Draft Dispersal Game - Roster Thread

[mikey287]

Put him as security in the team store. -5% shoplifting rate. People would be leaving things that they already own on the shelves out of fear...

[count2infinity]

Just too much man.

[Idoit40fans]

I personally dont think roberts provides value as a coach. Hes someone you'd want working with players year after year in the offseason to get results, hes not a bench coach.

I honestly dont know what value bylsma brings because im fully convinced he got by letting high end talent go.

[count2infinity]

I40, do you have your line-up posted somewhere, I don't see it.

[Idoit40fans]

Im not in this league so i cant. Why?

[count2infinity]

oh, crap... I thought you were a GM for some reason. lol, nevermind. I had just noticed you had asked questions of people, but you hadn't answered any questions so I figured I'd throw one your way. Can't do that without a team I suppose.

[meow]

Put him as security in the team store. -5% shoplifting rate. People would be leaving things that they already own on the shelves out of fear...

"He made me pay for this jersey twice"

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

So is TBD going to play Lundqvist all 82 regular season games? What happens if he gets hurt...?



Actually, I guess they have Hextall if something happens...

[Idoit40fans]

So is TBD going to play Lundqvist all 82 regular season games? What happens if he gets hurt...?

Green bay packers strategy. I like it.

[Letang Is The Truth]

So is TBD going to play Lundqvist all 82 regular season games? What happens if he gets hurt...?



Actually, I guess they have Hextall if something happens...

hextall dawg

to be truthful, we thought we were doing 25 + 2 coaches, not an arbitrary allocation of how you want to use your 25 picks

[meow]

You could have added one during the add/drop period yesterday.

[count2infinity]

So is TBD going to play Lundqvist all 82 regular season games? What happens if he gets hurt...?



Actually, I guess they have Hextall if something happens...

hextall dawg

to be truthful, we thought we were doing 25 + 2 coaches, not an arbitrary allocation of how you want to use your 25 picks

wait...what?

[Letang Is The Truth]

So is TBD going to play Lundqvist all 82 regular season games? What happens if he gets hurt...?



Actually, I guess they have Hextall if something happens...

hextall dawg

to be truthful, we thought we were doing 25 + 2 coaches, not an arbitrary allocation of how you want to use your 25 picks

wait...what?

i just assumed that it was 25 picks and then 2 coaches. not 25 total picks and you could do 21 players and 4 coaches, 23 players and 2 coaches, etc.

[Letang Is The Truth]

You could have added one during the add/drop period yesterday.

thats why we drafted hextall

[Avyran]

My thoughts (including my own team)... they could be WAY off, but they're how I'm going to be judging the teams when we vote later. Also note, I'm very hesitant on relying on second-year players due to sophomore slump (proper scouting reports on how to slow them down, beat them, etc).

Montreal
Strengths: Best first line (fwd/def) in league? Quality defense. Tons of potential. Good coaching to fit style of 1st/3rd/4th line.
Weaknesses: Tons of potential means possibility of letdown. Second line seems undersized & possible to overpower. Weak goaltending means offense will need to compensate.
Question: Who is Larry Robinson, and why did you pick him? Also, sell Soderberg to me.

California
Strengths: Dynamic first line. Very mobile defense. Offensive-oriented squad will score a lot of goals & will fit Bylsma. Power play will likely be best in league.
Weaknesses: Not sure if it fits Sutter's physical, aggressive style. Whole team seems slightly non-physical, especially defense; could be overpowered as well. Bishop + Gibson is very uncertain (I'm not sold on Bishop, personally). Also, I hate Marchand.
Question: Is your fourth line going to be used consistently, or are they fillers for injury / etc?

TBD - INC
Strengths: Every line makes sense. Scorer, playmaker, grinder, etc. Seems to be able to roll four lines very easily. Has Lundqvist to cancel biggest weakness (defense).
Weaknesses: Defense could be very weak, depending on which Niskanen/Letang show up.
Will wait on questions until it's complete.

Seattle
Strengths: Very quality offense. Great special teams. Best timeout specialist in NHL.
Weaknesses: Not sure if Cogliano fits a shutdown line (same with Upshall). Defense is very questionable due to Green / Myers; Martin & Beauchemin will have to play great, though having Gorges in shores that up. Standard goaltending. I'm a little concerned about the mental makeup of the team: there's no real proven winner in the group.
No real questions for this team; it's really interesting, though, and I'm not really sure what I think about it yet.

Hartford - INC
Strengths: Strong offensively. Really like the Pac/Kop/Kane line. Second line will provide a lot of offense as well.
Weaknesses: Will Josi be able to cover for Phaneuf? Defense as a whole seems suspect. Rinne is good, but not sure if good enough to cover for that group.
Again, waiting on questions.

Toronto
Strengths: Very good centers; Koivu's a VERY strong third-line center. Best defense so far (just going down the thread).
Weaknesses: Centers will have to cover for slightly lackluster wing group. Not sold on Nichushkin; don't know if Elias can keep up with Callahan/Koivu. Goaltending is decent, but not great (which is fine); not sold on Holtby being a viable backup though.
Questions: Is the style more run-and-gun?

Los Angeles
Strengths: Centers, centers, centers. Good puckmoving goaltenders. Lots of size; should be able to overpower opponents. Very defensively-responsible group of forwards that are also athletic (IMO).
Weaknesses: So many players playing out of position. Not much mobility or passing on defense; goaltending will have to do a lot of work. Could be undone by speed if forwards do not control game. Not a lot of offensive potential.
It'd be weird to write questions for myself. Guess the question is whether the faceoff / possession strength of the forwards is enough to overcome the non-puckmoving defensemen. I myself am not sure.

Iceland
Strengths: Very sound team. Don't really see any weaknesses at all, from top to bottom.
Weaknesses: Nothing glaring sticks out: no gamebreakers, no amazing speed / size, etc. Goaltending is prone to inconsistency.
No questions: it's a good team and will definitely make it to the playoffs, I think.

St. Louis
Strengths: Still hate that you drafted Ekman-Larsson / Vermette before me, haha. Good offense. Good, mobile top 4 defense. Good goaltending.
Weaknesses: Bieksa/Gudas could be like a Gill/Scuderi pairing for me; they'll rack up the defensive stats, but only because they're stuck in their own zone. Also lots of penalties. Not sure if Okposo fits 3rd line shutdown.
Good explanation; I get the team.

NYR - INC

Metallurg
Strengths: Such a speedy first line. Quality from top to bottom. Suter + Weber is a scary power play defense combo.
Weaknesses: Not a lot. Seems dependent on first line to score; shut down that line, shut down the team's offense? Penalty killing seems a little suspect with no PK specialists (since the whole lineup is pretty good at everything else).
Good team as well. Very Canadien-like (before Price got injured this year).

JS's Team / CBJ
Strengths: Strong top 2 lines; Landeskog/Stamkos/Kessel rivals MTL's line for best in the league offensively. Reliable goaltending. Lots of mobility on defense.
Weaknesses: Unsure of defense's ability to play defense (especially Yandle / Byfuglien / J. Schultz). Third line has Radulov, which means it could take nights off (and then get mauled by Roy afterward). Don't think goaltending will steal any games. Not sure of team defense either outside of 2nd line forwards.

[mikey287]

My thoughts (including my own team)... they could be WAY off, but they're how I'm going to be judging the teams when we vote later. Also note, I'm very hesitant on relying on second-year players due to sophomore slump (proper scouting reports on how to slow them down, beat them, etc).

Montreal
Strengths: Best first line (fwd/def) in league? Quality defense. Tons of potential. Good coaching to fit style of 1st/3rd/4th line.
Weaknesses: Tons of potential means possibility of letdown. Second line seems undersized & possible to overpower. Weak goaltending means offense will need to compensate.
Question: Who is Larry Robinson, and why did you pick him? Also, sell Soderberg to me.

Great post, Avyran, thanks for this...really great.

- I agree. There's one other 5-man unit that I think is up there, Nash-Malkin-Nuke / Vlasic-Karlsson. Coaching is a good match for style, agree.
- Possible letdown, sure. Second line does seem weak. Goaltending has as much upside though as most...doesn't have as proven of a track record or name recognition though...
- Larry Robinson is, of course, the HOF defenseman and one of the league's finest defensive assistants. He's worked wonders with many great d-men in the league. I don't care for Yahoo, but here's a short little blurb about him: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/puck-dadd ... --nhl.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - he's maybe the game's most respected assistant coach and everywhere he's gone, a d-man (or two) has broken out a really just changed his career for the better. Either from average to very good. Or in the case of a guy like Vlasic from really good to great. Carl Soderberg was a star over in Europe and he came over and paid his dues in on the Bruins third line. He can play C/LW, he plays it two ways and when he gets more of a chance this year, he'll flash a lot of skill. Right now, he's being kept under wraps, but this guy can really do everything on the rink. I got him for his versatility, pass and shoot, offense and defense, center and wing, check and push the pace, forecheck, he's a swiss army knife.

California
Strengths: Dynamic first line. Very mobile defense. Offensive-oriented squad will score a lot of goals & will fit Bylsma. Power play will likely be best in league.
Weaknesses: Not sure if it fits Sutter's physical, aggressive style. Whole team seems slightly non-physical, especially defense; could be overpowered as well. Bishop + Gibson is very uncertain (I'm not sold on Bishop, personally). Also, I hate Marchand.
Question: Is your fourth line going to be used consistently, or are they fillers for injury / etc?

- Really, yeah, those top two lines will be tough to contain. Especially for just next year...injuries and age are catching up to Kovy, Pasha and Hoss but they could cut a rug out there, no sweat. Defense is a good, I question Dennis Seidenberg having such a big role at this level, he's better as part of a shutdown pair than babysitting an offensive guy...I almost feel Andrej Sekera would be a better fit for Subban, but that's not my call. Offensive skill abound. It's a shame Subban and Kovy are both right shots, there's only one puck to one time. But it's a lot of skill to have to contain anyhow.
- Agree, Sutter is an odd fit for the team. A defensive-minded coach who does not like his defensemen to roam with the puck too far (hijacking Subban and Shattenkirk). The third line is Team Sutter, the rest of it seems to be Team Bylsma...tough to imagine how that might play out.
- I think that fourth line is of good quality, regardless of use. They can play it anyway you want.

TBD - INC
Strengths: Every line makes sense. Scorer, playmaker, grinder, etc. Seems to be able to roll four lines very easily. Has Lundqvist to cancel biggest weakness (defense).
Weaknesses: Defense could be very weak, depending on which Niskanen/Letang show up.
Will wait on questions until it's complete.

- I'd probably swap Loui Eriksson and Jason Pominville at least. Dustin Brown's use on the top line is tough at this level, but somewhat understandable. The line combos actually felt a little strange to me. A lot of mashups for my liking. I think, for instance, the third line gets way better with Dupuis-Hanzal-Eriksson - lock down city. Instead, three shoot-first players are together of varying defensive strengths.
- That defense is going to surrender a lot of goals...Letang wrong side with Edler, Wisniewski taking a regular shift with the green DeKeyser. Hank is gonna need a rest at some point. I think the team is better than the line combos with bear out.

Seattle
Strengths: Very quality offense. Great special teams. Best timeout specialist in NHL.
Weaknesses: Not sure if Cogliano fits a shutdown line (same with Upshall). Defense is very questionable due to Green / Myers; Martin & Beauchemin will have to play great, though having Gorges in shores that up. Standard goaltending. I'm a little concerned about the mental makeup of the team: there's no real proven winner in the group.
No real questions for this team; it's really interesting, though, and I'm not really sure what I think about it yet.

- That first forward line is really to die for. Despite Mike Green, I really like the defense overall actually. McDonagh-Greene pairing won't get a lot of press, but you aren't scoring much on those guys despite Miller playing over Schneider...
- Fourth line strikes me as a particular weakness. But it is a very traditional fourth line. Jarret Stoll, though, might be the only player on the line that belongs in this league.
- One more point on the defense, I'd probably want to go Beauchemin-Martin, Gorges-Green. Hide Green with a guy who can babysit. Martin does his best work on the right of a physical d-man (Salvador, Orpik, etc.).

Hartford - INC
Strengths: Strong offensively. Really like the Pac/Kop/Kane line. Second line will provide a lot of offense as well.
Weaknesses: Will Josi be able to cover for Phaneuf? Defense as a whole seems suspect. Rinne is good, but not sure if good enough to cover for that group.
Again, waiting on questions.

- Boy, this team is going to go, go, go offensively...they have no choice. If anything, you swap Brian Boyle out of there (he really doesn't belong at this level, in my opinion) and you get another offensive center just attack. Why even pretend about defense?
- Josi-Phaneuf is about the only bright spot I see (and I don't care much for Phaneuf, but the pairing is well put together). Muzzin and Franson probably don't belong on this level or are fringe players at best and Krug is going to struggle defensively with many forwards. It's a rough defense for sure, but man are they gonna push the pace and score with those forwards...
- Rinne is gonna have to have some kind of performance back there...

Toronto
Strengths: Very good centers; Koivu's a VERY strong third-line center. Best defense so far (just going down the thread).
Weaknesses: Centers will have to cover for slightly lackluster wing group. Not sold on Nichushkin; don't know if Elias can keep up with Callahan/Koivu. Goaltending is decent, but not great (which is fine); not sold on Holtby being a viable backup though.
Questions: Is the style more run-and-gun?

- For me, this is the best roster in the tournament. It's a ton of players that I like and I think are great, but yet somehow, I didn't put it together. It's an absurd about of players I'm crazy about. The centers are off the charts good. His fourth line center is better than my second. The defense is really great. Vlasic-Karlsson might be the best pair in the league. Fowler and Faulk are young and still growing defensively, but they'll be terrific I feel. Hammer is a good match for the adventurous Jones. Coburn is a fine extra.
- I'd swap Nash and Nuke's sides if I had the choice, but that's a dynamite first line. I'm not sure it's a weakness these wingers. I don't think there's a real weakness honestly...besides maybe a lack of experience in net...
- I think they can play a pretty basic, positional game and get a lot out of the team. They could play it straight up without any gimmicks a do a fine job.

Los Angeles
Strengths: Centers, centers, centers. Good puckmoving goaltenders. Lots of size; should be able to overpower opponents. Very defensively-responsible group of forwards that are also athletic (IMO).
Weaknesses: So many players playing out of position. Not much mobility or passing on defense; goaltending will have to do a lot of work. Could be undone by speed if forwards do not control game. Not a lot of offensive potential.
It'd be weird to write questions for myself. Guess the question is whether the faceoff / possession strength of the forwards is enough to overcome the non-puckmoving defensemen. I myself am not sure.

- Responsible top-line that is well-constructed. Three natural centers on the second line make for some creative maneuvering, though, Marleau has spent half his career at wing anyhow...Kesler seems kind of superfluous there all things considered. Nothing stands out about the other two forward lines, they'll work hard. It's a not a fast group overall at forward certainly.
- I like Lindholm, but maybe he's up a rung too high at this level. JMFJ is adventurous but there's worse players in this show.
- Lehtonen is not known for his puck playing ability at all, but Mike Smith is probably the league's best at it. I think the coaching is good and won't require a lot of speed to accomplish what their goal is...you nailed in your description, there is no gamebreaker anywhere in the lineup, except maybe Lehtonen...but you think about Boston, and who is the gamebreaker? Basically Rask...the coach is a great fit, and he knows how to utilize Bergeron and Chara, of course...

Iceland
Strengths: Very sound team. Don't really see any weaknesses at all, from top to bottom.
Weaknesses: Nothing glaring sticks out: no gamebreakers, no amazing speed / size, etc. Goaltending is prone to inconsistency.
No questions: it's a good team and will definitely make it to the playoffs, I think.

- Lots of goal scoring potential from the wings, but it'll have to be setup correctly, as they are much faster as a group than the centers (minus Tyler Johnson). Interesting combos...I'm not sure how to feel about those lines. Maybe because there are a lot of players of similar style on this team, I just feel like there are good duos and then the third guy almost takes away from the line...Sharp-Tavares, Thornton-Iginla, Hartnell-Nuge, Cammy-Johnson all check out nicely. But something strikes me as weird about the third guy. Maybe subliminally there's awkwardness with the handedness? I'm not sure...
- Girardi historically is better with a defensive partner, he often struggles with offensive players on his pair and he's a stretch to be a top pairing guy at this level I feel. The rest of the defense is adequate I suppose. However, that third pairing seems ripe for the picking by some of these lower lines...like Montreal's fourth line or Toronto's fourth line for instance...haven't given it up a ton of thought, but Oduya and Quincey were not only drafted, but play on the same defense...kind of uncomfortable for me, actually.
- Goaltending has upside, but I think will be considered suspect. Good coaching, though, Torts as an assistant seems like an odd fit. Maybe as weird as Hartnell on the point or RNH being a top PKer at this level. He hardly kills in the 30-team league he once played in...

St. Louis
Strengths: Still hate that you drafted Ekman-Larsson / Vermette before me, haha. Good offense. Good, mobile top 4 defense. Good goaltending.
Weaknesses: Bieksa/Gudas could be like a Gill/Scuderi pairing for me; they'll rack up the defensive stats, but only because they're stuck in their own zone. Also lots of penalties. Not sure if Okposo fits 3rd line shutdown.
Good explanation; I get the team.

- This a pretty sturdy team. I like the make up of the roster overall. Fourth line strikes me as particularly weak for this level. Hard to believe Dale Weise, a fringe NHLer in the 30-team league, would even be in the next 200 names selected if the draft were to continue. It's a traditional fourth line, but a matchup nightmare against most teams, even with Cooke. I feel it may be tough to get production out of Alexandre Burrows with that group, actually, to the point that Galchenyuk might be a better fit there almost.
- Top two lines are deadly. The defense is well constructed. I'd maybe put Dillon in over Gudas, but if that's the rotation play, I like it just the same. That defense isn't going to leave you in a jam at all, very sound defensively as a group. Won't get much forward support for 35 minutes per game with the top two lines out there, but they'll be able to handle it well.
- You wonder though about the puck skills on the backline vs. how that will work with a Boudreau-coached team (Green, Fowler both had super seasons under Boudreau, with Fowler still growing)...OEL is there, and he's one of the game's best, who else has even average puck skills at this level or any level for that matter? League's best goaltender back there? Got a case. I see now that the fourth line will be seldom used, good idea. Change my "35 minutes" to 40, above.

NYR - INC

Has the makings of something really terrific...I hope a plan of action is documented. Ladd-Backstrom-Perry looks particularly annoying to play against.

Metallurg
Strengths: Such a speedy first line. Quality from top to bottom. Suter + Weber is a scary power play defense combo.
Weaknesses: Not a lot. Seems dependent on first line to score; shut down that line, shut down the team's offense? Penalty killing seems a little suspect with no PK specialists (since the whole lineup is pretty good at everything else).
Good team as well. Very Canadien-like (before Price got injured this year).

- I think the defense is pretty well put together. I suppose this is the most you can possibly squeeze out of Jan Hejda at least. Having the luxury of Suter or Weber being on the ice for up to 44, 46, 48 minutes in any given game is a nice thought. The third pairing is good, but they are the slowest pairing I've seen I think. Still though, Andrei Markov on the third pair, that's still pretty sweet.
- The offense has a lot of "hope" to me and not a lot of skill of real "sizzle" as it's described in the team preamble. Top line is fast, sure and their very good. Maybe it's the lack of distribution skills from the group in general, the first and last real playmaker (in terms of passing) is Travis Zajac. You can make a case for Matt Duchene, but I just don't consider him that type of center. He likes to take players on one on one and he shoots a fair bit I feel like...I guess if you develop offense off the cycle, you're in good shape. The left side of center is weak enough where maybe Zucc could have been useful (he can play either wing)...it's a swing for the fences for Jonathan Huberdeau to be on a second line here.
- The bottom six looks really annoying to play against. I think it's really well constructed. Goaltending is elite.

JS's Team / CBJ
Strengths: Strong top 2 lines; Landeskog/Stamkos/Kessel rivals MTL's line for best in the league offensively. Reliable goaltending. Lots of mobility on defense.
Weaknesses: Unsure of defense's ability to play defense (especially Yandle / Byfuglien / J. Schultz). Third line has Radulov, which means it could take nights off (and then get mauled by Roy afterward). Don't think goaltending will steal any games. Not sure of team defense either outside of 2nd line forwards.

- Ew, filthy first line. This is another team where you almost feel it's a waste to have defense-first centers playing with offensive wingers (Fisher with Schwartz and Radulov). These guys ought to just get up and go...that defense isn't going to keep any pucks out of the net anyhow. Yandle, Byfuglien, Gardiner all have appreciable shortcomings defensively...Justin Schultz is a step and a half below that. Varly will be busy, but he was the best goalie in the 30-team circuit last year and he faced a lot of rubber, no doubt he's up to this challenge.
- I wish that fourth line was put to better use. I don't quite get it. I'd probably try for something like Nino-Boner-Jagr and maybe just lose Ward and Jokinen all together instead of force feeding that current all-winger line. This team is going to need a lot of goals to compete, but they have them just laying around on this club.

[pcm]

Thanks for the really awesome comments guys. I'll add my own on other teams later, but just wanted to respond to some of the thoughts about Metallurg before I crash.

Strengths: Such a speedy first line. Quality from top to bottom. Suter + Weber is a scary power play defense combo.
Weaknesses: Not a lot. Seems dependent on first line to score; shut down that line, shut down the team's offense? Penalty killing seems a little suspect with no PK specialists (since the whole lineup is pretty good at everything else).
Good team as well. Very Canadien-like (before Price got injured this year).

- I think the defense is pretty well put together. I suppose this is the most you can possibly squeeze out of Jan Hejda at least. Having the luxury of Suter or Weber being on the ice for up to 44, 46, 48 minutes in any given game is a nice thought. The third pairing is good, but they are the slowest pairing I've seen I think. Still though, Andrei Markov on the third pair, that's still pretty sweet.
- The offense has a lot of "hope" to me and not a lot of skill of real "sizzle" as it's described in the team preamble. Top line is fast, sure and their very good. Maybe it's the lack of distribution skills from the group in general, the first and last real playmaker (in terms of passing) is Travis Zajac. You can make a case for Matt Duchene, but I just don't consider him that type of center. He likes to take players on one on one and he shoots a fair bit I feel like...I guess if you develop offense off the cycle, you're in good shape. The left side of center is weak enough where maybe Zucc could have been useful (he can play either wing)...it's a swing for the fences for Jonathan Huberdeau to be on a second line here.
- The bottom six looks really annoying to play against. I think it's really well constructed. Goaltending is elite.

+ Zucc is definitely a backup for Huberdeau, just in case he can't create on the 2nd line.
+ But I am playing a crash and bang style that creates offense off the cycle. I think Huberdeau fits that role perfectly. I sacrificed playmaking ability for guys with either size or speed, but most importantly, with a willingness to go into the dirty areas and win battles. Zajac is probably the only forward who doesm't fit that description perfectly in my entire lineup, and he brings other assetts.
+ Hejda and Mitchell will rotate as needed so that niether is worn down keeping up with Weber. But yes, the point is to have 1 of Weber/Suter out there for all but half a period.
+ Bolland, Laich, Dubinsky are all top PK'ers. Zajac pks a fair amount as well.

Just about every other team in this league seems to be playing a skill game. I think my speedy forwards with a strong forecheck, supported by some very mobile studs on defense will give a lot of teams fits.

[Letang Is The Truth]

fyi - we havent finalized our rosters at all. we were just slotting people in when we drafted them

[mikey287]

Thanks for the really awesome comments guys. I'll add my own on other teams later, but just wanted to respond to some of the thoughts about Metallurg before I crash.

Strengths: Such a speedy first line. Quality from top to bottom. Suter + Weber is a scary power play defense combo.
Weaknesses: Not a lot. Seems dependent on first line to score; shut down that line, shut down the team's offense? Penalty killing seems a little suspect with no PK specialists (since the whole lineup is pretty good at everything else).
Good team as well. Very Canadien-like (before Price got injured this year).

- I think the defense is pretty well put together. I suppose this is the most you can possibly squeeze out of Jan Hejda at least. Having the luxury of Suter or Weber being on the ice for up to 44, 46, 48 minutes in any given game is a nice thought. The third pairing is good, but they are the slowest pairing I've seen I think. Still though, Andrei Markov on the third pair, that's still pretty sweet.
- The offense has a lot of "hope" to me and not a lot of skill of real "sizzle" as it's described in the team preamble. Top line is fast, sure and their very good. Maybe it's the lack of distribution skills from the group in general, the first and last real playmaker (in terms of passing) is Travis Zajac. You can make a case for Matt Duchene, but I just don't consider him that type of center. He likes to take players on one on one and he shoots a fair bit I feel like...I guess if you develop offense off the cycle, you're in good shape. The left side of center is weak enough where maybe Zucc could have been useful (he can play either wing)...it's a swing for the fences for Jonathan Huberdeau to be on a second line here.
- The bottom six looks really annoying to play against. I think it's really well constructed. Goaltending is elite.

+ Zucc is definitely a backup for Huberdeau, just in case he can't create on the 2nd line.
+ But I am playing a crash and bang style that creates offense off the cycle. I think Huberdeau fits that role perfectly. I sacrificed playmaking ability for guys with either size or speed, but most importantly, with a willingness to go into the dirty areas and win battles. Zajac is probably the only forward who doesm't fit that description perfectly in my entire lineup, and he brings other assetts.
+ Hejda and Mitchell will rotate as needed so that niether is worn down keeping up with Weber. But yes, the point is to have 1 of Weber/Suter out there for all but half a period.
+ Bolland, Laich, Dubinsky are all top PK'ers. Zajac pks a fair amount as well.

Just about every other team in this league seems to be playing a skill game. I think my speedy forwards with a strong forecheck, supported by some very mobile studs on defense will give a lot of teams fits.

All makes sense. I will say this, don't sleep on Zajac's ability on the forecheck - as he was a big part of the Devils three-man forecheck when New Jersey went to the 2012 Final. Additionally, he's probably (I might say, easily, if it weren't for Bolland) the best defensively on your team among forwards. Very useful player, but just doesn't have the offensive pedigree without a player like Parise at his side...

[meow]

St. Louis
Strengths: Still hate that you drafted Ekman-Larsson / Vermette before me, haha. Good offense. Good, mobile top 4 defense. Good goaltending.
Weaknesses: Bieksa/Gudas could be like a Gill/Scuderi pairing for me; they'll rack up the defensive stats, but only because they're stuck in their own zone. Also lots of penalties. Not sure if Okposo fits 3rd line shutdown.
Good explanation; I get the team.

- This a pretty sturdy team. I like the make up of the roster overall. Fourth line strikes me as particularly weak for this level. Hard to believe Dale Weise, a fringe NHLer in the 30-team league, would even be in the next 200 names selected if the draft were to continue. It's a traditional fourth line, but a matchup nightmare against most teams, even with Cooke. I feel it may be tough to get production out of Alexandre Burrows with that group, actually, to the point that Galchenyuk might be a better fit there almost.
- Top two lines are deadly. The defense is well constructed. I'd maybe put Dillon in over Gudas, but if that's the rotation play, I like it just the same. That defense isn't going to leave you in a jam at all, very sound defensively as a group. Won't get much forward support for 35 minutes per game with the top two lines out there, but they'll be able to handle it well.
- You wonder though about the puck skills on the backline vs. how that will work with a Boudreau-coached team (Green, Fowler both had super seasons under Boudreau, with Fowler still growing)...OEL is there, and he's one of the game's best, who else has even average puck skills at this level or any level for that matter? League's best goaltender back there? Got a case. I see now that the fourth line will be seldom used, good idea. Change my "35 minutes" to 40, above.

Bieksa/Gudas do take their fair of minors, but I really wanted that physical element with the make up of the rest of my D corps. With the overall skill of the league, I was looking for two D that can play against that level and make life difficult. With the killers we have, I'll let them do their job every night.

In the preamble, it was said that all star teams don't always work, so I tried to create different roles for each line and draft the best players accordingly. Weise was a suspect pick, looking back. He played really well in the playoffs for MTL, so I was hoping to capture some of that jam he brought. I'll probably throw Gal onto the 3rd line, Burrows to the 4th and hs Weise.

[Kovy27]

I'll update tonight and answer any questions...sorry, it has been a long week.

[Staggy]

Toronto
Strengths: Very good centers; Koivu's a VERY strong third-line center. Best defense so far (just going down the thread).
Weaknesses: Centers will have to cover for slightly lackluster wing group. Not sold on Nichushkin; don't know if Elias can keep up with Callahan/Koivu. Goaltending is decent, but not great (which is fine); not sold on Holtby being a viable backup though.
Questions: Is the style more run-and-gun?

- For me, this is the best roster in the tournament. It's a ton of players that I like and I think are great, but yet somehow, I didn't put it together. It's an absurd about of players I'm crazy about. The centers are off the charts good. His fourth line center is better than my second. The defense is really great. Vlasic-Karlsson might be the best pair in the league. Fowler and Faulk are young and still growing defensively, but they'll be terrific I feel. Hammer is a good match for the adventurous Jones. Coburn is a fine extra.
- I'd swap Nash and Nuke's sides if I had the choice, but that's a dynamite first line. I'm not sure it's a weakness these wingers. I don't think there's a real weakness honestly...besides maybe a lack of experience in net...
- I think they can play a pretty basic, positional game and get a lot out of the team. They could play it straight up without any gimmicks a do a fine job.

Thanks for the feedback, really good comments on every team. I don't think the style will be run and gun but it will definitely be offense focused. In an ideal situation I'm a believer in the saying the best defense is a good offense and I think I put together a team that can pull that off. I think a good comp to the style of my team would be the 2013 Blackhawks, a team that excels defensively mostly because they always had the puck. Both my team and that Hawks team are built from the back end with world class skating dmen who have a nice mix of defensive and offensive skillsets. The bonus is I'm much stronger down the middle than that Hawks team could ever dream of being (obviously in a 12 team league, but even relative to the competition). With Malkin, Zetterberg, Koivu, and Johansen centering lines, it's going to be a nightmare for the opposition to contain them offensively as each line is capable of fireworks and has dominant puck possession players. They are also being backed by at least one offensive defensemen at all times, and usually it will be the best one in the world. And when opponents do get the puck, each line has defensively responsible forwards with the second and third units being bonafide shutdown lines. Bernier is inexperienced , yes, but he put up very good numbers last year behind a defense that wouldn't have looked out of place in the 2012 Pens-Flyers series so I'm not too concerned about him.

So back to the original question: run and gun? Hopefully not. Hopefully all my lines will be capitalizing off lightning quick counter attacks but the plan isn't to get in track meets. Sure, Karlsson will get caught out of position every once in a while and leave Vlasic hanging out to dry but EK has the speed to recover plus responsible forwards to help out. Same with Jones but his minutes will be limited and he'll likely be tasked with playing a simple game.

I like the idea of flipping Nash and Nuke, I'll have to think about that one.

I should probably get back to work so I'll comment on everyone else's teams when I get a chance this afternoon.

[Kraftster]

Bad week for me. Will be putting in some work over the weekend.

[count2infinity]

California
Strengths: Dynamic first line. Very mobile defense. Offensive-oriented squad will score a lot of goals & will fit Bylsma. Power play will likely be best in league.
Weaknesses: Not sure if it fits Sutter's physical, aggressive style. Whole team seems slightly non-physical, especially defense; could be overpowered as well. Bishop + Gibson is very uncertain (I'm not sold on Bishop, personally). Also, I hate Marchand.
Question: Is your fourth line going to be used consistently, or are they fillers for injury / etc?

Appreciate the comments. I do think a lot of this team will mesh well with Bylsma, however a lot of the team is much more defensive than you may think. Datsyuk and Hossa in particular are certainly high scorers but have been well praised (with good reason) for their defensive game as well. They are both very hard workers at both ends of the ice. Richards is a versatile 2-way player that has fallen on some hard years, but surrounded with the right people, I think he'll do quite well in that 3rd line center role.

I don't think this team is non-physical either. I personally remember watching Kovalchuk throw some big hits, we have Marchand the irritant, Richards is physical, Foligno and MacArthur are gritty. While I agree that the D isn't necessarily very physical (especially with Jackman out), it is full of great puck movers. It's going to be tough if there is a big, physical net front presence, but the league as a whole seems to be very skilled, and will likely be looking for tic-tac-toe passing rather than gritty driving the net style goals. I wanted to keep the D fast and have good vision and puck mobility.

Defintiely took a risk on the Bishop + Gibson combo. It's a very green tandem, but there is a lot of veteran presence in front of them. I think the two of them will be just fine in net.

I hate Marchand as well, but he's a guy that you love to have on your team.

4th line will likely not be used as often as some other team's 4th lines in the league. I'd imagine them to get about 8-10 minutes a game (assuming no injuries and no non-stop special teams type of games)

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

Iceland
Strengths: Very sound team. Don't really see any weaknesses at all, from top to bottom.
Weaknesses: Nothing glaring sticks out: no gamebreakers, no amazing speed / size, etc. Goaltending is prone to inconsistency.
No questions: it's a good team and will definitely make it to the playoffs, I think.

- Lots of goal scoring potential from the wings, but it'll have to be setup correctly, as they are much faster as a group than the centers (minus Tyler Johnson). Interesting combos...I'm not sure how to feel about those lines. Maybe because there are a lot of players of similar style on this team, I just feel like there are good duos and then the third guy almost takes away from the line...Sharp-Tavares, Thornton-Iginla, Hartnell-Nuge, Cammy-Johnson all check out nicely. But something strikes me as weird about the third guy. Maybe subliminally there's awkwardness with the handedness? I'm not sure...
- Girardi historically is better with a defensive partner, he often struggles with offensive players on his pair and he's a stretch to be a top pairing guy at this level I feel. The rest of the defense is adequate I suppose. However, that third pairing seems ripe for the picking by some of these lower lines...like Montreal's fourth line or Toronto's fourth line for instance...haven't given it up a ton of thought, but Oduya and Quincey were not only drafted, but play on the same defense...kind of uncomfortable for me, actually.
- Goaltending has upside, but I think will be considered suspect. Good coaching, though, Torts as an assistant seems like an odd fit. Maybe as weird as Hartnell on the point or RNH being a top PKer at this level. He hardly kills in the 30-team league he once played in...

I concede a few points you have here. Firstly, the line combos. Like you mention, I feel good about duos but less about full lines. Just trying to plug in guys best I could? haha

As per the defense (specifically the third pair), I admit I was getting less and less familiar with the players and really just went with guys on good teams that can eat up a lot of time for me. Like I said in response to Idiot in the other thread, I'm going to rely heavily on my top 2 pairs and really only use the third sparingly.

Hell, Babcock is my coach so if he doesn't figure it out he's gonna get fired.