Yeah 4/6 best point producers from the NHL in our team. Not bad.
With a decent chance to make that 5/8.
As a related note...
It's a shame that Koivu would be a pretty good replicate for Jordan Staal, but there's no way in hell I'd separate Koivu from Granny.
Suomela is probably the one for #2 center indeed in the case of declines. I like it.
Time to re-visit this comment since it's been nagging at the back of my head for a while. When I first saw it, I was about to note that this season, Koivu and Granny have not been as joined to the hip as they've been before. In fact, Granlund has scored most his points this season playing alongside Eric Staal, IIRC.
Additionally, I have great faith in Suomela. So a top-six of Aho-Koivu-Teräväinen and Granlund-Suomela-Rantanen wouldn't give me any kind of jitters at all. The reason I didn't state this earlier is I felt it'd then leave us a gaping hole at 3C. Kemppainen has apparently declined, as has Koskiranta. Niemi will make a fine 4C, but no way I want someone like Sandell or Sallinen leading our third unit.
I'm kinda ashamed to admit it, but only some moments ago did I recall we have one more option I'd be perfectly comfortable with. Jani Lajunen. When I didn't see him in the camp roster, I kinda assumed he must have declined too... but nope, far more likely reason for his absence is that he's still in the NLA finals with Lugano. The series is tied 3-3, and Game 7 is tomorrow.
So, assuming we get Koivu but Kapanen gets sent to the Marlies, our ideal forward lineup in that case could be something like...
Aho - Koivu - Teräväinen
Granlund - Suomela - Rantanen
Rajala - Lajunen - Jormakka (any two of Savinainen/Manninen/Palola/Pesonen/Kiiskinen/Peltola/Junttila could also be the wings here)
Enlund - Niemi - Anttila
While I'd still kinda like to see that TT-Aho-Rantanen line, I do feel that this setup would solve the tricky question about finding a good complementary piece for the Koivu-MiG duo which would be together then. Out of our current camp roster, no name feels like a natural fit.
This realization also eases the pressure in case Koivu declines. With Lajunen as 3C, we could have TT-Aho-Rantanen as the first line, and X-Suomela-Granlund as the second - with X being whoever impresses the most over the weekend.