Thinking about trade possibilities (and what appears to be a lucrative seller's trade market) only makes me wonder/lament about how this team would look with a different coach and new philosophies. I mean, I am intrigued even simply by balancing the existing group of forwards (to maybe something like this):
McMann Matthews Nylander
Bertuzzi Domi Marner
Knies Tavares Robertson
Holmberg Kampf Jankrok
All four lines could have a regular shift (that 4th line was essentially our 3rd line for the start of last year) and you could really maximize each player's minutes, instead of the top-heavy, exhausting the stars-type scenario we keep seeing this season. Tavares can take the odd shift with the top line to get his minutes up (and keep McMann's down) and would benefit from seeing less-competitive minutes/opponents as the 3rd line centre. Marner offsets Domi's negative defensive value, just as Matthews offsets Nylander's. Robertson's left handed snipe could be nasty on the off-wing and Knies gets to see less dangerous opponents as well.
As for the defence, while it is quite average, again I'd love to see a balanced approach that somewhat stabilizes each pairing:
Rielly Benoit
McCabe Liljegren
Brodie Timmins
Albeit some of the sample size is limited, Rielly does seem to excel with more defensive, physical d-men (Hainsey, Lybushkin, Schenn) and Brodie could then move to his natural side, providing some stability for Timmins. You could even go with a 11-7 formation and sub Giordano in for McMann (moving Holmberg to that vacant spot) and have the ability to keep everyone fresh, spot Brodie in here and there for Benoit, especially if he struggles on the right side. There is a bit of flexibility.
And as for the trade market, Matt Dumba probably wouldn't cost much and might fit in nicely to the right of Rielly. Benoit-Brodie 3rd pairing with Gio and Timmins as extras isn't anything to sneeze at.
Anyway that's just my little armchair GM spiel, thanks for listening
