Bruins 2017

McAvoy on the bottom pair.... He's going to get thrown into the fire right away, just like Carlo was. He was solid during the playoffs playing big time minutes. He'll be given the chance right away. Switch he and McQuaid.

No! No McQuaid + Miller pairing available here, maybe you could find that somewhere else, but I think that'd be like shaking your butt in the faces of everyone at TD Garden for 15+ minutes during home games. Talk about a minimalist approach. They'd just slap the puck up the boards every time in every situation and it'd get so bad that Cassidy would have to make a change.

Putting McAvoy with Krug is also something that could inspire a train wreck. Exactly how is McAvoy already a ++ defender to compensate for Krug? Anyone who thinks Krug doesn't suck defensively isn't watching all the games. He's below average to phrase it nicely. If he was above average defensively he'd be a top 30 defenseman league wide with no hesitation as he finished 7th in defenseman scoring. It's like everyone just **** likes Torrey Krug as a person and his offensive game, so they look the other way when he lets up a rebound goal to the guy he's covering in front of the net. Sure, He's a great guy, I'll give you that one. He says funny stuff and is very likable and has a ton of confidence, but who exactly on the team did you think was worse than him in the defensive zone? McQuaid who was a big time PKer? Miller who was the same thing? Carlo because he was a rook? Theres literally no-one unless you're talking about Liles or when we got down to our 10th defenseman in the playoffs. Collin Miller was definitely better defensively IMO. If you go through that process of thinking who's worse than Krug defensively and you come up with Liles and Tommy Cross it tells you he's completely brutal. I know management loves the guy because he never gets down and Cam Neely raves about him, but lets not look past his deficiencies in the defensive zone. McAvoy wouldn't just be thrown into the fire if he's paired with Krug. That's like being wrapped in gasoline soaked cloth before being thrown into said fire.

This is ideally how I would want it to shake out. If McAvoy is not with Chara, I would like him with Miller (at least for this season). Kevan Miller is a player that fits McAvoy's style. I feel like McAvoy could still get a good amount of time 5 on 5 and powerplay. Im getting to the point with this defense where i would be confident no matter which line is out there. This looks like a good balance.

The only problem I have, which may necessarily not be your fault and more on how the lines actually fill out is with Tim Schaller. I see him as more of a 13th forward and someone i wouldnt want to play a full 82

Edit: I would also like to see another rookie forward if Bels or Vatrano dont figure it out, but that can happen during the season

You've got a major set of bawls for giving me a 5.

I totally appreciate it, but I think others may hate it a lot.

As for Schaller, he and Agostino flip, but neither do much. I gave Schaller the nod since he was apart of the team longer.