Ritchie-Matthews-Marner
Kerfoot-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kampf-Kase
Bunting-Spezza-Simmonds
Woof. I'm really not sure about that bottom 6. The fact that this team seemingly doesn't have any 22 or 23 year old guys from in-house beating down the door to be on that third line is a real weak spot.
Agreed on the shortage of 22-23 year olds being the root of the depth issue, and my preferred stop-gap solution (shop among the BluRays rather than the DVDs in the UFA bargain bin) is out given the flat cap. I wonder if maybe giving Nylander a sheltered scoring line and spreading out the offense wouldn’t be a thing they try. It’d reduce ice time for the core four, making the spending look a bit silly, but, if we choose to believe the most charitable explanation for the Montreal faceplant, balancing ice time might preserve these guys for the playoffs.
Ritchie-Matthews-Kase/Simmons/whatever = put AM in the Sundin spot
Kerfoot-Tavares-Marner = let Marner elevate a declining JT
Bunting-Nylander-Spezza = give Nylander a sheltered scoring line
Mikheyev-Kampf-Engvall = that match-up energy line