I wanted both of those players in the off season before they signed along with Suter. Suter and Carle in the top 4 would have been amazing, and Semin would have been the Russian Datsyuk wanted on his wing. But the contract Carle signed with Tampa is way too much.
But still, imagine having this as our lineup.
Franzen Zetterberg Brunner
Flip Datsyuk Semin
Tatar Helm Nyquist
Tootoo Emmerton Abdelkader
Bert, Cleary, Mursak, Miller, Eaves, whoever else I missed. Not sure what we could have done with them, but meh, this is merely a fantasy.
OR
Franzen Zetterberg Brunner
Nyquist Datsyuk Semin
Tatar Flip Bert
Tootoo Helm Abdelkader
Suter Kronwall
Carle Ericsson
Smith White
Quincey, Kindl
OR, since we definitely could not get Suter
Kronwall Lashoff
Carle Smith
Quincey White
Kindl, Coliacovo
Those were my ideal lineups in the summer. We can roll 3 scoring lines, but the 3rd line will also have speed. Tatar and Nyquist would increase Helm's production as well. Or have Flip center the 3rd line and have a deadly line of Tootoo, Helm and Abby. Point is, there is a lot of flexibility with line combinations.