Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
I don't think there's room for both Janko and Foo. The way I see it, here's the locked in NHL depth chart:
Gaudreau/Tkachuk/Versteeg/Lazar
Monahan/Backlund/Bennett/Stajan/Hamilton
Ferland/Frolik/Brouwer/unknown
I think the 'unknown' guy could either slot in the spot I've marked, or swap with Staj. But regardless, I think there's only one spot.
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I don't think Hamilton and Lazar are locks. In fact, I don't think they're even close to being locks. Hamilton was in and out of the lineup all last year, and Lazar has yet to prove himself a consistent NHLer.
Unless we pull off something major at RW, I'm predicting this for opening night:
Gaudreau Monahan Ferland
Tkachuk Backlund Frolik
Verseetg Bennett Brouwer
Stajan Jankowski Foo
- Bennett will finally get some regular linemates he can play with on the 3rd line.
- Stajan will be Jankowski's safety net for big draws like when they get stuck out there on an icing call, etc. He's also going to help with the D on that line, as I see Jankowski/Foo being a similar Monahan/Gaudreau dynamic (to a lesser extent). I believe Foo will be allowed to take chances like Johnny is (again, to a lesser extent), and Janko will have to balance being both a finisher and a backchecker, again with Stajan as his safety net.
I think that lineup allows us to roll four lines and have legitimate scoring threats on each one.
When you couple that with the offensive weapons we have on D, and a goalie that can reliably move the puck up the ice and hit a moving target on the fly...
Man, Pavlov would have tossed his bell in the garbage and just shown this lineup around instead.