I think this is a solid lineup

It's really not, and I think Francis has done a very bad job so far even with a handful of good snares. The center stable is just sad (this team will be scraping the bottom in faceoff %, but hey at least he has 32 LDs!), the O zone creativity is almost non-existent, the sniping ability is equally spare and the D has a couple of major sink hole warning spots. This is not a $72M roster.

This is a lazy take. Their center lineup is... it's not great at the top end but it's there throughout the lineup. I might be able to speak more highly of Geekie than others because being a Canes fan, I have seen more of him. He's really solid as a 4th liner, and can play both special team units. Was improving in the dot under Rod too.

Berniers will be in experienced, but Wennberg and Gourde are both good middle 6 C's, and can certainly play the kind of role for this team Danault, Kotkaniemi and Suzuki did for Montreal did this summer.

Heh. It's a Cpt. Obvious take is more like it.

You call Gourde and Wennberg middle 6 centers, which is quite the exaggeration. Even if it was true, they are being asked to be 1C and 2C. This is way over their heads, as Gourde is really a winger and Wennberg hasn't been a real impact player for like four seasons now. As for Geekie, he has plenty of nice tools, which would be amazing if he wasn;t such a poor skater. This has obviously held him back, and presumably will continue to do so. Early evidence indicates he's an AHL-er.

Long story short, comparing these guys to KK, Danault and Suzuki is silly. The C spot is a huge problem for this team. How that can be argued with a straight face is beyond me.

Geekie's skating is not poor... hell, in his NHL debut he skates the blade of Evgenii Malkin and the Penguins as he put up 3 points in his first game.

Gourde played C in Tampa and did it very successfully with Coleman and Goodrow on either side. He's always done that very effectively, and he's very capable as a middle-six C. He's going to be asked to play as a 1C, which isn't ideal, but it's worth a shot. Wennberg has had success as a middle-six center, and is going to be asked to do the same in Seattle. It's something he did in Columbus, and he did it well. Not fantastically, but well enough.

This C core is not as weak as you suggest, and how you can think otherwise makes me question you a lot.

This is not a great team but I think Francis is doing it right? Cap space is King right now. He will eventually trade some of these guys to contenders for draft picks and assets, Giordano, Gourde, Danskoi, and Larson should net nice returns at the trade deadline.