Travis Yost: Center of Attention

Just to kind of recap:

Turris is a 1LC but the team would ideally prefer him at 2LC, where we think Zibanejad is, whom the team wants ideally at 1LC, but Legwand is signed possibly to be the 2LC. And Zack Smith already plays 15+ TOI a night between EV and PK.

I hear Chris Kelly still has a house in OTT

Yeah it's quite a situation. (BTW thanks for rescuing us from that last blog's run of comments)

To me, the lineup lends itself to a very balanced 4 line rotation. Whether MacLean sees it this way, I don't know. KT, MZ, DL are probably fairly equal in talent and defensive responsibility. Smith is probably (definitely) better without Neil and Greening. I'd like to see this, with nearly equal times given to the top 3 lines, and slightly less to the 4th. Top three can be deployed at will, to match up against the opposition:

Mac-Turris-Ryan
Michalek-Legwand-Chiasson
Hoffman-MZ-Stone
Pageau/Smith-Condra

ZS is a lefty, might be ok on the wing with a responsible centre. There are just so many guys signed, and not enough spots. Just like on D.

There's a lot of flexibility here that needs to be balanced against finding good chemistry and sticking with it. It's gonna be interesting!

Just to kind of recap:

Turris is a 1LC but the team would ideally prefer him at 2LC, where we think Zibanejad is, whom the team wants ideally at 1LC, but Legwand is signed possibly to be the 2LC. And Zack Smith already plays 15+ TOI a night between EV and PK.
- Travis Yost

I think Smith's TOI get's pushed down to about 10-12 mins a night and he will get PK time.

If they want to put Zibby as L1 does that mean he gets Mac and Ryan as his wingers?

Good post. I love Kyle Turris, but the Murray comments hit the nail on the head, he's a great #2 centre. Leaving him in that position is best for him and the team. However, this is difficult at the moment without a bonafide #1 centre. I think Zibby can improve this year, but will he develop into a #1 guy? To me, that is wishful thinking at his age. I like the addition of Legwand to alleviate the pressure on both Turris and Zibby and he'll be fine if he is used in a lesser role if Turris and Zibby play lights out.

Seeing this year is a rebuilding year, we don't have all the pieces we need just yet. It's important to still try to players where they will be most successful and where you see them fitting in the longterm.

Just to kind of recap:

Turris is a 1LC but the team would ideally prefer him at 2LC, where we think Zibanejad is, whom the team wants ideally at 1LC, but Legwand is signed possibly to be the 2LC. And Zack Smith already plays 15+ TOI a night between EV and PK.
- Travis Yost

Of course, all of this is extremely fluid, If Turris comes out and scores 70-80 points while playing the same defensively I assume they will then feel comfortable touting him as the 1C.

It's really up to Mika and Kyle to dictate who takes what slot.

We still have a few extra bodies... I do know that injuries will happen but can you assume Pageau and Ceci start in the AHL and are the first callups?

Considering how unproven our wingers are I think our team will roll out the Top 3 lines for the first month or 2 and see which players perform better and have good chemistry. I hope Stone or Chiasson can prove to be effective enough next to Turris and we can move Ryan on a different line, as that will be critical to our scoring depth throughout the year. The other thing I want to see is avoiding a rookie line so to say. We have Legwand and Michalek as NHL veterans so if we can avoid having them play together then it puts less pressure on a line like Hoffman-Zib-Stone/Chiasson/Lazar/Condra?

Also, if Lazar proves to be a mainstay in this lineup as a RW and Chiasson and Stone prove to be mainstays on the team then I would move Ryan to the LW as he has experience there, and roll out lines similar to this based on chemistry:

MacArthur-Turris-Stone
Ryan-Zibanejad-Chiasson
Michalek-Legwand-Lazar
Greening/Hoffman-Smith-Neil/Condra

But again lots of things can derail this lineup, mainly Lazar not sticking on the big club, carrying 8D instead of 7 which is required for the scenario above, trading for a Top 6 LW like Sharp/Kane which has been discussed in various message boards, or just trading away players in general.

We still have a few extra bodies... I do know that injuries will happen but can you assume Pageau and Ceci start in the AHL and are the first callups?
- riceroni

Ceci's making the team ...

Ceci's making the team ...
- Travis Yost

Will he even have time for hockey while he's running his national chain of peddling low-end pizzas?

Will he even have time for hockey while he's running his national chain of peddling low-end pizzas?
- eichiefs9

It is possible.

I think all of our lines will attack really well and we will have better balance then before - with Spezza we had more high end skill and with Legwand and Chiasson I think we will have more size and 2-Way hockey IQ, perhaps players that are more coachable within Macleans system.

Maclean wants the puck going up the middle of the ice and we have 3 centers now that can do that - and Zach Smith will do his thing. But if we can have EK and Ceci getting the puck through the center of the ice to the centers (which we will be much better at this season) our attack will be good. Not overwhelming - but if it is a 3-2 league we have te horses to get us 3 and play 2 way to keep the opposition at 2.

Our PP loses somehting but if Ryan and Zibby can be solid on the PP we will more then make up for that - and if we can get Weircoche in space on the blueline on the PP we will have perhaps one of the best blueline PP's in the game and a good down low presence with Ryan, Legwand and Zibby.

Ceci's making the team ...
- Travis Yost

Maybe Boro starts in the AHL and get called up but if we lose him to waivers no big deal..

Here is my ideal lineup with Boro starting in the AHL because we need to get one body out... 23 man roster

FORWARDS
Clarke MacArthur ($3.250m) / Kyle Turris ($3.500m) / Bobby Ryan ($5.100m)
Milan Michalek ($4.000m) / Mika Zibanejad ($0.894m) / Alex Chiasson ($0.867m)
Mike Hoffman ($0.750m) / David Legwand ($3.000m) / Mark Stone ($0.603m)
Erik Condra ($1.250m) / Zack Smith ($1.888m) / Curtis Lazar ($0.894m)
Chris Neil ($1.900m) / Colin Greening ($2.650m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Jared Cowen ($3.100m) / Erik Karlsson ($6.500m)
Marc Methot ($3.000m) / Cody Ceci ($0.894m)
Patrick Wiercioch ($2.000m) / Eric Gryba ($1.250m)
Chris Phillips ($2.500m)
GOALTENDERS
Craig Anderson ($3.188m)
Robin Lehner ($2.500m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
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We still have a few extra bodies... I do know that injuries will happen but can you assume Pageau and Ceci start in the AHL and are the first callups?
- riceroni

Ceci is a lock to make this team. I wouldn't be surprised if we've seen last of Pag though. Too many other young guys pushing for spots who look more promising.

Yost, for a random summer blog, maybe do one about Alex Chiasson? I've never really seen him play too much with him being in the west, but know Dallas fans loved him. Would be cool to see his fancy numbers you crunch along with good ol' opinion based on watching him play.

Yost, for a random summer blog, maybe do one about Alex Chiasson? I've never really seen him play too much with him being in the west, but know Dallas fans loved him. Would be cool to see his fancy numbers you crunch along with good ol' opinion based on watching him play.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Right. I forgot I didn't do one of those.

Sometime in the next week..

Ceci is a lock to make this team. I wouldn't be surprised if we've seen last of Pag though. Too many other young guys pushing for spots who look more promising.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

How did Ceci look last year? Never did see him play.

How did Ceci look last year? Never did see him play.
- ClarksonDavid

very good to good for the most part...but young...still obviously needs a lot of fine tuning...i would be more than comfortable with him out there full time.

How did Ceci look last year? Never did see him play.
- ClarksonDavid

I hate saying this but I could really see Ceci having a slump next season.. But at the same time I can see Weircioch and Cowen finding theirs. I think the sum of the parts will be better as a whole next season...

What worries me though is Phillips deterioration and ice time.

How did Ceci look last year? Never did see him play.
- ClarksonDavid

He looked great considering he was 19. Has great tools to be a dominate player. Great shot, smart defensively, and can play the body when he needs too, but not excessively. Ceci is the prospect I have been most excited about since Karlsson. May have an up and down year next year, but will have a good career.

He looked great considering he was 19. Has great tools to be a dominate player. Great shot, smart defensively, and can play the body when he needs too, but not excessively. Ceci is the prospect I have been most excited about since Karlsson. May have an up and down year next year, but will have a good career.
- Gord_Wilson_2.0

Looks like he'll be a good one.

There has to be a trade or two in the works. You cannot have this many players and prospects hoarded in a team. Rice's lineup was very well-constructed but do you really think our present A's won't be playing; albeit they might take those accolades away from them. Instead of having players like Greening, Phillips, and Neil scratched we got to trade them away for picks. We got players in the system who can be called up if any injuries happens; Grant, Pageau, Puempel. All of these guys are aching to make an impact to make the team. Either that or trade the prospects for a better package.

Which brings us to Legwand: the team clearly has high expectations (as they should) for Zibanejad and Turris. Does this put him on the third-line, despite where he thinks he's going to play? Perhaps.



Legwand has and always will be the perfect third line center. The guy was only a 2C because the Preds have always been weak down the middle. If he is put on a true third line, he will be really good for you guys.

very good to good for the most part...but young...still obviously needs a lot of fine tuning...i would be more than comfortable with him out there full time.
- TheMike12

Nice, I'm excited to see how Rielly develops. Nylander looks like a good pick too,pretty early yet though.