Opening Night Lines

I don't think they're going to be splitting up Buchnevich-Thomas-Tarasenko this earlier in the season. They seem to want to give Brown a crack at 3C, and they've had Kyrou stapled to O'Reilly most of the preseason/camp. Perunovich is hurt and no one seems to know how bad but he's missing a good chunk of the preseason at this point. If he happens to be healthy and makes the lineup, he won't be playing above Leddy on opening night (though wouldn't be surprised if he steals a top 4 job from him eventually). Don't really see why they would need Tucker on the roster if they're already scratching a defenseman. If Perunovich isn't ready, maybe, but I kind of think it will be Santini or Rosen first.

Buchnevich-Thomas-Tarasenko
Schenn-O'Reilly-Kyrou
Neighbours - Brown - Saad
Barbashev - Acciari - Leivo

Krug - Faulk
Leddy - Parayko
Mikkola - Bortuzzo

Kostin
Toropchenko (if he's ready, seems like he is?)
Rosen/Santini

Thoughts on ROR-Kyrou together? It just doesn't unlock anything for me. Maybe you're able to hide some of Kyrou's defensive inefficiencies playing him with ROR but you're also putting that line up against the other team's best so you're not getting the good matchup for Kyrou to feast on. Eventually I'd like to see

Kyrou-Thomas-Tarasenko
Saad-ROR-Buch
Neighbours-Brown-Schenn
Barby-Acciari-Leivo/Klim/Pitlick

I don't totally hate it but I don't think it really utilizes either player in the best way. I think masking the defense problems is what the logic is and I do think that will work but I wonder if the speed mismatch will hurt the offense, especially from Kyrou. Kyrou has some really good passing ability, but if he's leading the breakout and O'Reilly is struggling to keep up and he continues to struggle to finish like he did last year, I worry there's just going to be a lot of wasted time in the offensive zone and/or lots of Kyrou doing a lot of one-and-dones.

Ultimately Kyrou and Thomas need to be playing together for me, I think they have completely complementary skillsets and their chemistry is the future of the team. I also like Buchnevich and O'Reilly together, for me that's the basis of a Danault-esque shutdown line you send out against everyone. I would have loved to see Perron stick around and round out that trio. If those pairs are together I won't have much to complain about (until it stops working), especially if Brown can snag the 3C spot and allow Schenn to be a top-6 power forward than a third line center.

I will say, it's a bit tough to see how Tarasenko fits in this lineup beyond this season, even beyond the cost it would take to keep him and whether he even wants to stick around.

I’m super in on that 4th line. Pitlick is fine too cuz he’s got a lot of energy compared to the somewhat sluggish Leivo, but I find Leivo much more effective

Bruh, Brown is not going to be on Dad's line. That line gets the hardest matchups. He ain't suited for that. ROR will get Kyrou.