Same quandary as Philp. Either could be on the NHL roster but reality is playing big minutes and important situational play trumps press box deployment and erratic maybe ice-time. Knoblauch is locked into this roster and needs to get them going early coming off a 107 game season and a schwack of personnel changes.
Lavoie is 24 and has had 3 full season in the AHL, the last two of pretty heavy top line/PP deployment and I believe last year he even took on some PK deployment. I’m not sure how much more development there is left for him at that level at his age. At some point you need to take him out of the kiddie pool and throw him in the deep end to see if he swims.
In my opinion the best time to do that would be the beginning of the season where the competition is still ramping up. Get him some looks in the top 6 and see how he handles himself. Doesn’t need to be a long term trial, a few weeks and you’ll have a better idea on him. Doing so can also help you keep 5v5 minutes down for other guys early in the season.
Skinner - MCD - Hyman
Lavoie - Drai - Arvidsson
RNH - Henrique - Podkolzin
Janmark - Ryan - Brown
Perry
This is what I’d like to see. Each of your middle 6 lines has two guys who are bonifide top 6 players along with a younger guy who has some scoring potential. You have some pretty good scoring depth spread over 3 lines and your 4th line features a trio of guys with strong defensive abilities and a pair of guys who have shown good chemistry.