A different opening night roster

Chiasson on the 4th? And Benson will be playing in the NHL or in the AHL; not sitting.

I think the same goes for Jones: if the organization truly believes that he has NHL talent, they won't glue him to the pressbox or rotate him for x number of games with Russell.

And right now, we're arguing ifs and buts, but I'm confident saying that Haas will probably be utilized more as the #4C alongside guys like Archibald, Gagner, Granlund, and Nygard: hints from Stauffer and Gregor are pointing towards having a defensively-responsible third line to take pressure off of RNH, which would open up a softer minutes wheel-n-deal fourth line.

Obnoxious and useless filler for not understanding criticism regarding the misuse of prospects followed by a half-decent justification of why lines 3 and 4 are set up the way they are./quote]

It is absolutely not my fault that you have less than half a clue as to why not immediately pushing Jones into NHL minutes or top-pair minutes in the AHL is optimal for his development as opposed to starting his season off as a scratch until one of Persson or Benning falters. It has nothing to do with my reading comprehension: you simply had a stupid idea and I gave my ten cents on it. If there is no immediate room for Jones to step in - and this is already a known issue - then carrying him as a scratch to get 30ish games is a waste of everyone's time. Benson makes the top-6 out of necessity. Jones is clearly poised to make it if he outperforms two right-handed defenders.

Everything regarding the bottom 6 is conjecture anyways, but keeping Chaisson on the third line helps bring some offensive presence to a line that would otherwise have none. It also helps limit the icetime of Granlund and Archibald (likely PK1 unit forwards) in order to help them excel. Penciling Granlund as a third liner at least has some basis in his numbers and past usage, but why people are expecting players like Nygard or Archibald to be top 9 options is beyond me.