You can never have too many centers or too many D men.

I'd never be opposed to grabbing a guy like Bonino or Anisinov and moving someone to wing until an inevitable injury occurs

Same reason I'd grab as many top 4 d men as humanly possible.
- sbroads24

O'Reilly should be our guy that matches up against opposing teams top lines, like Kesler.

I also wouldn't mind picking up Bonino or Anisimov (depending on price).

I'd offer Chicago Fasching straight up for Anisimov

O'Reilly should be our guy that matches up against opposing teams top lines, like Keller

I also wouldn't mind picking up Bonino or Anisimov (depending on price).

I'd offer Chicago Fasching straight up for Anisimov
- chilliard77

EXACTLY
Idk how some ppl don't see that

I do want Sam at center, but to match him or Eichel up against the other top centers at this point just doesn't make sense

We also have multiple wingers that are about to be NHL-ready
I think we should build down the middle,
and fill in with the young wingers around them

1C- Eichel
2C- O'Reilly
3C- Reinhart

Now that's a center group capable of winning a Cup

EXACTLY
Idk how some ppl don't see that

I do want Sam at center, but to match him or Eichel up against the other top centers at this point just doesn't make sense

We also have multiple wingers that are about to be NHL-ready
I think we should build down the middle,
and fill in with the young wingers around them

1C- Eichel
2C- O'Reilly
3C- Reinhart

Now that's a center group capable of winning a Cup

- jdfitz77

Agreed. Now that Sam has a few years experience, he needs to play his natural position. Thinking back to WJ18's he was dominant at that position and was the go to guy for Dzone play. The issue as we know is who plays 3 of the top 4,wings?
Gotta hope Ennis comes around and picks up where he left off the last say 10 games of the season, along with at least one of Bailey/Baptiste emerges.

Agreed. Now that Sam has a few years experience, he needs to play his natural position. Thinking back to WJ18's he was dominant at that position and was the go to guy for Dzone play. The issue as we know is who plays 3 of the top 4,wings?
Gotta hope Ennis comes around and picks up where he left off the last say 10 games of the season, along with at least one of Bailey/Baptiste emerges.
- IonSabres

While I expect us to (at the very least) compete for the playoffs this season,
It's not realistic to think we'd have a shot at the Cup

So I'm kinda looking at it for the 2018 season & beyond

Do we have the wingers NOW, to fill out the top9?
No, we don't
BUT...
let's get Sam a full year at Center,
so that by next season he should be comfortable

Also by next year...
Okposo- will be there
Kane- may or may not be re-signed, so who knows
Ennis- we'll know if he rebounded or not
Nylander- should be good to go
Bailey & Baptiste- likely make the roster this year, so they should be able to be productive next year as well
Carrier, Rodrigues & Fasching- could prove to be ready for top9 play as well
Foligno, Larsson & Girgensons- all have shown to be decent 3rd liners, & if enough of the above work out would be a really good 4th line imo

With just what we have right now,
Forward lines in next season could look something like this:

Nylander-Eichel-Baptiste... lots of scoring ability & a great skating line
Bailey-O'Reilly-Okposo... Ennis could fit here if he rebounds though
Kane-Reinhart-Rodrigues... could be a tough matchup for most teams
Foligno-Larsson-Girgensons... nice 4th line

And that leaves Fasching, Carrier & Cj Smith as trade bait
Or sub them in somewhere & whoever comes out is trade bait

And this is if we bring in zero forwards
I think we are in good shape up front

The more I look at it,
there's a bunch of teams with issues at forward when it comes to expansion

Another forward we could look to poach...
James Neal

Nashville will go 4-4-1 and protect their defense
At forward, they will for sure protect Johansen, Forsberg & Arvidsson

Do they protect Neal as the 4th?
He will be 30 to start next season, going into the last year of his contract
I think they might wanna protect Jarnkrok instead
He's younger, cheaper, and most importantly a center
I think they see Jarnkrok as their #2 for the next few seasons at least

So then do they let Vegas snag Neal?
Or would they rather trade him,
and let Vegas take Colin Wilson or Craig Smith?
Either of them we could potentially trade for as well