Dr. Tran
Super Star
Because I'm getting itchy. Have they announced when training camp starts or if there's a rookie camp or tournament before that? I'm looking over the roster, potential games to go to, and all that.And I have a bunch of thoughts that are all over the map but I hope not too much.
My guess for the lineup is -
Kuzmenko-Kopitar-Kempe
Fiala-Byfield-Laferriere
Foegele-Danault-Moore
Perry-Turcotte-Armia
Anderson-Doughty
Edmundson-Clarke
Dumoulin-Ceci
Kuemper-Forsberg
Extra F : Helenius, Lee, Thomas
Extra D : Moverare, Burroughs
PP1 : Kopitar-Kempe-Kuzmenko-Byfield-Fiala
PP2 : Turcotte-Moore-Laferriere/Foegele/Perry-Doughty-Clarke
Does this look correct? We could end up having the Byfield line as the 1st line & the Clarke pairing as 1st D pairing. But that's if those guys do well. Also, I put Turcotte as 4C because he has to be in the lineup & that's the only space left. Even though I think Helenius is a better fit on that line. But I've also got Turcotte on the 2nd PP unit to give him more scoring chances. I'm also not sure if I like Laf, Foegele or Perry on PP2. And I don't have anything for PK. I think it should be guys who don't get PP time like Danault & Armia. I'd also like to save Kopitar for the PP & not have him do double duty unless absolutely necessary. Other than that I don't know.
The other thing I noticed looking at our roster is that we're old. 12 out of 25 players are over 30 & 3 are 29. This plus it maybe being Kopitar's last year means we need to win now. Are we ready for that? Is this Cup or bust? It's also a key year for Byfield, Clarke, & Turcotte. Byfield & Clarke to prove they can be #1 guys. And Turcotte to prove he can be at least an everyday player, if not a top 6 player.
There's also the Hiller issue. How do people feel about him? He had a great regular season & he made some crazy moves that seemed to work out in the regular season. But he crapped on himself in the playoffs & was 90% of the reason why we lost the Oilers series. Does everyone agree or disagree with this? And do we give him a chance to coach in the playoffs & maybe redeem himself? Or is he a bad start or losing streak away from getting fired? From what it looks like, all the UFA signings were done to appease him because he couldn't trust young guys in the lineup. Which to me was a mistake but whatever. So if the team doesn't do well with those guys then maybe he should be fired.
My guess for the lineup is -
Kuzmenko-Kopitar-Kempe
Fiala-Byfield-Laferriere
Foegele-Danault-Moore
Perry-Turcotte-Armia
Anderson-Doughty
Edmundson-Clarke
Dumoulin-Ceci
Kuemper-Forsberg
Extra F : Helenius, Lee, Thomas
Extra D : Moverare, Burroughs
PP1 : Kopitar-Kempe-Kuzmenko-Byfield-Fiala
PP2 : Turcotte-Moore-Laferriere/Foegele/Perry-Doughty-Clarke
Does this look correct? We could end up having the Byfield line as the 1st line & the Clarke pairing as 1st D pairing. But that's if those guys do well. Also, I put Turcotte as 4C because he has to be in the lineup & that's the only space left. Even though I think Helenius is a better fit on that line. But I've also got Turcotte on the 2nd PP unit to give him more scoring chances. I'm also not sure if I like Laf, Foegele or Perry on PP2. And I don't have anything for PK. I think it should be guys who don't get PP time like Danault & Armia. I'd also like to save Kopitar for the PP & not have him do double duty unless absolutely necessary. Other than that I don't know.
The other thing I noticed looking at our roster is that we're old. 12 out of 25 players are over 30 & 3 are 29. This plus it maybe being Kopitar's last year means we need to win now. Are we ready for that? Is this Cup or bust? It's also a key year for Byfield, Clarke, & Turcotte. Byfield & Clarke to prove they can be #1 guys. And Turcotte to prove he can be at least an everyday player, if not a top 6 player.
There's also the Hiller issue. How do people feel about him? He had a great regular season & he made some crazy moves that seemed to work out in the regular season. But he crapped on himself in the playoffs & was 90% of the reason why we lost the Oilers series. Does everyone agree or disagree with this? And do we give him a chance to coach in the playoffs & maybe redeem himself? Or is he a bad start or losing streak away from getting fired? From what it looks like, all the UFA signings were done to appease him because he couldn't trust young guys in the lineup. Which to me was a mistake but whatever. So if the team doesn't do well with those guys then maybe he should be fired.