Max Reinhart

[FlameZilla]

If we could replace Glencross, Stajan & Jones with better veterans then I'd be very happy. THAT would be a half-decent line up. That is virtually impossible to achieve via trade, especially if we don't want to give up any of the promising young prospects we have.

The way I see it, this year is a transitional year. Bennett, Gaudreau, Poirier, Klimchuk & Baertschi are all on the horizon, but most of them are not quite ready. There's a strong crop of draft-eligible kids in 2015, and by letting things pan out as they naturally do we'll inevitably get a decent pick. Throughout the year we'll see some of the prospects transitioned into the lineup and by the trade deadline we'll have a better idea of who is expendable & who is essential to the rebuild.

That's one way to do it... I suppose the other way is to package a vet or 2 with a prospect or 2 and acquire a young-ish veteran star player like Evander Kane or the Schenns... But from the sound of it there is little value in the trade market at the moment.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

What was the starting forward lineup last year?

This was the roster

FORWARDS
Mikael Backlund
Sven Baertschi
Lance Bouma
Joe Colborne
TJ Galiardi
Curtis Glencross
Jiri Hudler
Tim Jackman
David Jones
Brian McGrattan
Sean Monahan
Matt Stajan
Lee Stempniak
Ben Street

INJURED
Michael Cammalleri

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

This was the roster

FORWARDS
Mikael Backlund -> Same
Sven Baertschi -> Reinhart (Wash)
Lance Bouma -> Same
Joe Colborne -> Same
TJ Galiardi -> Raymond (Better)
Curtis Glencross -> Same
Jiri Hudler [b]-> Same
Tim Jackman -> Bollig (Better)
David Jones -> Same
Brian McGrattan -> Same
Sean Monahan -> Same
Matt Stajan -> Same
Lee Stempniak -> Gaudreau/Baertschi/etc (worse maybe)
Ben Street -> Byron

INJURED
Michael Cammalleri -

My thoughts in bold. Realistically, minus Cammaleri we've improved. The trouble is, Cammaleri was a huge part of the offense. I think overall we've gotten worse, but as bad as that lineup looks, it's actually not much worse than last year. If we get a bit better goaltending than we got from Berra with all the late goals giving away games, maybe we improve a tad?

[Da_Chief]

Backlund, Monahan, Colborne, Bouma, Byron are not the same. They improved quite a bit last year. So they're better. Lets see if they continue developing, I hope they do.

[Scoutski]

Max is one of the only prospects (I guess besides Bennett now) that I feel confident will make it to the NHL and stick, love him. I don't think he'll make it out of camp, but once injuries start happening, he'll be an early call-up and then I see him sticking for good.

Also I feel like the team will be better this year, maybe not playoffs, but they will finish higher.

[Scoutski]

EDIT: Double post.