Lupul Position

[Raoul Duke*]

Keep him on the LW... he has a dynamic shot off the wing and better vision that way.

I'm one of the few Oiler fans that held and still holds complete faith in him. The Oilers sucked ass last year, Lupul somehow became the unfortunate whipping boy. He knows how to score, that's his game. MacTavish coaching in Edmonton is big on 2 way forwards - which Lupul will never be for you.

But he will score. And I have no doubt that he will A LOT in the next few years for the Flyers. Great acquisition.

As for Jason Smith, you'll fall in love with him instantly. The guy seems to block more shots a game than the goalie. And he's a beast along the boards, anyone coming down there is going to be hit and hard. A prototypical Flyers style player, good chance he'll be the most popular player in Philly by November.

[Gert B Frobe]

I can't believe somebody posted here that Pitkanen won't have any pressure or BS in Edmonton. What a load of crap. That kid can't handle the pressure in Phoenix let alone Edmonton. If you want an opinion of the Smith trade just ask Ethan Moreau - he sure seemed to love it. This was before he found out Smith was traded for a soft, offensive minded kid who doesn't seem to care about winning and scored a whopping 40 points with a ton of minutes on the worst team in the league. I really believe Pitkanen's second year in the league was the best you're going to see from him. He's not going to suddenly give a crap and switch to a real stick at training camp just because he's been traded to another bad team.

[Ex Storm]

Originally Posted by Raoul Duke

As for Jason Smith, you'll fall in love with him instantly. The guy seems to block more shots a game than the goalie. And he's a beast along the boards, anyone coming down there is going to be hit and hard. A prototypical Flyers style player, good chance he'll be the most popular player in Philly by November.

If Niittymaki is playing I have no doubt that's true.

[CorpseFX]

they played him specifically on the right side in EDM. when him and Hemsky played on a line for a short while they put Hemmer on the LW. im sure he'd play either side but it seemed like a comfort for him to be on the right side. he did play a lot down low on the LW corner boards on the PP, with Hemsky on the mid LW boards. not much of a place to fire from. they were looking for point shots over Lupul's shot.

he had trouble finishing last year plain and simple. he had the oppurtunities (the same with Horcoff) to finish and they just couldnt do it. call it bad luck, impatience or just lack of poise - or outstanding goalies. either way they didnt get the job done.

[Valhoun*]

Originally Posted by Storm in a Teacup

If Niittymaki is playing I have no doubt that's true.

Nice.

[JXC]

Originally Posted by Storm in a Teacup

If Niittymaki is playing I have no doubt that's true.

BRUTALITY!

[Jester]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

I can't believe somebody posted here that Pitkanen won't have any pressure or BS in Edmonton. What a load of crap. That kid can't handle the pressure in Phoenix let alone Edmonton. If you want an opinion of the Smith trade just ask Ethan Moreau - he sure seemed to love it. This was before he found out Smith was traded for a soft, offensive minded kid who doesn't seem to care about winning and scored a whopping 40 points with a ton of minutes on the worst team in the league. I really believe Pitkanen's second year in the league was the best you're going to see from him. He's not going to suddenly give a crap and switch to a real stick at training camp just because he's been traded to another bad team.

that's my favorite asinine criticism of Pitkanen.

he's an offensive guy... smaller sticks help you offensively. there's a reason Forsberg has the smallest possible stick legally.

[dhasek3910]

Originally Posted by easton122

Hartnell is more of a goal scorer as well. He is also grittier and faster than Knuble and Lupul which makes him a better option on the first line. Carter will also be able to rely on someone else to score goals playing with him which he's never really had before. We don't have a good playmaker to play with him and Gagne - Briere - Lupul will be too soft so these lines are our best bet to mesh.

Gagne - Briere - Hartnell
Lupul - Carter - Upshall
Kapanen - Richards - Knuble
Eager - Umberger/Potulny - Downie/Cote/Umberger/Ruzicka

Please trade Umberger!

Hope this is okay if I ask a Fantasy Hockey question...this being the latest set of lineups in this thread, I was wondering if I could get a bit of a scout report on the following players: Hartnell, Upshall, Carter, and Richards. How many of those 4 are top line material? Between Carter and Richards, who is more likely to be placed on the 2nd line? Can Hartnell and Upshall settle into scoring roles? If you were to rank the four players in terms of point production, how would you rank them? Thanks a lot!