St. Louis Eagles
Coach:
Bun Cook
Alex Shibicky -
Marc Savard - Mac Colville
Alex Semin -
Jaroslav Holik -
Jason Pominville
Andre Boudrias -
Paul Haynes - David Backes (A)
Baldy Cotton -
Keith Acton (A) -
Dallas Drake (C)
Olli Jokinen,
Dave Reid
Doug Jarrett -
Kris Letang
Roman Hamrlik -
Brent Seabrook
Anders Eldebrink -
Bob Murdoch
Jack Campbell,
Lou Fontinato
Wilf Cude
Arturs Irbe
PP1
Shibicky-Savard-Pominville
Hamrlik-Letang
PP2
Boudrias-Haynes-Semin
Eldebrink-Seabrook
PK1
Acton-Drake
Jarrett-Murdoch
PK2
Boudrias-Backes
Hamrlik-Seabrook
Forwards
Savard is probably the best offensive player in the draft, so you've definitely got a good start there, and you've done a good job recreating the Bread Line. Savard is no Neil Colville(no one in this draft is), but he's as good a playmaking center as you'll see. Alex and Mac were the ones that were benefiting from Neil, so their scoring will be a little down with Savard, but this is still a solid first line.
The second line is sort of strange with its components, but it works fairly well. I always saw Semin as very one-dimensional as a goalscorer, but he's actually a balanced offensive player. Pominville and Semin are both pretty soft, but Holik should help in that area. Pominville brings a little defensive ability and Holik a little I guess, making up for Semin.
Third line should definitely be difficult to play against with Boudrias and Backes. All three bring defensive ability, and Haynes/Boudrias are both good playmakers. I don't think Backes is much of a finisher to capitalize on what Boudrias/Haynes create. Despite lacking a shooter, they'll probably score more than most third lines. A nice third line that brings a little bit of everything.
Fourth line should be very difficult to play against, lots of grittiness and defensive play while also not being inept offensively either.
A well constructed group of forwards here. The top 6 is offensively talented and competent enough defensively(not strong though), and the bottom 6 can grind with the best of them, put up points, and play respectable defense. The only real weakness I can see is the lack of a shooter on the 3rd line, and maybe the fact that you don't have a true shutdown unit, but the checking-by-committee by the 3rd and 4th lines should work fine.
Defense
Kris Letang has a place in the MLD, but I don't think it's on a top pairing. I know it's just one series and the entire team was terrible, but his defense in the EC finals against the Bruins was the worst display of positioning and defensive play I've ever seen from a #1 defenseman. Jarrett fits with Letang stylistically, but I just can't trust Letang on a first pairing here. His body of work is not long enough; he has 4 years(really 3.5) of relevant work. He's been great offensively in that time, but so has Mark Streit(my #6), and his offensive resume(3, 7, 8, 9, 12) to Letang's(1, 7, 17), is better. I don't like your first pairing because of Letang.
The second pairing is a good mix of size, good skating ability for big guys, physicality, and being good offensive/defensively. Both just solid guys that you can trust, and will be a good shutdown pairing.
I'm not sure what to make of Eldebrink, his time in the NHL was early in his career and he was pretty underwhelming, but if he would have came earlier/stuck with it, I think things would have been different. He's solid enough for a bottom pairing puckmover/PP option and Murdoch compliments him well.
Second and third pairing are good enough, but I really don't like Kris Letang.
Goaltending
I don't know much about Cude, I guess I see him as an above average goalie with two second team AS selections. The 35-36 selection seems a bit odd as he played on the worst team in the league and had the worst GAA of any goalie in the league. I guess they were that bad and he kept them from being even worse. Irbe is an okay backup, but he never really impressed me, playing a lot for poor teams.
PP
First unit looks good, second unit looks pretty good other than Seabrook, who is a bit of a weak spot on an MLD power play. I think Pominville has spent some time on the point on the power play, so you could consider putting him on the point, taking Seabrook off, and maybe putting Holik at wing and letting him wreak havoc in front of the net.
PK
First unit looks fine, not as big a fan of Boudrias on the second unit. He only killed penalties in four seasons, and two of them were for Vancouver teams that were awful. You could replace him with Haynes or maybe Cotton, but I'm not sure either is a clear upgrade.
Coach
I'd say Cook is one of the better coaches in the draft, but I don't think too much of any of the coaches here and I'm not sure much separates the best from the worst.
