The season will open with the following group for Ted Nolan to coach:
Forwards: Sanderson - Fedorov - Guerin Geoff has wheels with decent stickhandling and some passing ability. Speedy Sergei will control the puck and not pass as much as he should nor finish as often as he is expected to. Big, strong captain Bill will bury the puck, plain and simple. The line could use more passing and another finisher.
Perreault - Lang - Nolan Yanic provides size and some scoring for the line. Robert's size, speed and puck skills will help dictate the play though he won't pass or score as much as desired nor display a lot of endurance. He is expected to get better after a year with his new team and may end up losing the second line pivot spot until then. Alternate captain Owen also brings size,speed, puck control and the potential for improvement in his goals and assists.
Peltonen - Smolinski - Zednik Ville brings decent skating, great defense and the potential for 15-20 goals a year offensively to the line. Bryan is defensively excellent and an all-around not bad performer in all facets of the game. Richard is a lesser Geoff with his speed and puck controling. He is another Isle expected to improve with a year on his new team.
Simon - Roenick - Hinote The Crash Line. All three will hit hard with speed and strength. Chris and Jeremy know how to move the puck and Dan is a great penalty killer. This line is expected to make a difference in several games and an impact in many contests.
Defense:
Rozsival - Visnovsky An ideal pairing of a big, hitting defensive-minded puck controlling rearguard with an elite offensive defenseman. They both can handle heavy minutes double shifted. Michal has some passing ability and Lubomir can put the puck in the net.
Lydman - Pothier Toni is underrated in his puck control skills as he's really more than just a defensive defenseman though it might take another season for the powers to be to see his all-around skills. Until then he no longer will man the second powerplay unit but remain on the penalty kill. Brian brings skating, passing and puck control to the line and the powerplay. Expect this duo to only get better the following season.
Westcott - Eriksson The Bluejacket pairing. Duvie hits, kills penalties, mans the powerplay, but will be slower and pass less than watching him would have indicated. Anders is fast with the ability to recover the puck defensively and clear the zone in a controlled manner. Their ability to handle more minutes makes them valuable as substitutes on the top two lines in cases of injury and suspension. They may be challenged in ice time by a seventh d-man at some point in the season.
Goaltending:
Norrena Fredrik is well-known back home as the greatest stickhandler in Finland ever, including today's young netminders, and yet he won't show it this season, perhaps due to being underrated in his transition to the North American game. He is well rated in key goaltending areas of speed and skating and his puck control isn't bad even if surprisingly unremarkable. If he had more endurance he could get 30-40 wins. However, he is at best a tandem starter this season. Another goalie is expected to be added at some point but in the meantime a cheap backup might be thrown into relief.
