[GranteedEV]

GM: Craig Conroy. You need a GM who has had NHL success in some capacity IMO, but has also paid his dues as an assistant GM. Some of the better GMs in the league are guys like Yzerman, Hextall, and Jim Rutherford. David Poile was an AGM of a cup winning roster built around pure skill. I believe there is a correlation, because these kind of guys don't have minor league biases. The kind of minor league biases that get Tanner Glass, Nik Grossmann, Matt Bartkowski, Ryan Lomberg, etc playing NHL minutes.

Head Coach: In a vacuum, Peter Laviolette. Out of realistic options, any of Lindy Ruff, Joel Quenneville, Alain Vigneult, or even bring back Hartley and Keenan. I don't have a problem with bringing in a rookie coach either, but I would again have some of those similar criteria I had for a GM. No minor leaguer, it has to be someone who's either coached high-end talent to success before, or himself was high-end talent. I would even toss out Patrick Roy out there, at least he's won an NHL division title as a coach. I'm not convinced Darryl Sutter is a stylistic fit but there is no doubting he'd be an upgrade on Glen Gulutzan by default on account of Darryl is a fantastic coach.

Signifcant moves: I would replace Travis Hamonic with any average top 4 left handed defensemen, and move TJ Brodie back to the right side where he belongs. Hamonic is really an irrelevant piece who has only nine points this season (Brett Kulak has seven in half the ice time) and shoots THREE percent on his career - no wonder there's no offense when he's on the ice. I would waive anyone on the roster who is slow, and make moves to bring in bottom six speedsters like Hagelin, Byron, Grabner, etc. Load the bottom six with speed and skill, and forego this truculence nonsense that winners don't really care about as they blow opponents out. I would trade Mike Stone away as I don't think he's particularily good or even the better player on his defense pair, and allow Rasmus Andersson to be our #6D next season. Oh and not bring in Bartkowski types.

Line up: I would move Sam Bennett back to center, but give him actual linemates. Maybe even Jankowski at wing. Guys who can play uptempo ahead of him rather than behind him. To me the key is to not have the same lineup every night. Lines only have chemistry for so long and I fully agree with coaches who blender their lines regularly as it keeps opponents guessing in their pre-game scouting. Dillon Dube is in the NHL next year. Honestly should have been in the NHL this year with what he showed in preseason. Smith-Rittich would be my tandem, I have no issue with the goaltending we've gotten from either guy, outside of two whole games from Rittich. Gillies is not an NHL goalie at present and needs a lot of work on his technical game.

Biggest development: Sam Bennett gets linemates as a center and succeeds as a top line two-way center, allowing Backlund to be an elite 2B center. Actual high end center depth and a style balanced between aggressive defensive play and high-reward offensive play propels this roster to where it belongs.