Date de création initiale: 3 août 2022

Publié: 3 août 2022

Équipe: 2022-23 Blue Jackets de Columbus

Forward Lines:
1. The wings on this line are pretty self explanatory as Gaudreau and Laine are our two best offensive weapons and should compliment each other. Jenner plays a physical game and showed he's a major asset in front of the net last season, as he lead the team in goals for the majority of the season up until he got injured. He was on pace for 60+ points before his injury and brings a similar play style to Tkachuk which worked very well with Gaudreau last season.
2.Texier was our best forward last season in the brief time he played once they moved him to the wing. The consensus seems to be that people want to bring back the Texier-Kuraly-Robinson line but i think he could be a real asset on this secondary scoring line. Roslovic made an arguement for himself to be a first line center last season but I think he fits better on this line. Voracek is the obvious choice for this line as he was our best playmaker before Gaudreau.
3. I was very tempted to do a kid line here but I think putting Gus on this line makes sense. Having a veteran presence on this line could do wonders for the confidence of Kent Johnson and hopefully help develop the offensive game of Sillinger.
4. This was the hardest line to put together for me. Part of me wanted to make this a true fourth line and put Robinson and Olivier on the wings of Kuraly (which i would love to see for rivalry games, specifically against the Pens), but I decided to put the Russians here because I really want to see what they can do and having a defensively responsible center like Kuraly on this line could really open up their offensive game.

Defensive Pairs:
1. This pair is pretty obvious to me as it worked well last season. Werenski is our best puck moving defenseman and Peeke has made strides in stepping into Savard's role as the teams best defensive defenseman and blocked shots like no other.
2. I decided to promote Blankenburg to the second line as he quickly became one of our smartest defenseman in the last 10 games of the season. Pair him with Boqvist who has shown glimpses of being an elite puck moving defenseman and I think this could be a great 2nd pair.
3. Gavrikov, in my unpopular opinion, was our worst defenseman last season. He seemed to get burnt a lot and was out of position more often than not. He did show some puck moving ability though which is why I paired him with Gudbranson, a big physical defenseman whose not afraid to block shots. Hopefully, we can have Gudbranson play the stay at home role on this line, opening up Gavrikov to take more offensive chances.

Goaltenders:
Not much to say here. Elvis is our starter but is on a short leash. I would expect Tarasov to give Korpisalo a run for the backup spot, or even compete with Elvis for first string.

Penalty Kill:
These lines could honestly include anyone, this is what I would do as someone who is not watching the team practice everyday.

Powerplay;
Similarly to the penalty kill I think you have a lot of options with the second unit. The first unit is pretty self explanatory but the second could include either of the russians or Sillinger.

Let me know what you think in the comments.