Here are the lines going into the first game of the season:
McGinn - Giroux - Voracek
While it should be no surprise that Giroux will again be centering the top line alongside his running mate for the next few years the addition of Tye McGinn is something to talk about. As noted before McGinn is really a young Hartnell, however his nose for the net is actually a hair above Scott's. The plan here is to try him out on the first line and see if his linemates will be able to bring his point totals up to a first line player (5 goals in the first 15 contests).
Hartnell - Couturier - Simmonds
The McGinn move freed up Hartnell to join my second line. This group of 6'2-6'3 forwards all have the ability to make plays in the offensive end as well as their own. They will have slightly lower minutes than the 1st line to accommodate for their special teams play.
Lecavalier - Schenn - Downie
With Schenn and Downie on a line together you can expect there to be big hits and dirty goals.. Vinny will do his best to keep the line together as the leader and playmaker of the trio. Schenn and Lecavalier will earn some extra time on the 2nd PP unit with Couturier. Expect this line to get its fair share of penalties.
Wellwood - Halpern - Read
Speed kills is the idea with the fourth line. They will see an increase in minutes against highly offensive teams, and will be the ones who answer for the 3rd line's mistakes as they will make up the majority of the penalty killing core.
Coburn - Gustafsson
The first pairing is an honor given to the two blue liners that management has deemed most untouchable. With Gus still earning his special teams time expect him to have the fewest minutes of the Top 4.
MacDonald - Timonen
An important note with the defensive pairings is that they will not be the true indicator of time on ice. The "second pairing" will actually receive the same amount of even strength ice time as the "first pairing", but MacDonald will take on a fair amount of PK time alongside Coburn.
Schenn - Streit
The final pair will be a little bit more sheltered in terms of even strength time, but will look to make up for it in their special teams roles. Streit will command the top PP unit, while Schenn will join Kimmo Timonen on the #2 PK pair.
