ATD 2025 Line-Up Assassinations

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Post your roster for review here.

 

[Habsfan18]

Baltimore Clippers

Head Coach: Dick Irvin
Captain: Lester Patrick
Assistant Captain: Milt Schmidt
Assistant Captain: Patrice Bergeron

Frank Foyston - Milt Schmidt - Guy Lafleur
George Hay - Bill Cowley - Jarome Iginla
Tony Leswick - Patrice Bergeron - Dave Taylor
Dave Andreychuk - Joe Primeau - Tony Amonte
Sid Smith, Pat LaFontaine, Ron Ellis

Bill Gadsby - Shea Weber
Herb Gardiner - Lester Patrick
Lionel Hitchman - Phil Housley
Jean-Guy Talbot

Dominik Hasek
Hap Holmes


PP1:
Andreychuk - Cowley - Lafleur
Weber - Housley

PP2:
Foyston - Schmidt - Iginla
Gadsby - Patrick

PK1:
Bergeron - Leswick
Gardiner - Hitchman

PK2:
Schmidt - Taylor
Gadsby - Weber​

 

[Habsfan18]

I'd like to do a few assassinations this year, time permitting. No guarantees of course but it's an area of the draft that has been lacking the past few years.

 

[Leaf Lander]

Leafs

Coach: Queeneville
Captain:Crosby
Assistant: Keon
Assistant: Pronger

Marchand -Crosby-Mackinnon
Pulford-Keon-Armstrong
Roberts--Sundin- Nolan
Klukay-Gilmour-Graham
Nylander -Tavares

Pronger-Macinnis
Brewer- Stanley
Pratt- Parayko
Markov- Beck

Bower
 CUJO
PP1
Marchand -Crosby-Mackinnon
Pronger-Macinnis

PP2
Roberts--Sundin- Nolan
Pratt- Parayko

PK1
Pulford-Keon
Brewer -Stanley

 PK2
Klukay-Gilmour
Pratt- Parayko

 

[tabness]

coach

arbour

forwards

zetterberg • henri richard (A) • bure
shanahan • thornton • brett hull
tonelli • roenick (A) • larmer
prentice • lepine • odie cleghorn

defensemen

potvin (C) • tom johnson
mark howe • mccrimmon
coffey (A) • ted green
tinordi

coffey • potvin play together quite a bit as well
11/7 with tinordi in for cleghorn depending on situation

spares

litzenberger
bedard

bedzy can watch all the cool players use black tape

goalies

luongo
bobrovsky
vanbiesbrouck

powerplay

roenick • thornton • hull
coffey • potvin

shanahan • zetterberg • bure
howe • coffey

shorthanded

zetterberg • bure
johnson • green

roenick • larmer
howe • mccrimmon

potvin and coffey get some looks when a shorty is needed
lepine and prentice are available shorthanded as well

 

[Claude The Fraud]

Ottawa 67's

Coach: Pat Burns
Captain: Eddie Shore
Assistant: Boris Mikhailov
Assistant: Derian Hatcher

#27 Keith Tkachuk - #6 Frank Nighbor - #5 'Boom-Boom' Geoffrion
#15 Alexander Yakushev - #91 Sergei Fedorov - #13 Boris Mikhailov
#26 Jere Lehtinen - #10 Steven Stamkos - #42 Blake Wheeler
#16 Rusty Crawford - #29 Joel Otto - #9 Glenn Anderson
Spares: #19 Brad Richards, #21 Brent Sutter, #11 Brian Sutter

#3 Derian Hatcher - #2 Eddie Shore
#17 Jan Suchy - #7 Alexei Kasatonov
#33 Vladimir Lutchenko - #58 Kris Letang
Spares: #34 Ott Eller

#29 Ken Dryden
#1 George Hainsworth

PP1
#15 Alexander Yakushev - #91 Sergei Fedorov - #13 Boris Mikhailov
#17 Jan Suchy - #7 Alexei Kasatonov

PP 2
#27 Keith Tkachuk - #10 Steven Stamkos - #42 Blake Wheeler
#5 'Boom-Boom' Geoffrion - #2 Eddie Shore

PK 1
#6 Frank Nighbor - #26 Jere Lehtinen
#3 Derian Hatcher - #2 Eddie Shore

PK 2
#91 Sergei Fedorov - #16 Rusty Crawford
#33 Vladimir Lutchenko - #7 Alexei Kasatonov

 

[jigglysquishy]

Regina Capitals
Coach: Jon Cooper

Bobby Hull - Ron Francis - Dino Ciccarelli
Tommy Phillips - Evgeni Malkin - Cam Neely
Don Marshall - Frank Fredrickson - David Pastrnak
Zach Parise - Phil Goyette - Ace Bailey
Dolly Swift, Mikko Rantanen

Ivan Johnson - Pierre Pilote
JC Tremblay - Joe Hall
Pat Stapleton - Bill White
Nikolai Sologubov

Marty McSorley (D/RW)

Terry Sawchuk
Carey Price

PP1
Bobby Hull - Ron Francis - Dino Ciccarelli
Frank Fredrickson - Pierre Pilote

PP2
David Pastrnak - Evgeni Malkin - Cam Neely
Ivan Johnson - Tommy Phillips

PK1
Goyette-Bailey
Pat Stapleton - Bill White

PK2
Marshall - Francis
JC Tremblay - Joe Hall

Minutes (using the 7 minutes PP/7 minutes PK method)
Forwards

Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
B. Hull	16	5	0	21
R. Francis	15	4	2	21
D. Ciccarelli	15	4	0	19
E. Malkin	15	3	0	18
T. Phillips	15	3	0	18
C. Neely	15	3	0	18
F. Fredrickson	10	3	0	13
D. Marshall	9	0	3	12
D. Pastrnak	10	2	0	12
P. Goyette	6	0	4	10
A. Bailey	6	0	4	10
Z. Parise	6	0	0	6

B. Hull will occasionally take Pastrnak's spot on PP2 and Marshall's spot on line 3

Defence

Player	ES	PP	PK	Total
P. Pilote	18	4	0	22
I. Johnson	18	3	0	21
P. Stapleton	13	0	4	17
B. White	13	0	4	17
JC Tremblay	15	0	3	18
J. Hall	15	0	3	18

This is my first time putting minutes together too.

 

[Hockey Stathead]

Detroit Vipers

Head Coach: Lester Patrick

Syd Howe - Phil Esposito - Martin St. Louis
Roy Conacher - Ted Kennedy (C) - Theo Fleury
Johnny Gottselig (A) - Mike Modano - Vaclav Nedomansky
Blair Russel - Duke Keats - Tim Kerr

Rod Langway (A) - Bobby Orr
Cyclone Taylor - Jack Crawford
Gus Mortson - Brian Rafalski

Turk Broda
Jiri Holecek

Spares: Bill Mosienko (RW), Moose Vasko (D), Daniel Sedin (LW), Henrik Sedin (C)

Power Play 1:
Esposito
Fleury - St. Louis
Orr - Rafalski

Power Play 2:
Kerr
Conacher - Modano - Nedomansky
Taylor

Penalty Kill 1:
Gottselig - Kennedy
Langway - Orr

Penalty Kill 2:
Modano - Fleury
Mortson - Crawford​

 

[VanIslander]

Savannah Ghost Pirates
coach Pat Quinn

Joe Malone - Newsy Lalonde (C) - Didier Pitre
Paul Kariya - Norm Ullman - Teemu Selanne
Herbie Lewis - Marty Barry - Larry Aurie
Artemi Panarin - Darryl Sittler (A) - Frank Finnigan
Tommy Smith, Butch Goring, Bob Nevin

Slava Fetisov - Tim Horton
Hap Day (A) - Cale Makar
Doug Wilson - Ken Reardon
Bob Goldham

Patrick Roy
Tiny Thompson
​

PP1: Kariya - Lalonde - Selanne - Fetisov - Makar
PP2: Lewis - Malone - Pitre - Wilson - Horton
PK1: Ullman - Finnigan - Day - Horton - Roy*
PK2: Barry - Aurie - Fetisov - Reardon - Roy*
* your G is your #1 PKer

 

[Dr Pepper]

Dawson City Nuggets
Head Coach - Tommy Gorman

Cy Denneny - Wayne Gretzky - Jari Kurri
"Busher" Jackson - Max Bentley - Yvan Cournoyer
Esa Tikkanen - Igor Larionov - Ilya Kovalchuk
"Smokey" Harris - Michael Peca - Jack Darragh
x - Fleming Mackell, Eddie Oatman, Alexei Kovalev

Scott Stevens - Harry Cameron
Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Alexander Ragulin - Eric Desjardins
x - Leo Boivin

Clint Benedict
Alec Connell

PP1 - Denneny - Gretzky - Kurri
Jackson - Cameron

PP2 - Kovalchuk - Larionov - Kovalev
Keith - Seabrook

PK1 - Peca - Tikkanen
Stevens - Desjardins

PK2 - Larionov - Darragh
Ragulin - Boivin​

 

[rmartin65]

Quebec HC

Coach: Pete Green
Assistant Coach: Paul Maurice

Jamie Benn (A) - Howie Morenz - Andy Bathgate
Doug Bentley - Pavel Datsyuk - Babe Dye
Paul Thompson - Bob MacDougall - Shirley Davidson
Jimmy Gardner - Pud Glass - Eric Nesterenko
Dan Bain - Billy Gilmour

Sprague Cleghorn - Chris Chelios (C)
Weldy Young (A) - Guy Lapointe
Jim Schoenfeld - Jack Campbell
Quinn Hughes

Frank Brimsek
Paddy Moran


PP1: Thompson - Morenz - Bathgate - Cleghorn - Lapointe
PP2: Davidson - MacDougall - Dye - Campbell - Bentley

PK1: Glass - Nesterenko - Schoenfeld - Chelios
PK2: Datsyuk - Davidson - Young - Lapointe​

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Chicago Shamrocks


Coach: Tommy Ivan

Dickie Moore - Jean Beliveau (C) - Patrick Kane
Michel Goulet - Gilbert Perreault - Vladimir Martinec
Marty Pavelich - Neil Colville - Cecil Dillon
Ed Sandford - Ken Mosdell - Joe Pavelski

Jacques Laperriere - Earl Seibert (A)
Georges Boucher - Fern Flaman (A)
Ryan McDonagh -"Bullet" Joe Simpson

Jacques Plante
Percy LeSueur

Spare Fwds: Rick Nash, Bob Bourne
Spare Dmen: John Carlson, Lloyd Cook

PP1
Beliveau
Moore - Perreault - Kane
Boucher

PP2
Goulet - Pavelski - Martinec
Seibert - Simpson

PK1
Pavelich - Mosdell
Laperriere - Seibert
PLANTE

PK2
Colville - Dillon
McDonagh - Flaman
PLANTE

Extra PK F: Pavelski
Extra PK D: Boucher

​

Regular Season Estimated Minutes
Forwards

Players	ES	PP	PK	Total
D. Moore	14	4		18
J. Beliveau	16	5		21
P. Kane	13	5		18
M. Goulet	14	2		16
G. Perreault	13	4		17
V. Martinec	14	3		17
M. Pavelich	11		4	15
N. Colville	10		3	13
C. Dillon	12		3	15
E. Sandford	7			7
K. Mosdell	7		4	11
J. Pavelski	7	2		9
TOTAL	138	25	14	177

Defense

Players	ES	PP	PK	Total
J. Laperriere	17		4	21
E. Seibert	18	2	4	24
G. Boucher	17	4		21
F. Flaman	17		3	20
R. McDonagh	12		3	15
J. Simpson	11	3		14
TOTAL	92	9	14	115

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Hogsmeade Lunas

Barry Trotz
Wendy Marco (skating coach)

Ted Lindsay - Sid Abel (c) - Gordie Howe
Bert Olmstead - Nels Stewart - Helmuts Balderis
Gordon Roberts - Aleksander Barkov (a) - Claude Provost
Shane Doan - Ryan Getzlaf - Tom Wilson
Vic Stasiuk (LW/RW), Dick Irvin (C)

Serge Savard (a) - King Clancy
Ebbie Goodfellow - Jimmy Thomson
Ryan Suter - Art Duncan
Miro Heiskanen

Georges Vezina
Roy Worters


PP1
Nels Stewart
Gordie Howe - Sid Abel - Ted Lindsay
King Clancy

PP2
Bert Olmstead
Helmuts Balderis - Gordon Roberts - Ebbie Goodfellow
Art Duncan

PK1
Aleksander Barkov - Claude Provost
Ryan Suter - Serge Savard

PK2
Ryan Getzlaf - Tom Wilson
Ebbie Goodfellow - Jimmy Thomson

PK3
Bert Olmstead - Shane Doan​

Once I was able to put together the Production Line, I figured I'd try to build my team's identity around them, which meant physicality mixed with skill; a good fit for Barry Trotz, who is supported by a top-flight skating coach who has excelled with big skaters.

The first line obviously needs no justification.

The second line is built around Stewart, so I've got a cornerman and a puck carrier on his wings. Barry Trotz knows exactly how to deploy a unique line like this, because the archetype of 'physical triggerman + fast, finesse distributor + puck-winning glue guy' was what won him his Stanley Cup, with Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson in 2018.

Third line is a shutdown line that can actually score, with Barkov and Provost among the best at their position defensively while Roberts brings size and shooting along with responsible play.

Then my fourth line is all energy and guts. 28 years of combined captaincy in the NHL between Getzlaf and Doan, plus Wilson is penciled in as the next Capitals captain. All three are big men who rack up hits and defend capably. Getzlaf excelled as a matchup centre for Anaheim against the big boys out West for many years, and is overqualified as a 4C here, so I have no concerns about throwing this line out for a few shifts against top lines to establish the forecheck and set the tone physically. Sort of a Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck line on steroids, which was the heart and soul of the Islanders teams that Trotz squeezed every single drop out of a few years back.

Not as much to say about the defense, as each pairing feels pretty natural IMO. Savard-Clancy just feels like an obvious fit, plus I can utilize both of their abilities to play either side, depending on the matchup. Savard's size and steady two-way generalship complement the excitable and dynamic Clancy, who fills the Red Kelly role to support the Production Line. Goodfellow-Thomson is a similar idea. Less dynamic but maybe a bit safer. Suter-Duncan brings very strong skating for a bottom pairing. Nobody here who needs sheltering on either end of the rink.

Letting Nels Stewart clean up whatever mess the Production Line leaves around seems like a good formula on PP1. PP2 is set up slightly differently, as Olmstead will be more of a distributor from the side of the net than a crash-and-band rebounder. Goodfellow is utilizing his big shot from the half-wall, and will also take faceoffs, as he had strong offensive years at C.

PK1 feels obvious. PK2 might raise eyebrows with Getzlaf making an appearance, but he was a regular PKer for the duration of his prime in Anaheim, as well as being a regular PKer for Team Canada in most of international appearances in depth roles.

Vezina is a solid starter in this draft. Worters is a very good backup.

 

[Professor What]

Gallifrey TARDIS

Coach: Hap Day
Assistant: Roger Neilson

Vladimir Krutov - Joe Sakic (C)- Sergei Makarov
Frank Mahovlich - Adam Oates - Rod Gilbert
Bob Gainey (A)- Rod Brind'amour - Ed Westfall
Sergei Kapustin - Cooney Weiland - Zigmund Palffy
Spares: Peter Bondra, Doug Jarvis

Red Kelly - Valeri Vasiliev (A)
Lionel Conacher - Vladimir Konstantinov
Sergei Gonchar - Dan Boyle
Spare: Adam Fox

Bill Durnan
Billy Smith

Power Play 1:
Mahovlich
Krutov-Sakic-Makarov
Kelly

Power Play 2:
Brind'amour
Pallfy-Oates-Gilbert
Gonchar

Penalty Kill 1:
Brind'amour-Gainey
Conacher-Vasiliev

Penalty Kill2:
Weiland-Westfall
Konstantinov-Boyle

 

[Professor What]

I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I plan to try to do some assassinations this year, for whatever it's worth.

 

[Professor What]

Baltimore Clippers

Head Coach: Dick Irvin
Captain: Lester Patrick
Assistant Captain: Milt Schmidt
Assistant Captain: Patrice Bergeron

Frank Foyston - Milt Schmidt - Guy Lafleur
George Hay - Bill Cowley - Jarome Iginla
Tony Leswick - Patrice Bergeron - Dave Taylor
Dave Andreychuk - Joe Primeau - Tony Amonte
Sid Smith, Pat LaFontaine, Ron Ellis

Bill Gadsby - Shea Weber
Herb Gardiner - Lester Patrick
Lionel Hitchman - Phil Housley
Jean-Guy Talbot

Dominik Hasek
Hap Holmes


PP1:
Andreychuk - Cowley - Lafleur
Weber - Housley

PP2:
Foyston - Schmidt - Iginla
Gadsby - Patrick

PK1:
Bergeron - Leswick
Gardiner - Hitchman

PK2:
Schmidt - Taylor
Gadsby - Weber​

Alright, first attempt at an assassination this year!

First of all, I think you're right that you have to hand in your Habs fan card. WAY too many Boston centers. Lol. On a more serious note, I like your center corps. It's not something that's absolutely dazzling on the surface, but where are the weaknesses? There's not really a do it all guy in the group, but they're all excellently positioned to do what I think would be their proper roles. I really like what you did there.

On the wings, I like the right side of your lineup a lot better than the left side. That said, I like Leswick in that checking role (we actually discussed him at one point), and Andreychuk is an excellent power play specialist. He's one of those guys that I find overrated overall, but in a fourth line role, with his main contribution being on the man advantage, I think he's a great option. As for the top two lines though, I question whether you really have a #1 left wing. I also question the use of Foyston at the position. He was primarily a center that played some right wing, wasn't he? Do we have a record of him playing the left side? (Happy to be proven wrong, btw. Just going on what I've seen.)

That said, There's no question that you have a #1 RW, and your #2 guy is more than solid too. Actually, that's an understatement. Iginla would make a good budget #1, so in a #2 slot, he's great. And Lafleur is a top four guy at the position in my mind. So, while I question what you have on the left side, I think you made up for it on the right.

As far as your defense is concerned, my biggest gripe is a personal bias. I'm not a big proponent of Housley. Otherwise, I think you've got a solid group. I'm rather fond of Gadsby, for example. It may be partly an ATD soft spot since he was the first D I ever drafted, but I think he's a really adaptable guy. I think he demonstrated that he could excel in both an offensive role and a shut down role. I'm not sure he's the type of guy that you're going to get both out of at once (but, how many of them are there?), but depending on the situation, I think he can give you whatever you want him to focus on. I really like the pairing with Weber too. I feel like you've got two flexible guys, and that pair can do pretty much anything. They're not going to be top guys in the league on the top pair, but again, where's the weakness? I think it's well built. Beyond that, I think you're solid on the blue line, other than the Housley thing, which again, may just be my bias.

In net, wow. Holmes is a solid back up, but honestly, who cares? You've got the guy in the #1 slot that I consider the best to ever do it, and the recent project agreed. I don't think anyone, regardless of their personal rankings, would have expected him to go lower than #2 in that project anyway. I've long been of the opinion that I'd take Hasek in the regular season and Roy in the postseason, but you're doing great with either one of them, no matter the time of year.

I love the #1 special teams units, especially the power play. That looks lethal. I have the same question about Foyston on the second unit as I have about him in even strength situations though. Probably doesn't matter as much on the PP, but he just looks out of position to me. The other thing I'd say is that I'd probably play Amonte rather than Taylor on the second PK. Amonte had better than 3% of his points on the kill, whereas Taylor had less than 1%.

Anyway, I definitely don't consider myself to be an expert at these things, but those are the thoughts that come to my mind when I look at your roster. I hope something in there is useful to you.

 

[Habsfan18]

Alright, first attempt at an assassination this year!

First of all, I think you're right that you have to hand in your Habs fan card. WAY too many Boston centers. Lol. On a more serious note, I like your center corps. It's not something that's absolutely dazzling on the surface, but where are the weaknesses? There's not really a do it all guy in the group, but they're all excellently positioned to do what I think would be their proper roles. I really like what you did there.

On the wings, I like the right side of your lineup a lot better than the left side. That said, I like Leswick in that checking role (we actually discussed him at one point), and Andreychuk is an excellent power play specialist. He's one of those guys that I find overrated overall, but in a fourth line role, with his main contribution being on the man advantage, I think he's a great option. As for the top two lines though, I question whether you really have a #1 left wing. I also question the use of Foyston at the position. He was primarily a center that played some right wing, wasn't he? Do we have a record of him playing the left side? (Happy to be proven wrong, btw. Just going on what I've seen.)

That said, There's no question that you have a #1 RW, and your #2 guy is more than solid too. Actually, that's an understatement. Iginla would make a good budget #1, so in a #2 slot, he's great. And Lafleur is a top four guy at the position in my mind. So, while I question what you have on the left side, I think you made up for it on the right.

As far as your defense is concerned, my biggest gripe is a personal bias. I'm not a big proponent of Housley. Otherwise, I think you've got a solid group. I'm rather fond of Gadsby, for example. It may be partly an ATD soft spot since he was the first D I ever drafted, but I think he's a really adaptable guy. I think he demonstrated that he could excel in both an offensive role and a shut down role. I'm not sure he's the type of guy that you're going to get both out of at once (but, how many of them are there?), but depending on the situation, I think he can give you whatever you want him to focus on. I really like the pairing with Weber too. I feel like you've got two flexible guys, and that pair can do pretty much anything. They're not going to be top guys in the league on the top pair, but again, where's the weakness? I think it's well built. Beyond that, I think you're solid on the blue line, other than the Housley thing, which again, may just be my bias.

In net, wow. Holmes is a solid back up, but honestly, who cares? You've got the guy in the #1 slot that I consider the best to ever do it, and the recent project agreed. I don't think anyone, regardless of their personal rankings, would have expected him to go lower than #2 in that project anyway. I've long been of the opinion that I'd take Hasek in the regular season and Roy in the postseason, but you're doing great with either one of them, no matter the time of year.

I love the #1 special teams units, especially the power play. That looks lethal. I have the same question about Foyston on the second unit as I have about him in even strength situations though. Probably doesn't matter as much on the PP, but he just looks out of position to me. The other thing I'd say is that I'd probably play Amonte rather than Taylor on the second PK. Amonte had better than 3% of his points on the kill, whereas Taylor had less than 1%.

Anyway, I definitely don't consider myself to be an expert at these things, but those are the thoughts that come to my mind when I look at your roster. I hope something in there is useful to you.

I appreciate the review. I'll try my best to return the favour in the coming days, time permitting.

As for Foyston, he played rover/center/wing. He's a guy I've done a lot of research on and his versatility was a big reason why I chose him. He has played at LW on many ATD teams as well.

As for Housley, he's definitely the type of player I'd typically stay away from but I thought the value was too good to pass up there considering I needed another PP weapon on the backend, and he's paired with someone I consider an ideal partner in Lionel Hitchman.

 

[VanIslander]

I've been groupthink on Housley.

He certainly is a starter on an all-time draft team. 6th? Limited to 8 to 12 minutes? He could do damage. He just isn't physical on the backcheck. Coffey neither. But half the time Coffey pokechecks with speed.

 

[Professor What]

Leafs

Coach: Queeneville
Captain:Crosby
Assistant: Keon
Assistant: Pronger

Marchand -Crosby-Mackinnon
Pulford-Keon-Armstrong
Roberts--Sundin- Nolan
Klukay-Gilmour-Graham
Nylander -Tavares

Pronger-Macinnis
Brewer- Stanley
Pratt- Parayko
Markov- Beck

Bower
 CUJO
PP1
Marchand -Crosby-Mackinnon
Pronger-Macinnis

PP2
Roberts--Sundin- Nolan
Pratt- Parayko
PK1
Pulford-Keon-Armstrong
Brewer -Stanley

 PK2
Klukay-Gilmour-Graham
Pratt- Parayko

Okay, let's keep this going.

First, I'll start with what I like. Your first defensive pairing? Excellent. We know it works. This is a case where, even had these guys never played together, we'd be looking at it as a stylistic fit and saying it's great. But we have better than that in this case. We know that those guys specifically work together well. You've got one of the best shutdown/physical defenders in the game in Pronger, and an offensive dynamo in MacInnis. This has to be one of the pairings I like the best just because we've seen what it can do. You're going to take a backseat to no one on your first pairing.

Your second line needs no explanation either. I find it a bit wanting on pure skill for a second line, but the fact that those guys played together for a decade helps a lot. I feel like you've put them in an environment playing together that they put up exactly what we know them for. Chemistry is something that we're always trying to pump in this exercise, but most of the time, we're guessing. Everybody thought Gretzky-Hull was going to be a great fit too, and that didn't really pan out. I don't think that anybody will be able to argue that your second line won't pan out.

Your second defensive pairing makes a good shutdown pair. Again, their history as teammates helps the look too. I don't think that this is quite as stellar as your first pair, but all in all, I think you've got a second unit that works.

This is probably also a good time to have Bower as your starting goalie. I feel like coming off of the goalies project, his stock is on the rise, largely at the expense of Turk Broda. I have to say that I feel that Bower is still a lower end starter in this league, but if any time was the time to try to put him forward, this is it.

Now, let's get to other matters. I hate to say it, but I'm not a fan of your first line. There are two main things that make me say this. First, I'm not a fan of taking centers and playing them on the wing. I know it's always been a big thing with team Canada, but I'm just not a fan of it. I love MacKinnon. I mean, how can you not? But I'd much more love seeing him play his natural position. I will say that I'm more okay with his position on the power play. I feel like things are a lot more fluid there, and you basically want to throw as much pressure at the opponent as you can. I think MacKinnon is good there. And then there's Crosby...

I consider Crosby to be the fourth greatest center of all time, and I know that there are plenty of people that have him ahead of Beliveau, even if I don't. All-time talent, as in top 10 player of all time, and I know that there are those who pump for him in fifth. It's not an opinion I agree with, but it's not insane. But I look at that first line, and I know who should have been there. You could have had Wayne freaking Gretzky centering your first line. Yes, I know what you said you were going for, and I'll grant you that Crosby is more balanced. But the overall game that you're getting from Crosby can't touch the overall game that Gretzky offers. I'll grant you that Gretzky doesn't offer defense in the traditional sense, but when he's keeping the puck in the opponent's zone, that's another way of keeping the other team from scoring. I'm sorry, but I just don't like that pick in the least. It's too late for this year, but if you ever want to do something like that again, please make a trade. You'll get the guy you want and get far better value for the pick.

I'm also not a fan of the Parayko pick on the surface. I'd like to know more of what you were thinking there. I feel like there were plenty of better defensemen you could have gotten there for whatever role you wanted them to play. It's a baffling pick to me at all, but especially since he's in your starting lineup.

Okay, I don't know how to begin grading your penalty kill. You've got five skaters listed, so I don't know who's the odd man out. If you want to edit that and get some feedback, I'll be glad to see if I have any observations. I will say that I think that whichever wing that gets left out, your first unit looks good. Solid defensive bunch of guys there. But beyond that, I don't really have a lot to say, since I don't know how your PK is actually going to look.

I'm not going to lie, I was hesitant to make this assassination, because I knew it was going to be more negative than I would have liked. I just hope that you understand that I'm trying to offer constructive criticism. You did a couple of things that I really like, and I tried to draw attention to them. But I'm just not a fan of the overall product. That said, I want to make it known that I appreciate your dedication to the ATD. Have you been in every one of them? I know you were in the first one. Looking forward to playing with you again.

 

[tabness]

Okay, let's keep this going.

First, I'll start with what I like. Your first defensive pairing? Excellent. We know it works. This is a case where, even had these guys never played together, we'd be looking at it as a stylistic fit and saying it's great. But we have better than that in this case. We know that those guys specifically work together well. You've got one of the best shutdown/physical defenders in the game in Pronger, and an offensive dynamo in MacInnis. This has to be one of the pairings I like the best just because we've seen what it can do. You're going to take a backseat to no one on your first pairing.

Pronger and MacInnis didn't actually play together much at all though.

Not that I don't love the pairing, I kinda wanted to play them both together when I drafted both some while back but I had to split them because of depth reasons, so super nice to see @Leaf Lander put them together

 

[Leaf Lander]

Professor What

Being from NS and ran into sid twice though a long time ago while out cycling. Cheering for the kid for a long time while also putting together a great ns line. If I could pick undrafted local boy Doug Sulliam I would lol.

I like Paryako as he can clear the front of the net very well. Also my role has always been about finding the next atder as many of the greats were drafted by me first .

Fixed my pk . Must had done that after many night shifts.

Yes I looked for chemistry and I try to put players together who knew each other for fun and the love of our great game.

Thanks for feed back!!

 

[Professor What]

coach

arbour

forwards

zetterberg • henri richard (A) • bure
shanahan • thornton • brett hull
tonelli • roenick (A) • larmer
prentice • lepine • odie cleghorn

defensemen

potvin (C) • tom johnson
mark howe • mccrimmon
coffey (A) • ted green
tinordi

coffey • potvin play together quite a bit as well
11/7 with tinordi in for cleghorn depending on situation

spares

litzenberger
bedard

bedzy can watch all the cool players use black tape

goalies

luongo
bobrovsky
vanbiesbrouck

powerplay

roenick • thornton • hull
coffey • potvin

shanahan • zetterberg • bure
howe • coffey

shorthanded

zetterberg • bure
johnson • green

roenick • larmer
howe • mccrimmon

potvin and coffey get some looks when a shorty is needed
lepine and prentice are available shorthanded as well

Let's keep it rolling. I want to try to do a few of these if I can.

So, first of all, I'd do something different with the top two lines. I fully understand having Richard over Thornton as your first line center. I'm not sure I understand the order that your wingers are in though. I'm not saying that Zetterberg and Bure are bad by any stretch, but I do prefer Shanahan and Hull to them. I'd at least flip the wings for the top two lines. If you feel strongly about your line combinations, I'd reverse the first and second lines. I think Hull-Bure is a bit closer than Shanahan-Zetterberg. I think that Z is passable at LW since he played it for a few years, but he doesn't have the pedigree at the position that Shanahan does. I don't think any of that is game-breaking by any chance, but that's just my two cents. And you might not even want to give me a penny for my thoughts. Lol. Anyway, I think your third and fourth lines are solid.

The thing that really puzzles me though is that you've got Coffey on your third pairing. I do have one thought about why he might be there, and you can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but with Potvin, Howe, and Coffey all on different pairs, are you planning to rotate them a bit more evenly? I could see something like that before I could see giving Coffey typical third pairing minutes. I know he's got his critics, but I also think he's a legit #1 defenseman in this format. You've got 2 #1 defenders on this team, which is rather impressive. I don't have any real criticism for your defensive corps, I'm just curious about how they're going to be deployed, especially since you make the note that you're planning to play Potvin and Coffey together sometimes. Then, I just wonder if someone playing their off side is going to be a problem. I do know you've played Coffey on the right before, but he's usually a left side guy. If you're going to do that, I'd probably recommend Potvin on the right side, since he did apparently play there some early on. (Which may be what you're planning on based on the first power play unit.) But yeah, I like the list of names, but I'm curious to see how it all comes together.

As far as your spares (and this isn't something I'd normally touch on, but with your plan to play some 7D, I think it might matter), I really don't get the Bedard pick. I'm going to recommend that you use the add/drop option to get another defenseman. With Litzenberger, you've got a flexible forward that you can sub in somewhere, but if you lose a D-man, your option to play 7D is over. Bedard looks promising, I'll grant you, but in his second season, I don't like the pick at all right now. This isn't about what he's going to do in the future that will prove you right or wrong, this is all about what he's done up to this point. And we watch players rise up the draft list as their careers go on. This is a history exercise bot a prognostication exercise. Anyway, all that to say, I'd drop Bedard and add another defenseman so that you can still play 11-7 if you want to in the case of an injury.

I am a bit concerned about your goaltending. Luongo was great, yes, but he's a low-end starter in this game in a league this size. Then, I feel like you've got two low-end backups behind him. I know Bobrovsky has the the Vezina's but he's one of those feast or famine guys in my opinion. If you're getting top notch Bobrovsky, I love what you're getting. If you're not, I really don't love it. There's nothing about your goaltending that wows me, so I feel like you're going to need a lot of goals. Now, that's where I feel good about you having two multi-time 60-goal scorers on the roster. I feel like you're going to have to win a lot of shootouts, and Hull and Bure are going to be crucial to that.

On your special teams, I pretty well understand what you're doing. I do have one question though: did you intend to have Coffey on both powerplay units? I understand wanting him out there as much as possible on the man advantage, but that could get him a little winded, couldn't it?

Anyway, I think your team is one of those that I want to know more about. There are some interesting ideas, but I'm curious about the execution. Also, I'd love to see some more people doing some of these. I'm enjoying doing them, and I find it a good thought exercise, but I also don't feel like I'm the best one to be doing them alone.

 

[Johnny Engine]

I kinda love the Zetterberg - Richard - Bure line - a head-to-head battle-winning line with a one man counterattack threat along with them.

As a non participant who I assume will be invited to vote, I don't particularly care with line is listed first, but I do like that combination a lot.