You give, you get. I hope Silfverberg is great in Anaheim. Though I still hate the Ducks from 2007!
Hindsight looking back at trades is fruitless. I think it was a good trade and you always make this trade. Silfverberg could be a great scorer. But 30 goals in his last 6 seasons and only 26 years old. Former 2nd overall pick. You just have to make the deal.
I seriously think that IF Spezza is healthy, Ryan has a shot at 40 goals this year. He gets to finally breakout to be the #1 option, play 20+ mins a night. Maybe PK a bit with Spezza. I would use them as a Duo and rotate LWers in and whoever is hot is with them.
I LOVE the idea of Duos. Spezza-Ryan Turris-MacArthur Pageau-Condra Smith Neil
Zinbanejad is a wildcard and could centre Smith and Neil or play wing on any line. LW just rotates until the best lines emerge.
Imagine if the team felt comfortable enough to do these two things on defence. Pair Cowen with Karlsson. Second, believe enough in Gryba to pair him in a shutdown role with Methot. This may not happen until later in the season after Gryba and Cowen show they are playing well. Then the bottom pair is Phillips/Wiercioch- Corvo. Wiercioch or Corvo play the PP.
Conacher - Spezza - Ryan - scoring line 1
MacArthur - Turris - Michalek - Scoring line 2
Smith - Zibanead - Neil - Physical Banging line (hopefully with some offence)
Greening - Pageau - Condra - Energy "pesky" line
Cowen - Karlsson
Methot - Gryba
Wiercioch - Corvo
Philips
Or if it is the playoffs and you need to be Morseo Defensive
Greening - Spezza - Ryan
MacArthur - Turris - Michalek
Smith - Zibanead - Condra - Shut down line
Conacher - Pageau - Neil - Super Energy "pesky" Line
Cowen - Karlsson
Methot - Gryba
Phillips - Corvo
Murray did an amazing job getting Ryan, and MacArthur and Corvo for $900K!
Your forward lines I think are exactly how the season will start, but I expect that one of Stone/Hoffman will make a push for a roster spot, fairly early on.
Also, I don’t mind Zibanejad playing with Neil and Smith, as long as he gets some Powerplay time. Playing along side Neil will help develop his physical play, and the combination of Neil and Smith should create some time and space for Mika to do his thing.
I think I read that MacArthur can play the point on the PP. So for PP unit 2, I would like to see:
Turris-Zibanejad-Conacher (Turris and Conacher available for one-timers if they play on their “off†wing)
MacArthur-Weircioch