And i think you meant Jokinen and not Filppula to be switched with Pulkkinen? Because Pulkkinen & Filppula are in the same line... Maybe that would be better but i would also like to see how well Lehterä would work with Pulkkinen... Also Filppula & Jokinen could also be switched around but i think Filppula would help Lehterä more. Filppulas speed, skills in stick-handling, puck moving and Pulkkinen's shot could work as "Tarasenko" substitute that might work very well together and even better with Lehterä.
Yeah, that was a lapse. What I meant is that I could see a line like Granlund - Lehterä - Pulkkinen work beautifully, all parts complementing each other. Lehterä as a dynamo in the middle with Granlund providing the puck-moving and stick-handling and Pulkkinen with the cannon. Not that they're bad lines as they are.
But Timonen... yeah. There's one-in-a-hundred chance he'll turn his decision to retire around and goes for one mo', but to be available in 2018 when he'll be 43-44? Said chances are absolutely zero. And even if he was still playing, somewhere... who in their right mind would have him when we, apart from Määttä, Vatanen and Ristolainen also should have at least some of Lindell, Pokka and Honka available who can do the same things as he does?
Your mistake here seems to be that you don't quite seem to grasp how much the landscape will change in the next three years. Most of our current stable names born in the 80s will be around 35, whereas the "kids" will be 23-to-27 years old - players in their prime.
2016 will still be bit of a two-generation team, but 2018? To believe that players like Pulkkinen, Armia, Ma.Granlund, Pokka, Honka, Lindell, Teräväinen, Salomäki and who else are still pining for the sidelines waiting for their big chance should not be the status quo. To believe that they'll all be in the league, having made a name of themselves, is not just "optimistic", and even "realistic" is bit of an understatement. No, to have anyone else but them in these projections is nothing but
unacceptable. They will be the core of the team.
Then we'll have two other groups. The "new kids", born in the late 90s like Puljujärvi, Juolevi, Laine taking their first strides in the league, and the old-timers, who are our current 30somethings. Out of that group, Koivu will be there to provide the leadership if nothing else, but the likes of Jokinen, Ruutu, Bergenheim, even Filppula will only make it if there are still holes to fill after all the viable 90-borns have been picked. There should be some, but something's gone really knockers up if we're about to see 'em all.
This (or close) is what we should aspire for 2018:
Rask (Ortio)
Määttä - Vatanen
Lindell - Honka
Lindbohm - Ristolainen
Jokipakka
Mi.Granlund - Lehterä - Pulkkinen
Teräväinen - Barkov - Armia
Ma.Granlund - Filppula - Puljujärvi
Komarov - Koivu - Korpikoski
J.Jokinen
...and by some accounts, even this could be a slightly conservative estimate.
I admit, he figured into my projections a while back, but no way he's gonna make it after that failed Toronto excursion. Koivu, Granlund x2, Barkov, Lehterä, Filppula, Teräväinen... one thing we're not hurting for are highly usable NHL centermen. I guess the writer figured "Finns always pick some Euro guys, who do they have.... right, him."
