Branny and JBD line-up well together. If we add to current line-up I suggested before, then play Aspirot with Thomson and see how the latter joins in the play. That means resting Williams, Leslie and Heatherington.
From what I know and saw from Heatherington (very small sample size), I'd be shocked if he wasn't a regular. He was most likely brought to be Top-4 and he'll make 250 000$ this season so it would be crazy if he wasn't. Might actually be a good partner for Thomson to develop his game.
Bernard is a pure rookie, not even 1 pro game, he'll start from the bottom. Same with Guenette but he was drafted and has more potential. Leslie also has a lot of AHL experience, should be a regular. Same with Williams, he has AHL experience but I'm hoping Guenette plays over him, I didn't really like what I saw from Williams last season. Maybe he'll be better with what should be a much better team around him
JBD starts the season in Belleville, needs to gain pro experience and anyway, a bit of a logjam in Ottawa for now. I think Brannstrom will be in Ottawa, despite everything they're doing to make it hard for him.
Heatherington-Thomson
Aspirot-JBD
Leslie-Guenette
Bernard-Williams