tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
1st Forward Line (Steve Thomas(A)-Billy Taylor-Ray Sheppard)
I think everyone agrees that Stumpy Thomas is a highly desirable LW in this league. Billy Taylor is also a pretty good playmaking C. I'm not as keen on Sheppard but there's nothing wrong with him in this role. Well-balanced line, and it translates nicely to your first PP unit. The tough thing is getting consistent performances out of Taylor and Sheppard, who were very up-and-down in their careers.
2nd Forward Line (Cory Stillman-Erich Kuhnhackl-Cliff Koroll)
A very solid 2nd line, as long as you can sell Kuhnhackl. Much like I experienced with Kiessling, there's pretty much no viable way to translate German-league success into elite-league terms. He has some international success going for him, but doesn't have the Golden Stick voting that one would expect. Come playoff time, your opponents are probably going to go straight for him as a potential weak link in a critical part of the lineup. Otherwise, I like Stillman as a versatile and adaptable LW, Koroll a dependable two-way RW. How the board interprets Kuhnhackl means everything to this line.
3rd Forward Line (Andrew Brunette-Kelly Kisio (A)-Tony Granato)
Brunette and Granato always left me wanting more. Decent third-line wingers who will get their 20-30 goals a year like clockwork. Assuming they are played in a more defensive role, Brunette will be a defensive liability. Kisio and Granato are good defensive-line players.
4th Forward Line (Eric Vail-Alexei Guryshev-Martin Havlat)
I don't get Vail as a 4th liner. He was a one-way offensive guy who had discipline issues and didn't get along with his coaches, all of which shortened his career. Of all your LWs, he's the one I'd least expect to thrive on a 4th line. Havlat makes more sense as a two-way winger with some decent upside. I'll leave Guryshev to the guys who like to argue about the early-era Euros; my only contribution is that he's a good stylistic fit with these wingers. As a scoring line this is well balanced, but I'm really not sure Vail is going to skate 10 minutes a night and be happy about it. And that means your third line is the shutdown group? With Andrew Brunette matched up against opposing RWs? Not sure about that either.
Forward Spares (Frank Rankin and Dave Semenko)
Frank Rankin is a really solid spare goal-scoring rover. He will slot nicely into whatever forward spot comes open, provided goal scoring is his main responsibility. I'm not sure Semenko belongs in the MLD to be honest. Not a fan of dressing goons against elite competition. Unless you are up against another team with a goon on its active roster, I'm not sure why he would ever dress.
1st Defense Pairing (Jeff Brown-Joe Jerwa(C))
Brown is a good offensive specialist and PP guy. I like Jerwa as his partner stylistically, but didn't Jerwa have a really short career? That might be an issue for what is basically your #1 defenseman and captain. Just curious, why give him the C?
2nd Defense Pairing (John Van Boxmeer-Dave Lewis)
I like these two guys together. Van Boxmeer is one of those players whose reputation would have increased threefold if he had played in Toronto instead of Colorado.
3rd Defense Pairing (Bruce Driver-Billy Coutu)
This might be my favorite 3rd pair in the whole league
You want someone dependable anchoring the bottom pair, and that's exactly what Bruce Driver is. His PP ability is a nice bonus too. Coutu brings a nasty element, but he is an obvious candidate for suspension issues. Spares (Yuri Fedorov and Bob Turner)
Both are nice spares to have on hand. I assume Fedorov will be in line to replace Jerwa due to short-career issues, and Turner to replace Coutu when he is in jail or whatever. Both seem like the right guy for their role.
Goaltenders (Ryan Miller and Gerry McNeil)
I really like Ryan Miller as an MLD goalie. If he hadn't fallen off a bit the past couple of seasons he might be pushing ATD territory by now. McNeil is an adequate backup.
Power Play (Thomas-Taylor-Sheppard-Brown-Jerwa and Brunette-Kuhnhackl-Granato-Van Boxmeer-Driver)
I'd consider switching Jerwa and Driver, but your first unit overall is pretty good. If you're going to have Vail on the roster, you may as well try and work him into the PP where he adds a lot of value. Also, not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but you're almost forced to roll Brown-Jerwa out immediately after a failed PP due to the composition of the second unit.
Penalty Kill (Granato-Kisio-Jerwa-Driver and Koroll-Kuchnachl-Van Boxmeer-Lewis)
Love the first unit. In fact the defense on both units looks really good. How much do we know about Kuhnhackl's defensive game? He's the only possible weak link I see here.
Coach: Marc Crawford
Never been a fan of Crawford, even back when he was a hotshot with the Avs. He's prone to gaffes and a bit too full of his own Kool-Aid for my liking. But then again, I drafted Don Cherry, so who am I to talk?
Overall
There are elements of this roster that I really like. It's a very shrewd, savvy group of players. Lots of guys who know how to scratch and claw for a win. The defense is a group I wouldn't mind taking into a playoff series, and Miller is a very good goalie behind them. Kuhnhackl is a huge x-factor, because he's the only forward on the team playing top-6 minutes AND both specialty teams. That seems like a huge risk unless you can definitively prove that he belongs in that role. Also, with Vail on the 4th line it seems to me you have both a speed issue and a defense issue on the left side. Thomas is fine defensively of course, but Stillman and Brunette are not guys I would want to match against high-end RWs. I think you're going to get a lot of your offense from the slot and crease areas, and puck possession will be extremely important in order to take advantage of those net-front guys. With the right matchups, this is a team that could do some serious damage in 7-game playoff series where they can grind and battle their way to victory. You're going to have to sell Crawford as a coach who can pull that off.
