I like how he signed both Cousin and Thompson. it forces both Peohling and Suzuki to play in the AHL for a season or atleast part of it.
I kind of think MTL is trying to be somewhat bad because they draft is in MTL 2020. Just a theory

Flip Poehling and Suzuki

Suzuki played wing more through his Junior career , although he did finish off his OHL career on a new team as their top Center .

Poehlings a 6'3 210 pound power forward is not someone you want on wing when he's that good at using his size to create room in the middle .

ultimately Poehling gets the Center job because its what he's known for , playing #2 Center behind Hughes for Team USA taking bulk faceoffs on multiple medal teams .
you also want him there because him and Caufield were putting on a Clinic at Draft Camp and that's a 1-2 punch that will dominate PP's in 2-3 years when Caufield turns Pro.

Suzuki on the other hand is the perfect delivery man to play with Domi right now in this set up .
MTL 's 1st line will be work horses in Tatar-Danault-Gallagher , then skilled forwards in Domi-Kotkanemi-Suzuki.
Drouin-Poehling-Byron give us a strong line with all special teams guys keeping them fresh
Lehkonen-Thompson-Armia gives you a strong shutdown unit and 3/4 of your PK guys
Weal and Cousins compete for 13th forward to sub in the bottom 9 as needed .

Thompson , Kinkaid and Cousins were all brought in as motivation .

Kinkaid or Lindgren will be waived and claimed , to the winner goes the spoils
Weal or Poehling will be going to the AHL
Cousin's or Suzuki will be going to the AHL
Thompsons just gotta have a solid start or Jake Evans could push him out , but Thompson's likely to stay for bulk DZ Faceoffs .

i have a Feeling Thompsons the only Veteran not to be waived of the 4
Suzuki's Hungry and coming off a CHL leading campaign .
Poehlings just put on 40lbs of muscle and is training for an 82 game season
Lindgrens been great in samples having to address his conditioning long term in the AHL after NCAA tenure left him unprepared for 10 months of hockey a year .I think he's addressed it but the only way to tell is with Kinkaid applying pressure .

Evans is my favorite Project player but i think leaving him in the AHL another 1-2 years makes him a better complete player and leans into his natural leadership abilities .

Billy, i like your ideas and would like your opinion on this : Because of his strenght and size and good passing skills, I can see Poehling as a winger for KK. Fighting for the puck near the boards and giving it back to KK at center who will construct the play. I've watched KK at the world junior and he really was the play maker but his wingers were strong on the boards. Caufield could be RW on that line as the sniper. Of course i'm talking in 3-4 years .

you're points are all right on the money , i just think Domi-Poehling is more fitting and in time Poehling can cycle into Center full time .
i just dont see us pairing him with someone who's going to be a Center long term , with Domi it makes sense as the plan was always to find him a Center

i heard that they were thinking about playing him on Domi's RW which makes sense as Domi struggles with faceoffs and its gives that line Size. Poehling can take the faceoffs and cycle to the boards getting the puck as you described . To me i think if you're putting anymore with KK to get pucks out of corners its 6'4 Armia and 6ft Lehkonen they're the best duo when it comes to cycling pucks out of the corner , its not even close . (Tatar doesnt cycle he drives by keeping open for a shot in the slot ,Drouin does the same , Gallagher parks infront of the net , Byron Cycles solid )


KK , Lehkonen and Armia are solid but its important for them to play this year together because Ylonen might be held out 1 more season possibly but he's coming. KK and Ylonen are gonna be great as Ylonen is your guy who will battle along the boards and gets most of his points after digging out a puck and walking out from the half wall for a Snipe . he's everything you'd want to have for KK and honestly i think Lehkonen-KK-Ylonen could be a lethal line long term .

Domi-Poehling-Caufield
Lehkonen-Kotkanemi-Ylonen
Drouin-Suzuki-Gallagher
Teasdale-Olofsson-Evans (gonna be a great line for battling on the boards , lots of skill here )

the exciting thing is even with all those new faces there's still a bunch of quality prospects
that will likely break their way into the line up and push others out .
Coach Bouchard in Laval has given us quality by polishing prospects like Kulak for example and getting him set for CJ system.
the new approach has been the AHL and NHL coaches meet then decide direction and style based on needs(and its been successfull)

Those are some great points. Ylonen played great during the Dev Camp and I hope you are right here. The problem I have with your projected line-up is the lack of veteran presence, as it seems highly optimistic that all these prospects pan out. This could potentially be a very exciting group to watch (although last year's games were electric) but I'm afraid the only way to make room for the kids is to suck for a couple more years... and Bergy can't afford that.

you're right it is extremely young and optimistic i'm hoping Domi ,Drouin and Gallagher can fill that Veteran role .
honestly Caufield ,Olofsson,Teasdale and Evans are likely not going to the NHL for another 1-2 years but Suzuki could make it along with Brook

most of your vet's like Tatar , Danault Byron and Thompson will be there .
it was just a scenario based on which prospects are the closest to the NHL are their current development.