Line Combos: Your 2024-25 Opening Night Lineup

[Byrddog]

Who the hell thinks we'll be out of playoff contention in December

I would not be too snickers. A Vasy injury and a Kuch injury would pretty much put us in that position.

 

[Renopucker]

Right now it seems like we're banking on Atkinson to contribute on the top 6 unless somehow another move can be made

I, along with several others, think Atkinson is going to impress this season. He has multiple talents around him here, and I think that's going to make a world of difference.

 

[Night Shift]

I, along with several others, think Atkinson is going to impress this season. He has multiple talents around him here, and I think that's going to make a world of difference.

It would not surprise me at all if he does, we signed him with that idea.

 

[DFC]

I would not be too snickers. A Vasy injury and a Kuch injury would pretty much put us in that position.

There might be two or three teams in the league who could withstand that level of injuries though.

 

[Sky04]

I would not be too snickers. A Vasy injury and a Kuch injury would pretty much put us in that position.

So you're going to fault JBB if the 2 highest paid players on the team get injured?

What next , Edmonton isn't a cup contender without McDavid and Draisaitl? Av's without Mackinnon and Makar? Who woulda thought.

 

[Byrddog]

So you're going to fault JBB if the 2 highest paid players on the team get injured?

What next , Edmonton isn't a cup contender without McDavid and Draisaitl? Av's without Mackinnon and Makar? Who woulda thought.

The post I responded to had no mention of JBB. What I responded to was the inference that making the playoffs as a chip shot.

I do think the team is leaps better than last years roster. But by no means is this a dominant roster. You know like one that cruises into the post season without Kuch or Stamkos. The roster is more vulnerable still because of depth. The bottom 6 is still a question mark just to stabilize the bottom 6 much less imagine who would step up when injuries take place.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Yeah overall we’re hopefully a WC team. The Atlantic is stacked.

 

[Renopucker]

The post I responded to had no mention of JBB. What I responded to was the inference that making the playoffs as a chip shot.

I do think the team is leaps better than last years roster. But by no means is this a dominant roster. You know like one that cruises into the post season without Kuch or Stamkos. The roster is more vulnerable still because of depth. The bottom 6 is still a question mark just to stabilize the bottom 6 much less imagine who would step up when injuries take place.

I think that's a fair assessment and one that most of this board agrees with.

 

[Outl4w]

Gledenning "needs to go" lol

GLendenning is a solid 4th line center and PK forward. If Essymont and Chaffee can take a step forward we will have a sob line to play against .

I’m with S91.

I like Chaffee and Eyssimont. Just even incremental growth in their games, the the bottom six is in better shape. We disagree on Perbix. His problem, in particular against the panthers was too much ice time. Need to keep him around 14-15 TOI. Dude was +8 on a hot mess defense.

Willing to give Atkinson a shot. But Sheary and Glendening need to go. Understand the the forum's ‘displeasure’ with Sheary. All valid. But Glendening struck me as useless, at any price.

Need younger and more productivity. As stated above Chaffee and Essyimont are a good start. The little I saw of Geekie in 3v3, he’s not ready.

My secret crush ( no pun intended ) Actually got 2, Groshev and Huutahnen.

I would not be too snickers. A Vasy injury and a Kuch injury would pretty much put us in that position.

Is Vasi doesnt make a huge rebound from his play since the Toronto series and Kucherov decides he can't carry multiple forward lines up full of scrubs; then the Lightning maybe on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

 

[OffBy1]

The way we've traded away futures, this team needs to do more than just make the playoffs. If we don't make a cup final appearance in the next two seasons, it's time replace JBB, cause all this is supposed to be based on our window still being open, and that doesn't mean first or second round exits.

 

[Felonious Python]

The way we've traded away futures, this team needs to do more than just make the playoffs. If we don't make a cup final appearance in the next two seasons, it's time replace JBB, cause all this is supposed to be based on our window still being open, and that doesn't mean first or second round exits.

Who would we replace JBB with? Everyone else is basically a loser or unproven.

 

[Outl4w]

Who would we replace JBB with? Everyone else is basically a loser or unproven.

Tanner Jeannot he clearly knows how to win a trade and maximize his value.

 

[TampaIceman]

The way we've traded away futures, this team needs to do more than just make the playoffs. If we don't make a cup final appearance in the next two seasons, it's time replace JBB, cause all this is supposed to be based on our window still being open, and that doesn't mean first or second round exits.

That would be 4 Final appearances in 7 seasons, including at least two Stanley Cups. You are basically saying he has to have one of the greatest GM runs in the NHL salary cap era or he should be fired.

 

[Rschmitz]

Call me a foolish optimist but I like the teams chances of winning the division and think we potentially win the conference.

I'm mostly just looking forward to getting back to having a defense that isn't a sieve in front of a healthy Vasy, right out of the gate. What made us a contender and won us cups wasn't our offense, it was our defense.

I'm also looking forward to seeing how Guentzel gels, Pittsburgh fans make it sound like his cerebral game is a perfect fit playing with Kucherov, but it's left up to be seen how the lines shake out. I think there will be a healthy amount of competition on our top 3 lines, no clue how that will ultimately look.

Where I don't see any competition is our bottom line

Girgensons-Glendening-Chaffee

Chaffee is a bit of a wild card sure but I absolutely loved what he brought last year. His advanced stats back up what I seen as well, his corsi was really high despite how he was deployed in mostly defensive situations, he tilted the ice. If he replicates that, this line will be a bitch to play against, even if they don't score a ton.

I also don't see any competition in our D pairings

Hedman-Raddysh
McDonagh-Cernak
Moser-Perbix
Lilleberg

This is a formidable group, and I think Perbix will look much more like an NHL quality defender not having to babysit CDH.

Finally, the toughest role to replace will be the Stamkos spot on the PP. I think the obvious choice is that Guentzel takes his spot, but I'm going to go ahead and put it out there. I'm making no secret that I think Atkinson wins a scoring line spot, I think his righthanded snipe wins him Stammers old position as well. I think he'll find a second wind here and will be the biggest good surprise of the year.

My final calculas is we go from 291 goals last year to 300, led by Guentzel-Point-Kucherov all having 40+ goals

I think our PP and PK ranks flip flop. Defensively we go from 268 goals allowed to 230. I know this seems like a bit of a stretch, but it is about where we were when McDonagh left. I feel like we are now back to having a top 5 defense core and a healthy Vasy. I like our defense even more than when we won the cup. All told that is a +70 goal differential which would have led the league last season.

 

[OffBy1]

That would be 4 Final appearances in 7 seasons, including at least two Stanley Cups. You are basically saying he has to have one of the greatest GM runs in the NHL salary cap era or he should be fired.

Yes, but you simplify it quite a bit. He augmented Yzerman's core team for the two cups, so it's not like he built it from scratch. He's continued to trade away picks and prospects (which we're already short on) afterward for additional cup runs with what's left of the core and we've gotten two first round exits the last two years, while the farm gets thinner.

Look at how he handled Stamkos. I didn't think we had a chance at winning the cup last year and said we should have trade him at the deadline for a much needed top six prospect or at least a high pick - both of which we need. What did we get for keeping him? A first round exit and nothing else as Stamkos left in free agency.

Not to mention the worst trade in franchise history (Jeannot), trading away McDonagh and giving much of that cap space to Cirelli, Serge and Cernak not one of which has lived up to their 8 year contracts, then paying more picks to trade back for McDonagh who's now 35, giving Sheary a three year deal?

His return for Sergachev looks surprisingly good on paper, but we'll have to see how Geekie and Moser work out for us. That's damage control, as we could no longer afford Sergachev's overpriced contract. Who on the team will take over the #1 spot after Hedman's unable in possibly the next 2-3 years?

To me we lack the players to contend for the cup and our prospect pool is depleted. All that said, if we make it to a final, then he's meeting his objective and we at least have something to show for everything we've paid. I'm just skeptical of it happening given how the Panthers went up 3-0 on us last year.

 

[OffBy1]

Who would we replace JBB with? Everyone else is basically a loser or unproven.

I don't know, but if JBB fails to build a cup contender after everything he's leveraged for that purpose, he'll have proven he's not the one to build us a new contender.

 

[Byrddog]

Yes, but you simplify it quite a bit. He augmented Yzerman's core team for the two cups, so it's not like he built it from scratch. He's continued to trade away picks and prospects (which we're already short on) afterward for additional cup runs with what's left of the core and we've gotten two first round exits the last two years, while the farm gets thinner.

Look at how he handled Stamkos. I didn't think we had a chance at winning the cup last year and said we should have trade him at the deadline for a much needed top six prospect or at least a high pick - both of which we need. What did we get for keeping him? A first round exit and nothing else as Stamkos left in free agency.

Not to mention the worst trade in franchise history (Jeannot), trading away McDonagh and giving much of that cap space to Cirelli, Serge and Cernak not one of which has lived up to their 8 year contracts, then paying more picks to trade back for McDonagh who's now 35, giving Sheary a three year deal?

His return for Sergachev looks surprisingly good on paper, but we'll have to see how Geekie and Moser work out for us. That's damage control, as we could no longer afford Sergachev's overpriced contract. Who on the team will take over the #1 spot after Hedman's unable in possibly the next 2-3 years?

To me we lack the players to contend for the cup and our prospect pool is depleted. All that said, if we make it to a final, then he's meeting his objective and we at least have something to show for everything we've paid. I'm just skeptical of it happening given how the Panthers went up 3-0 on us last year.

What you point out is spot on, Yzerman built this core and left befor they matured. The moves that JBB has made have set the direction for the next decade. The Jeanott trade alone would be enough to get GM’s fired. While not every draft pick would work out you just can’t put a package like that together for a player that immediately fails. This is not just a GM failure done scout made that recommendation. Some quickly point out the cups and finals which were great but JBB did not have much to do with that run. Each off-season players that were critical to that run have left with no ability of replacement . Now in the cap league this has been the path every team has went down a few years of success then rebuild, the difference JBB traded away futures limiting and extending the return . Picks can be used to upgrade the young talent. Any team should be able to develop bottom 6 players without trading for them focusing on adding to the top 6. No team can maintain drafting the top 6 just too many things can go wrong.

 

[TampaIceman]

JBB was Yzerman’s right hand man so I don’t understand this perception that he inherited the core when he was instrumental in building it.
Like most successful GM’s he got lucky on some trades working out perfectly to get back to back cups and others like Jeanette were duds.
He is aggressive and wiling to take chances and do unconventional or unpopular things so sometimes that puts him in the hot seat but I prefer that to a GM that sits on his hands and hopes for the best.

 

[Felonious Python]

What you point out is spot on, Yzerman built this core and left befor they matured. The moves that JBB has made have set the direction for the next decade. The Jeanott trade alone would be enough to get GM’s fired. While not every draft pick would work out you just can’t put a package like that together for a player that immediately fails. This is not just a GM failure done scout made that recommendation. Some quickly point out the cups and finals which were great but JBB did not have much to do with that run. Each off-season players that were critical to that run have left with no ability of replacement . Now in the cap league this has been the path every team has went down a few years of success then rebuild, the difference JBB traded away futures limiting and extending the return . Picks can be used to upgrade the young talent. Any team should be able to develop bottom 6 players without trading for them focusing on adding to the top 6. No team can maintain drafting the top 6 just too many things can go wrong.

I don't think many owners care about 3rd, 4th, or 5th round picks.

 

[Rschmitz]

JBB was Yzerman’s right hand man so I don’t understand this perception that he inherited the core when he was instrumental in building it.
Like most successful GM’s he got lucky on some trades working out perfectly to get back to back cups and others like Jeanette were duds.
He is aggressive and wiling to take chances and do unconventional or unpopular things so sometimes that puts him in the hot seat but I prefer that to a GM that sits on his hands and hopes for the best.

I somewhat agree and somewhat disagree. I LOVE that JBB is willing to make tough trades and like you said, not sit on his hands. Some fans see it as a bad thing and that players will not like a guy like that, but I think more players would actually prefer to be on a team that doesn't want baggage. He was credited with finding some of the key players who helped us win Cups, he certainly gets credit for helping to build the team.

Where he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt in my mind is the Jeannot trade. Not intending to beat the horse into a pulp, but when you make a trade where you dump a massive amount of assets for an unknown when you have very little left in the tank, you have to be 100% certain it's going to work out. For a known quantity you can get away with it, but you don't pay retail price for guys with massive question marks.

This gets me into the second part, if he gets credit for his wins he also gets credit for his losses as well. Cutting bait on McDonagh, even if he's rectified that mistake, is a big L. He has also decided to make a massive change this offseason with swapping out Stamkos with Guentzel and trading Sergachev.

If he's going to be given credit as being a good GM, he can't just make moves, he has to make winning moves. Ottawa and Buffalo have had GM's that have made plenty of moves, doesn't mean they've had good management. He also gets this season to show how his moves have worked out before we get the pitchforks and call for his head. I think this team is going to do great things this year though.

 

[Felonious Python]

I somewhat agree and somewhat disagree. I LOVE that JBB is willing to make tough trades and like you said, not sit on his hands. Some fans see it as a bad thing and that players will not like a guy like that, but I think more players would actually prefer to be on a team that doesn't want baggage. He was credited with finding some of the key players who helped us win Cups, he certainly gets credit for helping to build the team.

Where he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt in my mind is the Jeannot trade. Not intending to beat the horse into a pulp, but when you make a trade where you dump a massive amount of assets for an unknown when you have very little left in the tank, you have to be 100% certain it's going to work out. For a known quantity you can get away with it, but you don't pay retail price for guys with massive question marks.

This gets me into the second part, if he gets credit for his wins he also gets credit for his losses as well. Cutting bait on McDonagh, even if he's rectified that mistake, is a big L. He has also decided to make a massive change this offseason with swapping out Stamkos with Guentzel and trading Sergachev.

If he's going to be given credit as being a good GM, he can't just make moves, he has to make winning moves. Ottawa and Buffalo have had GM's that have made plenty of moves, doesn't mean they've had good management. He also gets this season to show how his moves have worked out before we get the pitchforks and call for his head. I think this team is going to do great things this year though.

Why don't we ever fixate on how we took Drouin at 3?

 

[Sky04]

Why don't we ever fixate on how we took Drouin at 3?

Because he was an exceptional prospect? There have been much bigger misses than Drouin who had an excellent case for his draft position at the time and Seth Jones was a headcase in his interviews.

 

[Rschmitz]

Why don't we ever fixate on how we took Drouin at 3?

Why don't we fixate on the 2013 draft which happened over a decade ago?

When the pick was made and until he was dealt for Sergachev, there was plenty of fixation. In hindsight and my naivety, I remember being so jacked that Florida picked Barkov that I almost ran off the road at Hines avenue, I was on my way to the draft party at Champs but was late. After we picked Drouin instead of Jones, I was so pissed I didn't even walk in from the parking lot and went home.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

crazy how we could of had Drouin, Stamkos, Point, Kucherov & Deangelo on the same power play..

 

[Felonious Python]

Because he was an exceptional prospect? There have been much bigger misses than Drouin who had an excellent case for his draft position at the time and Seth Jones was a headcase in his interviews.

I think it's because we turned him into Sergachev. Drouin became an afterthought. A footnote in Lightning history.

Maybe I'm just ECHL brained, but I don't see how hyper-focusing on a few poor roster decisions really ends up mattering, especially if they get corrected somehow.

Jeannot wasn't given an eight-year deal. They didn't send the Brinks truck up his driveway. TB spent too much in a trade, but they also knew that at the time. Most or all of those draft picks probably won't matter too much. There's always more players.