It will be interesting to see if Ryan gets any special teams time. He wasn't utilized on the PK (and his offensive zone starts leads me to believe he wasn't strong defensively, but time will tell), and he didn't produce much on the PP (didn't a poster here mention that Brouwer out-produced Ryan with less minutes? I remember reading something like that).
PP1
Gaudreau and Monahan, along with Tkachuk (net front) and Giordano should be on the number 1 PP. I try Czarnik here (RHS). Why? See below:
PP2: Bennett Neal, Lindholm and Backlund are my PP2 guys. Why? Neal is a LHS, and PP1 is full of them. Why Lindholm on PP2 rather than PP1? Tkachuk. I put Tkachuk on PP1, and Lindholm is also a terrific net front presence who seems very good at tipping pucks as well. The D is up in the air. Hanifin? We will see. Brodie is a terrific passer, but I prefer someone with a better shot. Stone has it, but he doens't shoot well enough for me (accuracy). Whomever does better between Brodie and Hanifin for me.
PK1
Backlund Frolik
Giordano - Hamonic
PK2
Bennett - Jankowski/Lindholm
Brodie - Stone
Jankowski should start getting some reps in on the PK. He has great IQ and a really nice long reach, plus he is a strong skater. He played on both special teams in college and became a strong 2-way player. I think he should get some reps, splitting time with Lindholm. Bennett has the speed, and he is just so strong on one-on-one battles, and that may help to eat up time on the PK.
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