Joined: Jan. 2017
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I agree those will likely be our lines. How depressing, eh? IMO, the team looks very, very weak. I think we're looking at a very tough year and may end up at the very bottom of the standings. I just have not been impressed with any of our young guys. Steel is smart and has excellent vision, but his skating is just too average. I think we need to see some significant improvement out of him this coming season or we move him to wing and into more of a two-way role (Steel - Lundestrom - Silfverberg = could be good as a smart, two-way, shutdown line). Jones is just an energy guy for me. I think his best place on the depth chart is the 4th line. I've been most disappointed with Terry's progression. He's 23 and still looks like a kid against men. He's got the tools, but doesn't utilise them effectively at this level and has no board game whatsoever. Some of that could be the team's system (I think Terry would work better on more of a run-and-gun team) so I'm still tentatively hoping for improvement as Eakin's system is further adopted. As far as Larsson, he's a soft, third pairing guy and just very vanilla. He's more of a compliment to a legit 3rd pairing PP QB (I'm thinking Shatty or Vatanen) than a standout talent. I guess that's okay, but not what you hope for out of 1st round picks, even late ones, especially considering how Theodore turned out. Tracey is another vanilla player I'm not that high on. On a more positive note, I really like Zegras, Comtois and Lundestrom (I like Steel too, but just not as a top 6C - which leaves a gap), and I really like the addition of Drysdale and Perreault. I guess one shouldn't be surprised that the better prospects were drafted more recently and higher up the draft rankings.
Milano and Heinen are okay additions. I don't think they belong in the top 6 and I certainly wouldn't have them on my team. I think Milano looked good over a short stint, but I am confident he'll disappear again after the "honeymoon period" most players have during the first few games on a new team. Heinen, again, is just very vanilla. Not really that excited about him. I am still a fan of Silf, Grant, Henrique, Lindholm and Fowler. Manson needs to step his game up and cut out those errors. Shatty will be a nightmare anywhere except the bottom pairing. We are not the offensive powerhouse that TB is and we can't afford to shelter him the way they did. I fully expect Djoos to be forcing Larson out the line-up most nights. Gibson is a god amongst mortals.
IMO, we still need a franchise C and I wouldn't mind adding another high-end D prospect (Brandt Clarke?). I think we should also trade Rakell for help on the RW. It is probably not likely now, but I did like the proposed idea of trading Rakell+ for Nylander. We get the better player in a position of more immediate need and TOR gets a good replacement on a sweetheart deal. Like I said, TOR seems to be okay capwise now, so that deal doesn't seem likely. Ideal lines in the future would have been the following:
Comtois - Franchise C - Nylander
Henrique - Zegras - Perreault
Steel - Lundestrom - Silfverberg
Jones - Grant - Tracey
Lindholm - Drysdale
Fowler - Manson
Larson/Djoos - Shattenkirk
Gibson - Dostal.
Complete overkill centre depth is key for me, followed by a deep, high-end D-core. Hence my desire to add a franchise C (even though I think Zegras has elite, 1C potential), and another high-end D-man. Anyway, I'm just thinking outside my head at this point. I'm sure lots will change with this coming season. Although I don't expect this team to perform well, a win for me would be one of the above taking their game to the next level + getting a little luckier in the draft (I'd like top 3). We'll see how it goes.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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