If Holtz is or becomes ready for a top six role this season, this could be preferred top six as a whole.
I feel like Bratt and Hischier would make for the best line mates for Holtz to thrive with.
Also, Hughes has showed that he can be elite with pretty much any winger, so pairing him with Palat (and Mercer) would probably work out great.

Why is everyone dumping Mcleod, the guy had one of the top Win % in the league last year, gels with wood and make a great 4th line at his salary.

Has to do with Hockey Canada sexual assault investigation. He may not even be eligible to play by the time season starts. Only 1 of 4 players to this point who hasn’t denied involvement so doesn’t look great

1. As long as Lindy is coach, I doubt we will set lines through the season. He mixed/matched a ton last year.
2. Toward the end of last season, he started pairing Bratt and Hughes together in "need a goal" situations (ie, down by 1, 3rd period). I bet we will see more that too.
3. I think we have a chance of icing a meaningful 3rd line, so we definitely could also see one of Mercer or Sharangovich there.
4. I like Siegenthaler with Severson as a pair to face other teams top lines.
5. Haula should get more minutes that Boqvist.
6. If Wood starts on IR, I think Dugan gets real chance to earn a spot.

A non-denial means very little. It could be a legal strategy. It could be a lot of things.

Remember, this was a civil case that was already settled out of court. There is no criminal case. That means there will be no discovery process and no cross-examination. The settlement could also include non-disclosure agreements for all sides to discuss case publicly.

Best not to single out any player until more is known.

Innocent until proven guilty ofc, but just seems a little strange when he's one of a few players that hasn't commented on the situation

1) Agree
2) If it were up to me, I would start Hughes and Bratt together from the start, but I don't think Lindy is gonna do that
3) Shrangovich more likely because Fitz has already said he wants Mercer as top 6 RW
4) Liked Siegenthaler-Severson last year as well, but Graves isn't top pairing dman which forces Siegenthaler w Hamilton because Siegs is better defensively and u need to give Dougie as much o-zone time as possible
5) Agreed. Haula> Boqvist no doubt but don't like Boqvist centering Wood and Zetterlund. Haula has grit, Boqvist does not. Boqvist will play better w Sharangovich and Tatar and had chemistry w Sharangovich near the end of last year
6) Dugan will be nowhere near this team. He won't even be called up as an extra. Better chance Geertsen is there than Dugan and I HATE Geertsen. Bastian, Johnsson, Thompson, and Foote would all be ahead of Dugan and that's excluding McLeod rn. I assume Wood should be ready by opening night. I haven't heard any indication he wouldn't be. He was really sidelined again at the end of the year for precautionary reasons; there was no additional injury on top of what he had

I believe Wood halted his off-season training at one point. Haven't really seen any updates in a while on him. Could really use him back at full strength.

Dugan is underrated...and would play a 4th line role better than Johnsson or Thompson. Also a guy I would have no problem as 13th forward. Foote and Thompson I'd rather get regular shifts in Utica. Just wait...Dugan will be an interesting one to watch in camp.

Glad too know I'm not the only educated person on here.

Again, I was not accusing McLeod of anything because up to this point, there’s no public evidence he committed any wrong doing. All I said is that it was suspicious that he was one of the few players who hadn’t commented on the situation. Believe me, I’m not some woke liberal who is quick to point the finger, but on the surface level, it looks fishy for him