It's baffling how certain posters diss one of our most productive forwards, whether it's measured on short- or long-term metrics. I genuinely wonder what Granlund's done to these guys. Slept with their girlfriend? Cut in front of them in a snack stall queue?
Or is it because he's been around for a decade and is now considered an old hat - despite not being even 30 yet?
Anyway, power play. A good power play is full of creative players and never gets static, but the ideal setup still features players who can step into five approximate roles:
#1: The playmaker. A great passer, who patrols the half boards, looking for opportunities to feed his teammates in open positions.
#2: The blueliner. Usually a d-man posted on the blueline. Good at both shooting and passing, creating both a shooting threat and acting as a secondary playmaker.
#3: The secondary shooter. Usually posted to the goalie's left, but can also be on the left, depending on the handednesses the unit employs. Doesn't need the best of slappers, but should at least have a wicked wrister.
#4: The shooter. The player on point, usually to the goalie's right. The main scoring threat of the unit - but ideally not the only one. If he's by and far the best weapon the unit has, the plays become far too predictable - easily readable passes to the shooter either from the blueline or across the defensive diamond, which become easy (or at least easier) to either block or cut off. A setup with an elite shooter and four scrubs *can* be effective, if the shooter is truly elite and becomes really hard to beat either way.
#5: The man in front. The player in the middle of the defensive diamond whose main job is to screen the goalie - but to treat him only as a body whose job is to stand near the crease and suffer the cross checks is a quite outdated view. Besides having a big body, you also want this guy to have a good wrister so they can take shots from passes fed to him, and have the nose for rebounds.
Like I said, sticking to a single static formation is never good - and the players' roles don't have to rigorously fall into this framework - but with guys able to execute them at least adequately, one can constantly keep the opposing PK unit guessing, because there are at least four highly dangerous scoring threats on the ice at all times.
Team Finland, with the players projected to make it, has everything it needs to create at least one such unit.
PP1:
#1: Granlund
#2: Heiskanen
#3: Rantanen
#4: Laine
#5: Barkov
All the players here have a plenty of experience from these slots in various power play formations, meaning there is no need to shave off the corners of a square peg and hope it fits in a round hole.
Now, as for PP2... it gets a bit trickier. Aho, Teräväinen and Puljujärvi should naturally be on it, but who goes where depends on the other selections. Aho should be #1 and Teräväinen #3. Pulju's abilities would make him an ideal #5, but what is a bit of a problem here is that we somewhat lack another #4 like Laine. If either Tolvanen or Kakko (who needs to turn it around) make it, I'd use one of them here. Also, #2 and #4 should ideally have opposing handednesses, since it creates far more opportunities for one-timers. So if Tolvanen, who is a lefty, makes it and is utilized as a shooter, I'd like a righty on the blueline - likely Jokiharju, or perhaps Vatanen if he's selected.
PP2 in the ideal world:
#1: Aho
#2: Jokiharju (or Vatanen)
#3: Teräväinen
#4: Tolvanen
#5: Puljujärvi
Because the handednesses of #2, #4 and #5 here are opposite of those in the first unit, the setup would likely be a mirror image of PP1, adding another layer of unpredictability from the opponent's POV.
But if players aren't picked solely based on their special teams tangibles, and we're left to utilize players likely to make it one way or another, then we may have to improvise a bit. The key is still finding at least a decent shot for #4. One option could be Kapanen, even though he's not particularly profilic at it. Since Kapanen is a righty, we also ideally want a lefty as a blueliner.
Therefore:
#1: Aho
#2: Lehtonen
#3: Teräväinen
#4: Kapanen
#5: Puljujärvi
One more option would be to take Pulju off from #5, since he's got a pretty damn hard shot as well (although he's not exactly as accurate as Laine). This means finding a good replacement for #5.
So:
#1: Aho
#2: Lehtonen
#3: Teräväinen
#4: Puljujärvi
#5: Hintz
To sum up, the roles in PP1 are pretty clear cut. One thing that should be clear regarding the second unit is that it should be built around Aho-Teräväinen, but everything from there becomes a bit more fluid depending on which players we perceive as likely to make it.
