I like your line up - but not your lines.
How would you construct them?
Lafreniere and Dach gelled very well at last year’s Hlinka. They’re future superstars who can break a game open. I think Veleno is the clear choice to centre them; he’s fast, provides the defensive conscience, and obviously has his own offensive talent in spades. This will almost certainly be the best line in the tournament.
Fortier, Hayton, and Noel provide a little of everything and a balanced attack. The former possess strong two-way games and loads of finesse, while Noel excels at puck possession and can open up space for his linemates. All are good to great skaters, and TC loves it’s 19 year olds. To me, it makes sense to put these three together...
...because I want to see a reunion of our top line at the U18s. Even with a below-expectations performance from Cozens, Newhook-Krebs-Cozens was dominant in every zone every time they stepped over the boards. So much speed, so much skill, and both guys on the wings can shoot absolute lasers. I could see this line becoming the de-facto “second line”, although I suspect we’ll see fairly balanced ice times between the top three groups.
The ability to maintain offence continues down to our fourth line. Foudy is a one-man forecheck and ruins teams with his speed alone. Dellandrea is strong positionally and in his own end, but has great offensive instincts and skills, too. Thomas has improved his two-way game a lot and produces outstanding numbers everywhere he goes.
The d-pairs really fall into place by themselves IMO.
