Starting Lineups: 2043-2044

[aussiehabit]

The 39th season of DMA is about to start, so what will your starting lineup look like on opening night?
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The last 2 seasons at the helm has been trying but we’ve managed to stick to our rebuild vision. This season will be the first time in decades that the Montreal Canadiens will look like a team with a vision and future. Our lineup is made of youth and veterans that should bring back respectability to this franchise and pay immediate dividend in term of a playoff spot at end of the season.


Fowards :
JM Cooke (37) – Dobrosyhkin (21) – Sorochan (25)
Prochazka (23) – Bilodeau* (19) – Panov (26)
Zhuravlev (37) – Scott (33) – Silin (36)
Marten (27) – Varlarmov (28) – Brewer (33)

Extras: Morin (28), Hadrecky(25)

This year’s lineup is very balanced on paper, each line has a very good veteran anchoring the line. The first line will feature a very talented LW in his twilight years, mentoring two young guns (Dobryshkin/Sorochan) that has not lived up to their potential. Second line will have up and coming power forward Prochazka and veteran scoring winger Panov. Setting them up will go to the new face of the franchise, Hugo Bilodeau. He will get time on the 2nd line until he can prove himself capable of handling 1st line minutes. The third line will be a veteran line that should be able to contribute consistently, Zhuralev is a proven scorer and Silin will hopefully regain some scoring touch that he showed during his time as a Bruins. The fourth line is where our depth will shine this year, having the option to interchange Morin/Marten/Varlarmov/Brewer and Hadrecky will produce lots of scoring opportunities. If this lineup can stay healthy and productive then look for our team to be near the top of the East.

*Rookie

Defense:
McIntyre(36) – Seguin (29)
Galvas (22) - Baird (29)
Patrick(36) – Levasseur (25)

Extras: Rouleau (23)

The defense corp looks so much better this year than it has in a long time in Montreal. There’s still a lot of room for improvements but this year’s D is looking to make life a little easier for Viitanen/Laniel. Newly acquired McIntyre and Patrick will surely give the D a major injection of experience which in turn should steady our defensive group. Yong Galvas will be given time to blossom and gritty Rouleau will be given ample of time to regain his speed and develop his defensive skills. Overall, this Defensive group is very under rated and will definitely give us a legitimate chance of a solid playoff position at the end of the season.

Goal:
Viitanen (26)
Laniel(26)

Viitanen will get the start in goal and share it pretty evenly with Laniel. Depending on who has the hot hand then they will get the majority of the starts.

Forecast: 7-6 spot in the East

[Big D]

After having an excellent regular season, the team failed to make it past the Minnesota Wild in the 1st round of the playoffs last season. This season, changes were made with Lubomir Ondracek being traded away, and Herve Gagne being brought in as a replacement. 36 year old veteran C Drew Doucet returns for what is likely his last season with the team, and will anchor the 2nd line, while his former RW Ladislav Vlasak will take over the #1 C duties after an impressive 65 goal 120 point rookie season.

Forwards:

Ilya Orlov - Ladislav Vlasak - Mitch Sertich
Francois Rousseau - Drew Doucet - Viktor Maslonka
Jonathan Dunbar - Ilkka Alatalo - Oliver Pavlikovsky
JF Bertrand - Percy Larsson - Eldar Belov

Alatalo moves down from the 2nd line last season to the 3rd this year, but will see plenty of time on the powerplay, and depending on how Doucet's stamina holds up through the year, could move up to the 2nd line at some point. Maslonka will be leaned on for offense a lot more than he was last season, and I will be looking for Sertich to return to his previous 100 point form now that he's back on the 1st line.


Defense:

Tomas Hradecky - Barry Berry
Jiri Svoboda - Herve Gagne
Gerard Murphy - Seppo Lahti

extra: Ladislav Holy

The big change here is giving Svoboda a partner who can play more of a defensive role than what Ondracek was providing in seasons' past. He and Murphy will anchor the PK while Hradecky and Berry will be the main guys on the PP.


Goalies:

Frantisek Saffer
Stepan Mika

callup: Rory Gagne

Saffer will obviously see the majority of the games this season after being arguably the best goalie in the league post-trade last season. Mika is unlikely to see more than 1 or 2 starts and whatever time he can get in relief of Saffer through the season. If there is an injury to Saffer, Gagne will be called up to start and will likely see a few games through the season as a callup regardless.


Prediction: top 2 in the conference, and at the very least I expect to make it past the 1st round of the playoffs (for a change)

[AaronRStanley]

After yet another year in the basement, the Devils will look to continue the slow and steady rebuild that has seen the team's depth in prospects and potential grow. Making room for the veterans to provide time for the youth to grow, veterans in key positions will be there to provide leadership.

Forwards:
1st Line
Korolev (25) – Freeman (21) - Cronstedt (24)
Cronstedt, now playing in his fourth year in the Swamp, needs to pick up the pace. His overall abilities continue to improve, but he needs to continue to improve, and help carry the offense for this line. Playing with better linemates overall will increase the points total of Cronstedt. This being his seventh season in the league, Korolev will need to improve on his career points per game rate, and be a better player overall. Finally sticking with a team for more than one season, Freeman is starting to grow as a player into the franchise center that brought him to New Jersey, and led the GM to draft Turgeon. His time is now, as he leads the charge up the middle on the top line.

2nd Line
Stanley (31) – Geoffrion (22) – Smirnov (24)
Stanley, coming over in a trade during the off-season, will ride on the wings as the veteran of the forward group, with a full season putting him past 1,000 games. He’ll need to continue to display the scoring touch that prompted two teams to trade for him in one season. Smirnov has to prove that he belongs after playing parts of two seasons in the league, but his skill and young age will hopefully prevent his lack of size from hampering his growth. Geoffrion continues to grow into his abilities as a solid, two-way center. His offense needs to grow to match his defensive prowess, but his youth allows him time to grow. Here’s hoping the International Connection can carry the weight of expectations.

3rd Line
Shaw (22) - Desbiens (23) - Colclough (24)
In what will be the first big shot of his career after years of development, Shane Shaw will be the anchor and primary weapon on this line. Desbiens should help provide some scoring punch, if he can keep up with the play and doesn’t get worn down by the season. Colclough’s two-way abilities allow him to cover for his linemates risk taking. His fourth year will also be a test of his ability to hold down a position in the league. All three players have played for the Devils already, but the Audition Line needs to put together a good year or risk being branded busts.


4th Line
Jelinek (23) – Grundstrom (25) – Brunet (23)
Jelinek will need to be at his best, and follow-up on the promise he displayed at the end of last year after coming over from the Islanders. Coming over from to the Devils by way of waivers, Grundstrom will both be leaned on to prove his previous organization wrong, while Brunet’s defensive ability and skating will allow him to cover for his more offensive minded linemates. With all three members of the energy line weighing in at 175 pounds and 6’1’’ or bigger, the Beef line will have to live up to its name and potential in order to shut down the other teams talent.

Extras: None

Defense:
1st Pair
Guerin (31) – Greene (36)
The veteran hand of the d-corps, Greene is still a workhorse, and will be required to chew up a lot of minutes on the first pairing, even at the tender age of 36. Paired with Greene is newcomer Marty Guerin, claimed off waivers at the end of training camp. Playing for the sixth team in his career, Guerin will need to stay healthy and log increased minutes to justify his GM’s decision to send Zane Turgeon back to Moncton.
2nd Pair
Polansky (24) – Murphy (24)
Polansky, the Captain of the young Devils squad, will look to continue his run of solid play in the league. Now entering his seventh season as a pro, he will be counted on to check the other team’s best, and teach the game to his partner. Bouncing from the AHL to the NHL for parts of three seasons, 2042-2043 saw the high water mark for Murphy, in both games played, points, and rating in the NHL. He’ll need to continue that trend as he starts in a new city.
3rd Pair
Fritzmeier (20) – McConnell (24)
Fritzmeier surprised in his first NHL season after coming over from Europe, posting solid numbers as a rookie while playing every game for the Devils. His improvement will depend on his ability to continue to adjust to the NHL. Playing next to the sophomore, McConnell’s third season sees him look to establish himself as an NHL quality defenseman, or he’ll be pushed from the roster by the youngsters in Albany. At 20 and 24, both Fritzmeier and McConnell have some growing to do.

Extras: Martinec

Goaltenders
Starter
Hulva (24)
Bolduc (37)
Hulva continues to develop, and should begin to enter his prime this season, and will be relied upon to carry the weight and cover the mistakes for a team that is still young and growing. Bolduc, another waiver claim, will need to cover for Hulva when called upon, or he will be chased from the backup role by the young goalies in the system.

Forecast: 30th Overall, another draft lottery pick.

[David]

Forwards:

Thomson - Radulov - Kostyukhin
Clearly this is the line that will be driving the bus in Florida. Kosty was the gem of free agency and he finds himself on a line with one of the most talented centres in the league. Radulov has been a PPG player for his career, but with his skill set he should do more than that. Thomson has been a bust since being drafted 2nd overall in '37, but after a strong offseason that brought his speed up to 9 and the rest of his atts up a couple points, he's due for a breakout year.

Leslie - Griffore - Husicka
Leslie is sort of the grizzled vet at 29 on this line. Fresh off being selected 9th overall this year, Griffore finds himself in the enviable position of feeding Husicka who had a spot locked up on the top line before the signing of Kosty. Husicka was on a PPG pace last year until injuries ruined his season for the 2nd season in a row.

Rozakov - Paradise - Suchy
Poor Suchy, coming off a 35 goal season last year he gets relegated to my 3rd line to play along with steady performer Paradise and Rozakov who just returned from a stint in Russia. The Board clearly has a grudge against Rozakov as they've already stated they don't want him on the team, so expect this line to be broken up at some point.

Techma - Wand - Uvarov
Techma was the surprise of my team last year putting on nearly 50 points in his rookie year thanks to an increase in playing time from the injury bug which ravaged the Cats. Not a lot is expected out of this line as the top 2 lines should carry the scoring, but all 3 of them can contribute in a top 9 role when injuries hit the team.

Defense:

Harris - Adams
This pairing was a combined -80 last year after being a positive +/- pair the last 4 seasons. Clearly that was a blip that will be fixed this year. Harris still managed 23 goals last year and will be expected to score around 20 this year with Adams once again looking after the defense for the pair.

Williams - Mukhin
With just over 2 full season combined in the NHL between the two, both of them will be asked to improve their game again this year. Both are defensive minded players who should allow the big guns up front to score, but don't be shocked if Williams puts up good numbers on the PP this year.

Gordon - Giroux
Gordon's atts are clearly awful and if he didn't have 17 passing, he would be playing in ECHL, but he outperforms every year thanks to that so here he is again. Expect Giroux to plod around the ice doing little other than crushing opponents with bodychecks, fists and maybe even a spear or two thrown in for fun.

Goalies:

Kaartinen
Leduc

Kaartinen had his worst season of his career in 2042-43 finishing with a SV% under .900 for the first time, but with a healthy team in front of him, expect Kaartinen to see a couple hundreds less shots on goal this year setting him up for a nice rebound year.

Prediction: 5th place in the East with Thomson putting up a PPG for the 1st time in his career, but Husicka gets injured just before the playoffs and I get crushed in the first round.

[kuulapaa]

Here's the Blackhawks lineup for the season start. The biggest changes are the departures of MA St.John and B. MacIntyre. It means a huge loss of talent but as counterbalance the atmosphere inside the team should be massively improved. There are two prospects that should be future core players in Blackhawks, Lemieux and Burt debuting in the team in startup. The offense looks pretty decent although there will be some work to do to find the best lines there. The defense could be better but there's a good balance of offensive and defensive dmen there. And in net Leroux should start to contribute this season or I may hit the panic button.

Offense:
1st Line Pisani - Palmer - Naumov
2nd Line Burt* - Heikkinen - Thibault
3rd Line Morin - Matuszewski - Doucet
4th Line Cohen - Gibson - McRae

Defense:
1st Pair Plyuschev - Evangelista
2nd Pair Brännström - Slater
3rd Pair Fitzpatrick - Lemieux*

Goalkeepers:
Leroux
(Huttunen)

[vilifyingforce]

Well, jettisoned my goalies from last year and going with two rookies and landed a new 1st line RW. No other big changes yet.

Tanti-Gusmanov-Kacer --Should be competing for best line in the league
Midgely-Carney-Grenn --Were PPG last season, if I can manage that again I'd be ecstatic.
Nyberg-Fitzgerald-Herman --A great camp gives them the start on the 3rd line.
Tevanen-Pinc-Seikkula --A great playoffs keeps these guys in the lineup.

Robinson-Sullivan --Solid top pair that always seems to underperform or be hurt.
Hruska-Kral --Hoping for a step forward with a different role for Kral this season.
Sanders-Dunn --Hoping for more of the same from these two

McLaughlin --Oh god let one of these two or Tessier be an 890+ goalie
Cloutier

[Manimal]

Here is how my Avs are gonnna start the season:

Bérubé - Foster - Power
Schwendinger - Rehák - Shevtsov
Medvedev - Shaw - Rypien
Harney - Richardson - Dams
Caron - Martin

Domin - Korotkov
Comeau - Petr
Miller - Glover
Tapani

Nosek
Skröder
Gill (inj)

Lines are very much a subject to change. I am not sure if I am gonna keep Power for long or send him to juniors. Giving him a try.
Defense ain't very good but I have two good guys in the AHL that will soon come up (wieler and Chapman) I like to give the vets a final chance to prove they belong before waiving them.
All-in-all, I think this season is gonna be hard but the team has promise. Foster is a good candidate for the Calder

[bloc85]

Only two new players are in the opening night line up. Carson Burgess was claimed off waivers from the Flames, he will start on the 4th line. The other is LD Glenn Grossman, he has been promoted from my AHL team.

Rikard Sundstrom - Kurtis Jamieson - Bill Leroux
George Brockman - Olivier Michaud - Jan Sykora
Sidney Wieler - Roger Villeneuve - Tom Ahlstrom
Radim Kopecky - Carson Burgess - Georgi Timofeev

My offense lines up a little bit different this year. I'm going to give Bill Leroux a chance to show what he can do on my top line. He picked up 36 points in 48 games last season. I'm sure as the season goes a long the RW on my top 3 lines will change.

Lou Gordon - Graham Sanders
Jay Moodie - Tyler Taylor
Glenn Grossman - Lou Irwin

With Goran "always tired" Peters leaving the Coyotes it gives me a chance to try out someone from my AHL team. As I mentioned above Grossman is that player. He has been given a chance because of his good passing skill. Due to my lack of offensive defensemen Grossman will see PP time.

Robert Schneider - Michael Pryor

Schneider gets the start because he has the same first name as me. Only joking. Last season the team got better results with Schneider being the starter. Pryor will be given opportunities to prove me wrong.