We could literally run over the league and that's what makes me really sad. With this personnel and a little tinkering, we could run the league. It's pissing me off to the point of sadness.
Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kapanen, AJ, Kadri, Marleau. What team has their top 6 talent stretch all the way to the third line in the depth charts? No team. Doesn't matter how you spin the line-ups; just put all the skill with skill and have one dedicated checking line. That Bergeron line is one of the best lines I have ever seen and it is coincidentally all three of their team's best offensive players and they compliment each other very well.
AJ/Grundstrom - Matthews - Marner/Kapanen
Grundstrom/AJ - Nylander - Kapanen/Marner
Marleau - Kadri - Hyman
After that I do not care.
If properly put together we could have a forward group that would resemble the 2010 Blackhawks. I noticed your lines don't have JVR/Bozak so I'm assuming they're meant for future lines, which are still ridiculous lines.
What we could have potentially had this year:
JVR-Matthews-Leivo
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
Johnsson-Nylander-Kapanen
Hyman-Bozak-Brown
Show me another team in the league who could run 4 lines like that with that level of speed and skill spread throughout the lines. That's honestly deeper than 2010 Chicago's forward group. But we don't, because we have a coach who's obsessed with lines needing to be composed of X, Y and Z and we end up mixing skilled plugs/grinders with skilled forwards all because he refuses to change his outlook of the game.
Endless combinations and possibilities, all useless and unexplored. Half the f***ing year we had Komarov in there. Game 2 of the playoffs and it's the first time we saw Matthews play a game without Hyman. Seriously makes me sad seeing all that potential squandered over pure stubbornness/ego, I feel we were robbed of something special. What do we get instead? LOL KOMAROV ON THE TOP LINE