season, I bump Pouliot up to the 2nd line. Then play 2 kids out of Kristo, Miller, Fast, and Lindberg. So kids will get chances early. And if they do well I am confident we will find a home for them on a perm basis. That's how I see it. Of course the line combos can be mixed and matched, but the players I think will look something like this as of now...unless we make a trade for another scoring winger.
that is one mediocre offensive team until Cally/Hags return. You'll have 2 top-6 forwards being replaced by either 3rd liners and/or unproven prospects. it's a long season so an early whole isn't that big of a deal, but this team really lacks offensive punch. Imagine Nash gets hurt and misses significant time? yikes.
These lines are definitely deep, but there's one glaring problem. I really like Hags as a player. Love his speed and energy. But he is just not a top 6 guy. He's just not. Not his game and never will be. Man would Kane look good there.
It's an opportunity for guys to step up. Nobody was lighting it up last season. I'd certainly rather have Cally and Hags in there but they certainly have guys who can pick up the slack for a couple of weeks. It's time for guys like Kreider to get it going.
Yeah Hagelin is definately out of place in the top 6, I could see Pouliot filling in there for awhile, he's got the size and requisite skill. Kane would be great Prodigy, they should do their best to work on that. DZ/Miller/1st would be close I would think. Maybe another prospect.
They need a true 2nd line guy and should use Hags and DelZ to land a proven scorer that isn't a relic
We all know we are short a top 6 winger, no one would argue that. But with our deep D, and our goalie, and what appears to me to be solid forward depth, it wouldn't be the worst thing if Pouliot or Hags were the 4th winger in the top 6. Ideal...NO. End of the world given we'd have the other guy on the 3rd line with a C like Brassard...no. Plus we have a solid 4th line. And we would simply be giving the kids a chance to show what they can do (Kristo, Miller, Fast, and Lindberg). To start off off we could do much worse than what we have now. And if it isn't working we can certainly make a deal to add some O in season. Now that is not to say I wouldn't look to package MDZ and Hags or Miller for a proven scoring winger, but if we didn't I don't think it is the end of the world to start the season.
Hopefully Kreider chips in at least 15-20 next year, then they could even wait and make a deal around the deadline if not this summer. How bad did most of us look last year when he didn't even have 5 in half a season. I know I predicted 25 or 12 pro rated.lol
As it stands right now, the two keys to me are Kreider needs to score 20. And either Hags or Pouliot need to get near 20. Maybe score 18 or so.
To me Kreider was a big disappointment last year. With his talent and coming off the playoffs where he had 5gls he should have done much, much better in the AHL during the lock out, and he didn't even get half a point a game. In the NHL obviously Torts screwed him a lot, but its not like he was having great games either. I think 20-20 out of Kreider next year would be a solid improvement, with the caveat that 40pts is not really a 1st line player production, so we're just going to continue to struggle to score goals and leaves us at a high risk of really struggling of Stepan or Nash (and God forbid, both) get hurt and miss significant time.
Its definately not a great top 6 when you compare it to some of the other potential top 10 teams in the league. We know they need another good winger and CK to live up to the hype, then maybe its comparable. Still really no true #1C but they can get by with two good ones in Stepan/Brass. 2014 FA is when they should address that.
