This team turned out pretty well. Very strong up the middle with seven very capable face-off men--we wouldn't lose a lot of draws . A group that would probably own the puck as its loaded with players known for their two-way ability. No true #1 D but a good four, maybe five guys capable of playing upwards of 20 minutes a night. Schmaltz is a guy that'll see some time in St Louis this year--he'd benefit greatly playing some soft minutes next to a vet like Staal.
I like my goalie tandem as well. Darling is an emerging #1 who had some very solid numbers with Chicago and Halak nearly pulled the Isles into the playoffs after being called up late last season. He could push for the starting job in NYI this season.
One weakness is there is no true sniper for Backstrom, who is an elite playmaker. That's not to say some of these guys can't finish though. The big gamble is Nail Yakupov who'd play some seriously sheltered minutes and get a shot next to Backstrom on the PP.
Seeing as several of these players are definitely due for either a bounce back season (Plekanec) or an uptick in production due to increased roles (Haula, Yakupov, Bjorkstand) this team didn't see its offense meet its full potential this past season. Fast forward to 2017/18 and these guys would be a serious contender.
LW/RW Nick Foligno (Age 29, 26-25-51, Captain) - C Nicklas Backstrom (Age 29, 23-63-86) - C/RW Mikael Granlund (Age 25, 26-43-69)
LW/C/RW JT Miller (Age 24, 22-34-56) - C Tomas Plekanec (Age 34, 10-18-28) - RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (Age 22, 6-7-13 in 26GP)
LW/C Erik Haula (Age 26, 15-11-26) - C Radek Faksa (Age 23, 12-21-33) - RW Tobias Rieder (Age 24, 16-18-34)
LW Marcus Foligno (Age 26, 13-10-23, 279 hits) - C Jay Beagle (Age 31, 13-17-30, 56.4%FO) - RW Nail Yakupov (Age 23, 3-6-9 in 40GP)
LD Jake Gardiner (Age 27, 9-34-43) - RD Colton Parayko (Age 24, 4-31-35)
LD Jake McCabe (Age 23, 3-17-20) - RD Ryan Ellis (Age 26, 16-22-38)
LD Marc Staal (Age 30, 3-7-10) - RD Jordan Schmaltz (Age 23, 0-2-2 in 9GP, 25P in 42G in AHL)
G Scott Darling (Age 28, 18-5-5, 0.924sv%)
G Jaroslav Halak (Age 32, 12-9-5, 0.915sv%)
220 GOALS SCORED IN 2016/17
TOTAL CAP SPENT: $66.194m (M. Foligno pending)
I like my goalie tandem as well. Darling is an emerging #1 who had some very solid numbers with Chicago and Halak nearly pulled the Isles into the playoffs after being called up late last season. He could push for the starting job in NYI this season.
One weakness is there is no true sniper for Backstrom, who is an elite playmaker. That's not to say some of these guys can't finish though. The big gamble is Nail Yakupov who'd play some seriously sheltered minutes and get a shot next to Backstrom on the PP.
Seeing as several of these players are definitely due for either a bounce back season (Plekanec) or an uptick in production due to increased roles (Haula, Yakupov, Bjorkstand) this team didn't see its offense meet its full potential this past season. Fast forward to 2017/18 and these guys would be a serious contender.
LW/RW Nick Foligno (Age 29, 26-25-51, Captain) - C Nicklas Backstrom (Age 29, 23-63-86) - C/RW Mikael Granlund (Age 25, 26-43-69)
LW/C/RW JT Miller (Age 24, 22-34-56) - C Tomas Plekanec (Age 34, 10-18-28) - RW Oliver Bjorkstrand (Age 22, 6-7-13 in 26GP)
LW/C Erik Haula (Age 26, 15-11-26) - C Radek Faksa (Age 23, 12-21-33) - RW Tobias Rieder (Age 24, 16-18-34)
LW Marcus Foligno (Age 26, 13-10-23, 279 hits) - C Jay Beagle (Age 31, 13-17-30, 56.4%FO) - RW Nail Yakupov (Age 23, 3-6-9 in 40GP)
LD Jake Gardiner (Age 27, 9-34-43) - RD Colton Parayko (Age 24, 4-31-35)
LD Jake McCabe (Age 23, 3-17-20) - RD Ryan Ellis (Age 26, 16-22-38)
LD Marc Staal (Age 30, 3-7-10) - RD Jordan Schmaltz (Age 23, 0-2-2 in 9GP, 25P in 42G in AHL)
G Scott Darling (Age 28, 18-5-5, 0.924sv%)
G Jaroslav Halak (Age 32, 12-9-5, 0.915sv%)
220 GOALS SCORED IN 2016/17
TOTAL CAP SPENT: $66.194m (M. Foligno pending)
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