First line:
My first line was built to resemble the real life line of Moore - H. Richard - M. Richard, which had outstanding success during their time together. Bucyk and Moore's playstyles are very similar. Both made their names as gritty, tough players that thrived in the corners and who were decent defensively. The Richard brothers shouldn't lose much of a step with Bucyk in Moore's spot.
First impression is that I've got you beat at C and RW decisively. The gaps vary as Henri > Kennedy while Maurice >>>> Middleton. Mahovlich is definitively better than Bucyk. I've got Mahovlich as the 3rd best LW in this draft, while Bucyk is somewhere in the bottome tier of 1st line LWers (probably 10th place). However, this shouldn't be much of a big problem as Bucyk is not the centerpiece of his line but simply a facilitator and because I believe the chemistry between him and the Richard brothers will also even things out. Also, the gap between Mahovlich and Bucyk is not enough to offset the gap between our Cs and RWs.
Both of our first lines are pretty decent defensively. Offensively, I think my line is better. VsX data supports this as these are the scores (7 years):
Maurice: 105.7
Henri: 85.6
Mahovlich: 85.5
Bucyk: 85.3
Kennedy: 81.5
Middleton: 74.0
Bisons total: 276.6
Canadiens total: 241.0
That's a 35 point difference. Now, Bucyk's score is overrated due to the 70s Bruins effect, but this is more than made up with Henri being underrated. Year in and year out Henri was among the leaders in ES points but his PP totals lagged behind everyone else's since he was playing behind Beliveau. Remove Beliveau and Henri's offensive totals are much better (at the cost of a few Stanley Cups). Here's
Henri's ATD bio done by TDMM to show this effect.
Second line:
For my second line, Apps and Drillon have been reunited. Unlike in real life, where Apps and Drillon were often paired with a poor defensive LW (Schriner or Jackson), Howe takes the LW spot providing much needed two way play.
Whereas I clearly think my first line outclassed your second line, our second lines are much closer to each other. I definitely have the edge at C as Apps is significantly better than Sundin. Cournoyer is better than Drillon but not by much. Howe vs Zetterberg is much tougher. Both are the defensive stalwarts on their lines. I'm gonna say Howe is a bit better than Zetterberg. So what we're left with is Cournoyer > Drillon, Howe > Zetterberg, and Apps >>> Sundin. Apps is pretty much the best player here, and I believe he is what breaks the tie as our wingers are pretty equal to each other.
Looking at the VsX scores, all three of my players rank 1-3. Apps VsX is definitely hurt by him leaving for WW2, but this could be offset by Howe's boost due to him staying during WW2. Also, I've got the reason why Drillon's VsX is so high playing right with him, so his VsX probably needs no further adjustment.
Apps: 93.0
Drillon: 88.1
Howe: 87.9
Sundin: 82.3
Zetterberg: 76.7
Cournoyer: 73.6
Defensively, I think your line is better. Zetterberg and Howe are a wash, but Sundin is probably better than Apps and Cournoyer is most likely better than Drillon, but that's not saying much
. In conclusion, Apps is the deciding factor here, and why I think I've got the better second line.
I'll get in into our bottom six later.
