Juraj getting called out by GM in the media, Caufield calling the fans booing the US anthem disrespectful, the rebuild's in shambles
I know neither story probably leads to much discourse in the locker room, but lets pretends we're in a nightmare scenario like Vancouver was with a disgruntled locker room. Slaf's pissed at management and Caufield wants out of town; would you move Caufield+ for Michkov and Slaf+ for a high end 2C/low end 1C?
Then potentially have something along the lines of Demi-Suzuki-Michkov and Laine-McTavish-Dach as our top 6 next season.
A fair analysis of next year?
Demidov - Suzuki - Michkov will get burnt at will by opponents' best players. Michkov and Demidov are so raw, at this stage, in NHL experience...
Demidov is so bad, defensively, that Suzuki and Demidov will likely need to play more defensively to compensate. That line will want to be even more offensive to make up for the goals allowed and will likely start developing bad habits in the process.
It's not the ideal situation for then start of Demidov's career...
Laine - McTavish - Dach is just three big question marks, although I still like McTavish's potential, much prefer Dach's potential on the wing as he had with Caufield and Suzuki in the past.
When playing with Suzuki (as could be playing with McTavish), having a second center on the line allows the de facto C to play more offensively because Dach can always cover for him while back checking if he is caught too deep in the O-zone.
That just leads to more engaged offensive play, a greater will to create offense for the de facto C and better support of that pivot both in the )-zone and the D-zone.
Dach doesn't need to be the best shutdown C in the league either to elevate the offensive game of the de facto C. NHL difference between good and great is often just a question of confidence and the fraction of time gained by lack of hesitation because of it.
It's really hard to come up with a top-6 -- from those players -- where one line isn't a complete sieve, defensively.
Also, the second line would have a tendency to get burnt because there aren't any really elite skaters in the group and both McTavish and Laine tend to skate like the ice is molasses.
Michkov needs to be surrounded by two solid two-way players to insulate his poor defensive play and to let him be the play driver on that line. Despite the Russian factor, I would not play Demidov with Michkov and, despite the improved defensive play this season for McTavish (he was horrible in his first two seasons with not so good net goal differentials at even strength), I would prefer a two-way C like Horvat and a better two-way C than Dach to play with Michkov and help maximize his offensive output without being as overly exposed defensively.
Sad as it sounds, players like Laine and each would be better suited on a 3rd line with more of an offensive exploitation situation for these talented players, in a system where the top-two lines, despite their offensive talent, would not be overplayed and where the third line would have decent TOI to profit from facing lesser opposition.
A third line of Dach - Beck - Laine or Dach - Kapanen - Laine could be interesting. Kapanen still has a lot of upside and was once considered to have a ceiling higher than his brother who played in the NHL before him (or was that cousin?).
Maybe, one day, we could see a line of Bear - Horvat - Michkov, for example, or Bear - Bennett - Michkov, under your acquisition scenario, with another top-6 line of Demidov - Suzuki - Hage?
Demidov - Suzuki - Hage
Bear - Horvát - Michkov
Dach - Beck/Kapanen - Laine