I'm going to pull one of Hit's tricks here for a minute so bear with me please.
Chaulk, Syro, Shaf which as we saw in the one game is a great line.
Leo, P.C., Huk, which should be a great line, especially with Huk creating loose pucks in the neutral zone that Leo and P.C. can convert.
Mac, Woods, Schrocky: Ice Patrol #2
O'C, Chwedoruk, Stayzer, Klempa, Varone, Warner
Those forwards lines make a lot of sense because you've got balance and scoring on the first two lines, and the third line could raise choas all over the place, plus you'd have the depth to fill in for them if they got thrown out, penalties, hurt, etc. That also means the other five guys would be really fighting for ice time because when Woods is ready, somebody is leaving. More on that later.
Defense could be Guy and Danko, Bertrum and Phillips, and Rodger and Woodard or DeAngelis. I still wonder if a pairing of Guy and Rodger couldn't be pretty good, leaving Danko with Woodard or DeAngelis. If you keep those forward lines, you'd need three rookies on defense to meet the minimum. This is where I have a wildcard and it gets tricky because if you need a tough defenseman who loves blocking shots, has size, etc. you could use..... Stayzer there. Suddenly, you're a lot bigger on the blueline with Phillips, Dupuis, Bertram, Stayzer and Rodger. How about Dupuis and Stayzer. Dupuis could pinch because Stayzer would be the ultimate stay at home guy; Rodger and Danko kind of intrigues me too, but then you'd have to find another rookie spot. Imagine Stazyer and Rodger playing with the line of Mac, Woods and Schrock. Could that work?
Suddenly you've got a lot of options up front and in back that make some sense. Or you could make a trade from strength to give up 2-3 players to maybe get the one piece you may need yet. If you need to, you could play with 10 forwards and 7 defensemen as well, or keep Warner who can play both, especially on the point of the PP.
So, on Dec. 23, the key to all this seems to me, is getting Syroczynski back from Norfolk. He is the one who makes all the forward lines work because he then gives you a legitimate No. 1 line with Chaulk and Shaf, and that makes the No. 2 line stronger. Suddenly you've got opponents who have to try figuring out how to match up with them, and the Komets would finally have the depth they planned to have all last summer.
With that third line, you may not win every fight, but I guarantee they'd wear you down so you were too tired to fight on a lot of nights. You wouldn't just have one fighter, you'd have three being a royal pain in the rear to everybody else driving them nuts. Woods can play center and all three can skate and forecheck. That would be fun to watch. Then throw Stazyer and maybe Rodger on the back end. That's a unit that could pound on people.
The key is getting Syro back because he solidifies the front lines and allows you to tinker with the back end.
What do you think? I have no idea how they'd have to work the salary cap.
