Depth chart

Snipers tend to make a team short handed in the D zone.Boston is stressing the hard to play against formula.Most games ars close, losing or winning 1 goal games.Very safe formula for a few years of job security.Very boring to watch if you love the old Gretsky-Lafleur days.The hockey world has become very football like.Xs and os tend to make the games look like air hockey,taking creativity and flow away from the players.In the end you take away from the fans also.

Honestly this depth chart as it is now is confusing. It might be better for it to be a typical depth chart. Combine all Left winger, Right wingers, Centres, Deferencemen and Goalies in their own separate lists. This way you can personally determine who is best and assume the top 4 would be the 4 lines. Obviously some can move up the depth chart if they can play more positions (see Phil Kessel).

Just my two cents

Fluto...I can't really follow this depth chart because the rookies and lower depth players are mixed into the top tier players. Maybe it is the format of the web. For example, according to your depth chart you have Zach AHmill and a TBD ahead of Patrice Bergeron. Is there any way that you can re-organize this like a more traditional depth chart a la Hockey's Future?

Thanks so much!

I know this is just prelim Fluto, but do you really have Lucic pencilled in at #1 LW? IMO he should be on the 3rd line and 2nd PP unit (barring injuries). I love the kid, but we're in trouble if he's on our top "scoring" line. I think with Ryder, Kessel and Kobasew on the right side we're better off flipping one of those guys to the left (Kobasew is most likely I think) as, IMO, they should all see top 6 ice this season.

I'm not sure i i like the combination of Sturm - Bergeron - Kobasew. It could work, it might even work well. On the other hand, except for size mix: Lucic - Bergeron - Ryder and Sturm - Savard - Kobasew might make for a hell of a 1-2 punch. I do think that PJ needs to be on Kessel's line for some time to come. Who the third person on that line is remains to be seen. Krejci has certainly earned a center slot. Sobotka i think should be groomed as PJ's understudy.

To me, the top 9 forwards aren't inquestion, and the top four or five Dmen aren't either
Forwards: Savard, Bergeron, Sturm, Ryder, PJ, Kobasew, Lucic, Kessel, Krejci,

D: Chara, Ward, Wideman, Stuart, Ference

Thomas _should_ get the 1 slot for goal, he does have the better career numbers.

But after the top slots above, its very iffy.

Yeah, I thought the same thing about Lucic. Unless he picked up some more speed over the summer I don't see him on the top line. Somehow they have to work Sobotka into one of the top 3 lines. Can he play wing?

I agree about Lucic, but maybe Fluto has some inside info that he isn't sharing? Rockstar, I think any of the 3 can be flipped. Kessel and Ryder both play that side on the PP, and Kobasew, like you said, is pretty versatile. I'd go with Kessel so that he can be paired with Savard. And to those who feel that Lucic is better defensively than Kessel, get a clue. Lucic isn't that strong either, half of defense is skating and positioning, and Kessel is heads and shoulders above Lucic in that category. Pairing Kessel with Axe creates a weak line and hinders Kessel's development. Time for Julien and Chia to let Kessel sink or swim on a top unit. Don't worry so much about his poor defense. It will come as he gains offensive confidence. Instead they are letting him fail in a defensive role and that isnt helping him or the team.

I like the idea of Kessel and Savard, however, I'm not sold on a Kessel - Savard - Ryder trio. All three of those guys are a little suspect defensively. I think Kessel could play a role similar to Boyes on Bergeron's line when they had some success. Then Kobasew or Sturm can fill the top two LW slots depending on who clicks (we know Sturm and Bergy have decent chemistry).

A lot of people gripe about Kessels lack of production so far, but he hasn't really been given a chance to play with an elite center on a regular basis. If we want to see his full potential Julien needs to let him play with the big dogs.

I think the list is somewhat clear, anyway. To me it looks like all the *types* of players are grouped together. For example under PJ we have Brad Marchand and Jeff LoVecchio which I imagine are similar players to PJ.

And for 'puck moving' defensemen we have Wideman, Lashoff and Penner.

Though I'm probably totally off base here, since I think Tuukka plays a bit different style than Thomas (since no one plays like Tim)... but that's what I took from this anyway. I'm ok with being completely wrong though.

rockstar,
i hear you on the ryder-savard-kessel trio, but I don't think Bergeron and Kessel play nice together. We can all agree that even though he isnt great at it, savard has really improved his defensive game. Ryder, being a little tougher and a veteran of sorts, can probably hold his own on defense enough to get by. Kessel has his moments of good defensive play, he had a good kick in the butt awakening in the playoffs, and he supposedly got stronger over the summer, so I expect stronger defensive play from him... while the line might not be so strong on D, ideally their offense would more than make up for it.
and Al
the players seem to be grouped by style of play, but also in NHL potential, like fourth line isnt necessarily the same as defensive specialist or fighter. If that makes sense? thinking about it that way, I think Fluto has it as Thomas is the current number 1 due to last year's performance, and rask is the future number 1. also, thinking about it your way, thomas played a bit in Finland, so maybe he picked up some of those Finnish traits and thats why they are grouped together.
the list is clear, just takes some thought to figure it out, although I would personally rather see the more traditional way of viewing it.

Of course this is all supposition and "what ifs" until we start seeing these guys on the ice together. But here's what I would do:

Sturm - Savard - Ryder

Ryder scores 75% of his goals from the slot on quick wristers. Sturm is good at cutting to the net from an angle. Savard likes to dangle around until the defense collapses, and then dish off for an assist. Put them all together and someone's going to get open in a hurry.

Lucic - Bergeron - Kessel

This only works if Lucic develops a little more "jump", because Bergeron and Kessel make for one hell of a breakout. If he can keep up, Lucic would be a great guy to have picking up rebounds or cutting to the slot as a trailer. This line could potentially become a franchise staple.

Schaefer - Krejci - Kobasew

A guy who makes $2 million a year shouldn't be playing on the 4th line. Schaefer either needs to step up and do something with his minutes, or be traded/waived. Krecji and Kobasew bring a lot of energy and I think they'd do well together.

Axelsson - Yelle - Thornton

Of course this depends on Schaefer's performance. PJ would be a good LW for the third line as well. Yelle and Thornton are pretty obvious 4th-liners, but I wouldn't be opposed to losing either of them and letting a prospect take their place.

The defense seems largely interchangeable.

One of the reasons I like the mix of Axellson - Krejci - Kessel is the speed. PJ is one of the few guys on the team who can keep up with Kessel. The benefit of having a cooler head, and assistant captain is another for when things hit the s*****, and people underestimate PJ's offense. The other benefit is having a backup center for draws. Say what you will about Lucic's skating, i suspect it's improved more of the summer than Kessel's defense. Putting Kobasew lower on the depth chart than Kessel is a touch suspect as well.

The Kessel/Lucic placement can be argued both ways.
Kessel: Scored more, is faster, and sightly older, can take draws.
Lucic: Was a more accurate shooter, had a better +/-, is more physical.

If you divide the number of minutes each played last season by the number of points they produced you get numbers that are not much different, and in the end Lucic still has the better +/-.