Has Frederic took a big enough jump in development to replace DeBrusk?
And if so move him to 2nd line RW and maybe sign someone like Joshua or Trenin for 3rd line.
Zacha - Lindholm - Pasta
Marchand - Monahan/Stephenson - Frederic
Trenin/ Joshua - Coyle - Geekie
FA/Boqvist/Beecher/Lauko/ Merkulov, Brazeau
If they’re smart they’ll take advantage of having cap space this season to properly slot everyone and not play the “let’s hope someone can become something they aren’t” game.
I’m done hoping guys who have proven to be third liners will magically become second liners.
They lost, in part, because they didn’t get secondary scoring.
They have the money and flexibility to ice a lineup where the third line is Frederic, Coyle, Geekie.
That’s potentially as good a third line as we’ve seen in over a decade.
Also, they can ice a legit 4th line that will cost around 2.7 - 3.0 total if they go with some combination of Lauko, Beecher, Brazeau, Boqvist.
That’s a pretty good 4th line, very cheap.