Spoons is officially in!

See this is good, I really like idea of Backes on the third line. Yeah a 6 mill player shouldnt be on the third line but Pittsburgh did it all the time with Kessel. He can take a nice leadership role and teach Spooner how to play some tough hockey. Although I dont like the idea of Backes and Beleskey on the same line. Its like watching hockey in slow mo. Maybe Beleskey can find his legs again and this can be a nice hard working board battle line

we'll see for Heinen.

Yes we will. I just think he's more ready right now. Bjork and JFK may have more natural talent, but they need to be schooled a bit first.

Thanks Pasta!! That's why we usually agree!! I'm not sure Sppons can learn "tough" hockey but I think Backes enjoys putting kids under his wings. He's worth every penny as a bench/dressing room leader!!!!

Ideally I would give Bels first shot at playing on Krejci's left. If he's going to get his game back it might be with DK. He's also good protection for Pasta, anybody goes nasty on Pasta, Bels will be the first in there to get his nose dirty!!!

Board battle line might work too though, with some offensive upside maybe against the right opposing lines!!! That's Cassidy's job.

Paul, you do realize that signing Pasta for that term would make him an UFA instead of a RFA at the conclusion of the 5 years? Seems silly to me to give him a contract where he gets to hit the open market that's not a 7 or 8 year deal. I'd rather do 3 years where he comes out a RFA when his contract expires or 6+ years, where we get him longer, even if we have to pay more. I doubt he has the leverage to pull a John Tavares and be an UFA while he's still in the middle of his prime, like a 5 year contract would do. That'd be terrible planning and we'd either have to give him a McDavid sized contract or lose him for absolutely nothing. Hopefully you'll come down off the "5 year" ledge without jumping, or else it will be very very messy.

I'm starting to think that if 1 of our young wing prospects makes it, then it'll be Bjork. Heinen has more experience, but isn't riding the same type of momentum and Heinen has less upside. He really proved nothing in the NHL, so I don't know why that makes him the better candidate to play there. IF you were arguing about who would be better in the AHL, then It could make some sense, as Heinen did a solid job and would likely get better this coming season.

A few things are up in the air, so I'm not going to entirely disagree , but I think Beleskey gets the nod over Vatrano if their play is equal, so I'm assuming you think Vatrano will revert to how he played in the AHL 2 years ago. I don't believe that and think they are both going to be about the same, so I'd rank Beleskey a line higher than Vatrano, unless you have them fighting for the 3rd line in which case Vatrano would get the nod because Beleskey is the better 4th line fit. I also think it's common knowledge that Vatrano shoots more than Beleskey. Vatrano 116 Shots in 44 games, Beleskey 79 shots in 49 games. This isn't factoring in missing the net, but I think the numbers would tell you that Beleskey belongs with Krejci and Pasta and Vatrano belongs with Spooner and Backes. Do you really want Backes and Beleskey (2 very scrappy guys who don't have a ton of skill) on a line with Spooner (the absolute inverse of the other 2)? It's much better to balance out the lines with Vatrano Spooner and Backes having a blend of speed skill shooting and size and the same thing with Beleskey Krejci Pasta......

You also didn't outline your PP's in the description. Do you honestly think Pasta would be a better "wall guy" than Spooner? I highly disagree with that, as being the Wall Guy on the 1st PP is Spooners best asset. Pasta is more of a shooter so he'd be better on an umbrella shaped PP unit, which you could have stated in your description. It's hard to read what you did on the PP because you didn't specify who's in what role. You put Backes and Bergeron in the same slot on the PP, but theres no way both would do the same thing.

Your PK is good, but I would have been more interested in what the other pair was going to be. 4th liners almost always kill penalties well, so that was a given that they'd make a nice pair. It would have been a better choice for you to pick 2 other players to show us who you feel the other PK pair would be, as it might be kinda tricky. Just to guess with this, maybe Krejci and Backes or Backes and Schaller? That would have been more interesting than the guys we already know will be in line for PKing duties because they are 4th liners who concentrate on not letting the other team score the entire game.

Also just noticing Chara and Krejci on the same PP. That's a total liability to give up breakaways. Chara doesn't have the speed to catch anyone and Krejci doesn't have the positioning skills. Seems like a train wreck to me if they turn the puck over even once. I'd keep Krejci and Krug together and Chara and McAvoy would be a nice pairing. Krugs got better wheels than Chara and seemed to work well with Krejci. Chara can mentor McAvoy and keep him positioned well and if someone gets by them McAvoy has a chance to catch up with his solid speed.

Overall this is pretty solid, I'll give you a 4, but there was a lot of issues hidden within this mock.