Opening Roster:
8 Justin Abdelkader 6' 1" 212 Feb 25, 1987 24 Muskegon, MI, USA
44 Todd Bertuzzi 6' 3" 225 Feb 2, 1975 36 Sudbury, ON, CAN
76 Fabian Brunnstrom 6' 1" 206 Feb 6, 1985 26 Jonstorp, SWE
11 Danny Cleary 6' 0" 205 Dec 18, 1978 32 Carbonear, NL, CAN
13 Pavel Datsyuk "A" 5' 11" 194 Jul 20, 1978 33 Sverdlovsk, RUS
17 Patrick Eaves 6' 0" 191 May 1, 1984 27 Calgary, AB, CAN
48 Cory Emmerton 6' 0" 190 Jun 1, 1988 23 St. Thomas, ON, CAN
51 Valtteri Filppula 6' 0" 193 Mar 20, 1984 27 Vantaa, FIN
93 Johan Franzen 6' 3" 222 Dec 23, 1979 31 Vetlanda, SWE
43 Darren Helm 5' 11" 195 Jan 21, 1987 24 Winnipeg, MB, CAN
96 Tomas Holmstrom 6' 0" 198 Jan 23, 1973 38 Pitea, SWE
26 Jiri Hudler 5' 10" 182 Jan 4, 1984 27 Olomouc, CZE
20 Drew Miller 6' 2" 178 Feb 17, 1984 27 Dover, NJ, USA
39 Jan Mursak ** 5' 11" 167 Jan 20, 1988 23 Maribor, SVN
40 Henrik Zetterberg "A" 5' 11" 195 Oct 9, 1980 30 Njurunda, SWE
22 Mike Commodore 6' 4" 233 Nov 7, 1979 31 Fort Saskatchewan, AB, CAN
52 Jonathan Ericsson 6' 4" 220 Mar 2, 1984 27 Karlskrona, SWE
4 Jakub Kindl 6' 3" 199 Feb 10, 1987 24 Sumperk, CZE
55 Niklas Kronwall 6' 0" 192 Jan 12, 1981 30 Stockholm, SWE
5 Nicklas Lidstrom "C" 6' 1" 190 Apr 28, 1970 41 Vasteras, SWE
23 Brad Stuart 6' 2" 210 Nov 6, 1979 31 Rocky Mountain House, AB, CAN
18 Ian White 5' 10" 200 Jun 4, 1984 27 Steinbach, MB, CAN
29 Ty Conklin 6' 1" 192 Mar 30, 1976 35 Anchorage, AK, USA
35 Jimmy Howard 6' 0" 210 Mar 26, 1984 27 Syracuse, NY, USA
My projected lineups:
Franzen-Datsyuk-Cleary
Filppula-Zetterberg-Bertuzzi
Bruunstrom-Abdelkader-Hudler
Eaves-Helm-Holmstrom
Emmerton - Miller (reserve)
Lidstrom-Stuart
Kronwall-White
Ericsson-Kindl
Commodore
Howard
Conklin
Fuck what I know though. Emmerton will likely be sent to the AHL once Mursak feels better. I'd like Helm on the 3rd line, but he'll likely stay on the 4th, shutdown line. I put Miller as reserve because I think that the hesitancy in re-signing him was indicative that they're not sure he's a full-time NHL player. Also if Brunnstrom proves himself worthy, he might take a 2nd-line spot. They're getting Filppula to shoot more often but if that just doesn't work he might be bumped, as they've tried as hard as they can to get him past the 20-goal mark and it's just not working so far. I almost feel like Helm might fit better with that 3rd line, because Abdelkader hasn't necessarily proven himself to be a production player in the past. I dunno if he'd work better on the shutdown line.
Obviously this is my opinion and can be swayed a certain amount if people have arguments against it.
/e NHL.com has Abdelkader listed as a LW. That might mean helm moves up to 3rd line and 4th line is Abdelkader - Emmerton - Holmstrom, which might work well as a decent shutdown/big body line - Emmerton playing more of a defensive center role and Abdelkader/Holmstrom getting in faces.
This post was edited by dxlightning on Oct 5 2011 11:54pm