What's your opening night lineup? Poitras 2C? Lohrei Top4D? Lysell or Lettieri make the cut? Zacha still on PP1?

Polling the experts here, what's your projected lineup?

Zacha Lindholm Pastrnak
Marchand Poitras Geekie
Frederic Coyle Lysell
Beecher Kastelic Brazeau
Spares: Jones, Lettieri, Brown?

Zadorov McAvoy
Lindholm Carlo
Lohrei Peeke
Spares: Wotherspoon, Mitchell?

Swayman
Korpisalo

PP1: Zacha, Pastrnak, E. Lindholm, Marchand and McAvoy

PP2: Coyle, Poitras, Geekie, Lohrei and H. Lindholm

I know 1-way/2-way deal doesn't mean everything and guys can always get waived after poor camps but just playing the numbers game:

  • Top 12 locks include 7 guys: Zacha, Lindholm, Pasta, Marchand, Geekie, Frederic, Coyle.
  • There's 3 bottom lineup guys on 1-way deals: Jones, Kastelic and Brown. That's not to mean all 3 will be lineup regulars.
  • So that leaves 2 or 3 regular spots up for grabs between: Poitras, Lysell, Beecher, Brazeau, Lettieri and Merkulov who are all on 2-way deals and would be easy to start in Providence with soft camps.

Some notes:

Poitras - I've seen lots of folks with him penciled into the C2 role but is he ready? Think he slots better in a top 6 sheltered role and let Coyle take the tougher deployment and shut down duties. But it'll be interesting to see where Geekie slots in as he finished the year centering the top line with Pasta. I think Lindholm is a fair bet to center the big line though, at elast out of the gate.

Geekie - He's turning 26 in a few weeks and entering his ~5th pro season. He spent most of the second half paired with Frederic but finished on the top line towards the end of the palyoffs averaging 16:39 playing most of his minutes with Pasta and getting PP1 deployment. Points wise though he didn't make too much of the opportunity. I know he gets a lot of hate for being in the top 6.

Zacha - Had a career high 58%PP last year so he's a fair bet to be the 4th forward on PP1 with Pasta, Marchand and Lindholm. That being said, he ended the year outside the top 6 centering L3 with Heinen and Brazeau... so who knows?

Lysell - Less clear on Lysell, he could absolutely thrive and break out this year if he wins a spot out of camp and stays healthy, just not sure if he's a mainstain this year or just sees cups of coffee. He doesn't have much left to prove in Providence putting up a 73 point pace before his injury at the end of the year. I think it's telling though that he hasn't gotten the call up yet. A strong camp could see him beat out Geekie and Poitras for top6 mins though, I'd be here for it.

Frederic - Trent had a really solid stretch in the middle of the year where he posted a 50 point pace through 42 games playing 14:20. Really struggled in the final quarter though and saw his ice time dip a bit before getting back into the top 6 at the end of the playoffs playing with Marchand and Coyle.

Beecher - The bottom of the lineup is always tricky to predict, Beecher is on a 2-way contract but he dresed in 52 games last year finishing the year averaging 11:31 TOI. He was centering JVR and Maroon on L4 in the playoffs. Seems like a fair bet for making the top 12 but because of the 1-way deals that Jones, Brown and Kastellic are on... he might be in tough.

Brazeau - Also on a 2-way deal, he finally got a taste of the big leagues for the first time last year getting 19 cups of coffee after spending the better part of 3 years in the A. He went on quite the run in the playoffs and ended being deployed as RW3 and played a fantastic game 7 vs FLA. Think he's earned a spot in the top 12.

Kastelic - Nothing special here, just a bruiser who drops the gloves and 4C is his perfect spot. Could see Vinni Lettieri -- who played bottom line minutes in 46 games with the Wild last year -- totally competing for that spot though, might even rotate. Of note though Kastelic is on a 1-way deal while Lettieri is on a 2-way.

Jones - Wasn't qualified by ANA but BOS gave him a 1-way, 2 year deal, seems likely that he's at least the 13th forward.

Brown - 32 year old vet also on a 1-way deal. Not much to say here haha.

I think the top 6 on the backend is easier to predict and pretty set in stone. Pairings are up for grabs.

Lohrei did finish the year on the top pair with Mac and had a solid playoff run... but I think the 5 bills given to Zadorov pushes him down the lineup at least to start the year.

PP lines will be interesting with JVR and JDB out of town. Lindholm is a lock for PP1 and Jimmy loves Zacha on there. PP2 will be interesting though, would love to see Lohrei get a consistant opportunity. If Lysell makes it out of camp he probably makes more sense on there than Geekie.

What do you guys think?