Kostin - Celebrini - Toffoli
Eklund - Granlund - Dellandrea
Goodrow - Smith - Zetterlund
Grundstrom - Wennberg - Kunin
We basically have four 3rd lines but they're the kind of 3rd line you'd hope to have on a championship team.
Celebrini and Eklund might be able to upgrade their lines to 2nd line status by the end of the season.
It looks like they want some size to play with Celebrini and Toffoli, which rules out my idea of Eklund on that wing.
I like the idea of Zetterlund attached to Smith. He is the perfect F1 complement to Smith.
I would love to see Musty make team. His size and skill combination is so intriguing and I do think he has NHL caliber offensive skills that will translate in the right opportunity. He could slot in any of the top 3 lines as a size and skill complement to Celebrini and Toffoli or Granlund and Eklund. I think the best place for Musty is on Smith wing.
I would love to start the first 9 games with:
Kostin - Celebrini - Toffoli
Eklund - Granlund - Dellandrea
Musty - Smith - Zetterlund
Goodrow - Wennberg - Kunin
Sturm, Grundstrom
Maybe it’s because last year had no depth but scratching Sturm and Grundstrom feels wrong but there is just a lot of NHL caliber depth without even mentioning Graf, Bords, Gushchin, or Bystedt.
I see 3 top 9 spots up for grabs. I think the top 9 locks are:
_____ - Celebrini - Toffoli
Eklund - Granlund - _______
_______ - Smith - Zetterlund
It will be fascinating to see who shines in camp and takes those spots.