Swamp Devils Powerplay
Now that I have all the pieces, I think it's time to explain how the Swamp Devils powerplay will work.
First Unit
On the faceoff: Vyacheslav Starshinov - Henri Richard - Maurice Richard - Babe Pratt - Dan Boyle
In the offensive zone:
The first powerplay will involve constant movement by the Richard brothers in the offensive zone, which will confuse and tire out the defense.
Point Men:
Babe Pratt (left handed) - Dan Boyle (right handed, primary QB)
Dan Boyle isn't an elite PP QB in the All-Time draft, but he is still a very good one, in my opinion he is very slightly behind Zubov and Housley as a PP QB. He will be the primary QB of the Swamp Devils PP. Since he is only playing bottom pairing minutes at even strength, this frees him up to play massive minutes on the powerplay.
I chose Pratt over Quackenbush for the first unit because I think his skillset works better for the powerplay. Their overall offense is close to even I think, but anecdotes suggest they got their points in different ways. Quack's profiles rave about how he "controlled the pace of the game like Doug Harvey," "rushed the puck like Eddie Shore." These are transition abilities. I expect Quack to put up more points at even strength than Pratt. But Pratt's LOH profile raves about his ability to keep play pinned in the offensive zone - a huge advantage on the powerplay. This also allows Quack to focus on a more defensive role.
Forwards:
Henri Richard (roaming) - Vyacheslav Starshinov (net) - Maurice Richard (moving/high slot/half boards)
Henri Richard might have never gotten PP ice time on the stacked Canadiens back when teams only had one 5 man PP unit. But I think his skillset is perfect for what I would call a "roamer" on a certain modern powerplay setup. Basically, he will have no set position on the powerplay, and will use his speed, smarts, and tenacity, to roam at will in the offensive zone - chasing and retrieving pucks and looking to create 2-on-1s down low. This is similar to the role Patrik Elias played for years on the NJ Devils, including when they had the league's best PP.
Henri Richard is an excellent playmaker and will have many options when he gets the puck on his stick:
The first option is to pass to his brother, Maurice. Maurice won't have a set position either, but won't roam as much as his brother - he'll usually be found in the high slot or along the half boards. Maurice's job without the puck is to move around and look for openings in the coverage to get his deadly shot off. With someone as dangerous as Maurice on the move, I wouldn't be surprised if an opposing defenseman basically shadowed him on the penalty kill, which of course means only one defenseman will be covering the other two forwards. When Maurice does get open, he has one of the most accurate shots of all time from any area of the ice.
The second option is Starshinov in front of the net. Starshinov might be the most physically strong Soviet forward of all time, and goals in front of the net are his bread and butter (compared to Phil Esposito in style).
Third option is to send the puck back to the points. And of course, Henri Richard can also shoot the puck himself, finishing top 10 in goals twice while receiving no powerplay time.
Second Unit
On the faceoff: Todd Bertuzzi - Clint Smith - Zigmund Palffy - Bill Quackenbush - Boyle / Art Coulter
In the offensive zone:
This unit will show the penalty killers a different look, with Smith and Palffy taking more stationary positions along opposing half boards.
Point Men:
The pointmen from the first unit always stay on longer than the forwards (since their job is less tiring). So the second unit forwards will see significant time with Pratt/Boyle. Pratt will change at a set time (sometime after the first 1:20 or so) and Boyle will have the option to stay on or change.
Bill Quackenbush (left handed) - Dan Boyle / Art Coulter (right handed)
Quackenbush will replace Pratt and has quite a bit of skill with the puck himself. Coulter will do mop up duty on the right side once Boyle changes. He's not great offensively in this context, but he's not awful. This allows me to have my top shutdown pair (Quackenbush - Coulter) on the ice at the conclusion of an unsuccessful power play, a huge plus for obvious reasons.
Forwards:
Clint Smith (left half boards) - Todd Bertuzzi (net) - Zigmund Palffy (QB from the right half boards)
Palffy will more or less run the second PP from the right side halfboards, like he did in the NHL (and like Markus Naslund did for Bert from the left side).
This unit is simple - Bert will put his big body in front of the goalie. For 3 years, Bert was an amazing power play goal scorer, including leading the league in power play goals once.
Palffy and Smith will take their spots on opposing half boards, and both men can both shoot and pass at a high level.
