My lists (I’m not differentiating LD vs RD, but will try to do LW vs RW):
Favorites (the lines/pairings are divided by position, in order of how much I liked them. So my first line is my favorite LW, C and RW. My 2nd line is my 2nd-favorite at each of those, etc.):
Calvert - Cassels - Atkinson
Nash - Letestu - Dineen
Foligno - Fedorov - Vyborny
Shelley - Andrew Murray - Wright
Additional thoughts: Wow, LW is absolutely loaded for me as far as “favorites” go. Couldn’t fit in guys like Prospal, Umberger, Jenner, Duclair (who might actually be my favorite, but since he only played 75% of a season here...), Hartnell, MacKenzie, Modin, Whitney, Huselius, Nyquist... Some of those guys would probably be on a list of my favorite 12 CBJ forwards, but since I’m dividing by position, too bad. Tough to leave off Bjorkstrand, Voracek, Boll, Peca, Dorsett and Malhotra, too, and some of the other early ones like Grant Marshall, Kevyn Adams, Steve Heinze, Bruce Gardiner (first ever goal!) Also have a weird soft spot for Sean Pronger and David Ling.
Odelein-Savard
Jones-Gavrikov
Aucoin-Tyutin
Additional thoughts: Jack Johnson basically after his trade here through 2016-17 was very high on my favorite list. But his last season here coupled with his comments after leaving have left a sour taste in my mouth. Aucoin was only here a season but he was a great teammate. I think he had a pretty underrated impact on our long-term culture change. Leaving Wiz and Hejda off was tough.
Bobrovsky
Elvis
HM: Denis, Tugnutt
Best (unscientific combo of both peak and longevity. For example, I have Nash ahead of Panarin, though I think Panarin was the better player for us, because Nash did it here for a decade and they’re in the same ballpark of talent. Although Foligno has the longevity on Panarin, I think the gap between the two in skill is large enough that Panarin is still ahead of Nick for me.
Again, forwards are split by position [a few of the honorable mention LWs might be better otherwise than a few of the Cs/RWs.] The lines/pairings are simply in order of who I thought was best, not sorted by a hypothetical “line chemistry” if they played together).
Nash - Dubois - Atkinson
Panarin - Johansen - Vyborny
Foligno - Dubinsky - Zherdev
Whitney - Knutsen - Bjorkstrand
HM: Umberger, Vermette, Calvert, Hartnell, Prospal, Jenner, Anderson, Brassard, Cassels, Malhotra, Huselius, Fedorov, Sanderson
Jones - Savard
Tyutin - Z
Hejda - Johnson
HM: Methot, Klesla, Wiz, Ryan Murray
Bobrovsky
Denis
HM: Korpisalo, Mason, Leclaire
The funny/sad thing is, if you took that roster (with all of them in their “CBJ primes”) and threw it into today’s NHL, I think they’d be the favorite to win the Presidents Trophy, but it’s not like it’s highly likely or even probable (i.e., above 50% chance) they would. Which is pretty sad for a “best of” team of 20 years.
Edited to add some other early CBJ throwbacks to my “favorites” list, and to add Sanderson to my “best” honorable mention (he should definitely be in the discussion, though I wouldn’t put him above any of my 4 LWs I currently have).
