Gustav Nyquist - Claude Giroux - Jeff Carter
Tomas Hertl - Patrice Bergeron - Vladimir Tarasenko
Carl Soderberg - Sean Couturier - Michael Grabner
Matt Martin - Travis Zajac - Marcus Kruger
Ryan McDonagh - Mark Giordano
Braydon Coburn - Travis Hamonic
Dennis Seidenberg - Johnny Boychuk
Jonathan Bernier
Josh Harding
Top Prospects:
Nikita Zadorov
Griffin Reinhart
Derrick Pouliot
Petr Mrazek
Brett Ritchie
I've built a team that consists of elite scorers and great two-way players. Claude Giroux has more points during the last 3 seasons than any other player in the NHL (Ranks 2nd in assists). Gustav Nyquist scored 23 goals in 28 games after having just 63 NHL games of experience, a feat that has only been accomplished two other times since 1990 (Bure and Ovechkin). Jeff Carter is tied for 13th in the NHL for most goals during the last 3 seasons. Giroux feeding the puck to these two elite goal scorers will be impossible for other teams defenses to stop.
The rest of my forward corps includes two players in Bergeron and Couturier that will be in the Selke Trophy discussion this season (and future seasons as well). Not only can they shut down the opponent's top lines with relative ease, they can also produce in the offensive end of the ice as well. Before a fluke knee injury caused by one of the dirtiest players in the NHL, Hertl was making a case for himself to win the Calder Trophy this season. Grabner, Tarasenko, Soderberg, Zajac and Kruger are great two way players who can play on both the PK and PP units and not look out of place in either role. And Matt Martin can hit people.
Ryan McDonagh is one of the best shutdown defensemen in the NHL. On top of that stellar defensive play, he's also found the time to score 14 goals and 43 points so far this season on a Rangers team that has struggled to score at times. Giordano is having a Norris worthy season while playing on one of the worst teams in the NHL. He consistently plays against the other teams top players and is somehow five points behind the teams leading scorer while playing 11 fewer games.
Coburn, Hamonic, Seidenberg and Boychuk will all benefit greatly from having McDonagh and Giordano to play the toughest minutes against the other teams top players. Coburn and Hamonic are d-men that are called upon to play top minutes on their respective teams due to the lack of depth and skill on those teams, and Seidenberg and Boychuk have proven that they can be integral players on a cup winning team.
Bernier and Harding are two goaltenders that rank in the top 10 in save percentage for goalies that have played more than 20 games this season. It's pretty remarkable to think about when you consider that one is playing while dealing with a debilitating disease, and the other is playing with multiple sclerosis.
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