I'm curious what they do with the power play units. I think if Trocheck is not on either unit, he will be on the 1st PK unit with Motte. And then I would have Goodrow and Vesey. Kreids and Mika only on if they need a goal.

Kane forces Tarasenko off PP1 in my mind. He and Panarin supposedly have a lot of chemistry, so in my mind I'd have Panarin or Mika in the left circle (preferably Mika), with the other taking the bumper, Kane in the right circle, Kreids of course as the net front, and Fox on the point. Kreider, Panarin, Mika, and Fox should all be set in stone at this point. That leave Tarasenko for PP2. Although maybe GG does something weird like moving Kreider or Mika to the second unit, or running 5 forwards. Either way, the amount of weapons and diversity in handedness should give them a lot of freedom to rotate around and make a lot of plays, which is something they seemed to lack with Trocheck and even Tarasenko. Kane gives them that extra bit of playmaking, and they all have good shots.

At this point, I only think Trocheck should be on with PP2 if they need a faceoff win, in which case he might just switch with Miller/Trouba. All the kids should stick together, they have too much chemistry not to be on the same unit. Sometimes their passing even looks crisper and more creative than PP1. Tarasenko gives them a genuine finishing threat, and Miller/Trouba can both play on the point. For them, the way you orient the powerplay doesn't really matter. When that unit is at their best, they're constantly moving around, switching places, which creates lanes and open ice for them to work with. PP1 is more organized, while PP2 is a lot more fluid. That's actually one of the reasons I don't think it's a great idea to move someone like Mika to PP2. It's nice that each powerplay is so inherently different in their playing style, it makes it a lot harder for the opposing teams PK to plan for them, and if one unit doesn't create anything, the other one might.

For the PK, I think they're gonna lean into having like 7 or 8 competent penalty killing forwards and just go with very quick shifts. That's what I'd do at least. You've got Mika, Trocheck, and Goodrow as the centers, maybe even Chytil in a pinch, and you can pair them with one of Motte, Vesey, Kreider, or Kakko. For a team with that much pure talent, they've got a very good amount of two-way players too.

This team is not terrifying, they brought in two wingers whose years are numbered, their defense gives up to many high dangerous chances and they have a goalie that played out of his mind last year not this year. Inconclusion they will be out in the second round in six games when they verse the Canes.