It was touched on some in the
thread discussing our interest in Jokinen and Richards, but let's focus on it a little more.
Smokey and others have suggested that we need more than a #1 center to contend for the Cup this year. What exactly do we need?
Let's assume we get a #1 center for this argument and I'll throw out the forward lines with everyone healthy:
Kariya-Jokinen/Richards/?-Erat
Sully-Legwand-Walker
Hartnell-Johnson-Hall
Hordi-Nichol-Tootoo/Stevenson
That leaves the following having nowhere to go (unless we swap out with someone above): Perreault, Smithson, and Fiddler.
Defensively:
Timonen-Hamhuis
Markov-Eaton
Suter-Zids
Here, Weber and Allison are trying to get playing time as well.
Do Poile and Trotz think that we are ready to contend this year if we can upgrade our center position and be more physical defensively? I think they do. I think they want to see if Weber can be that physical presence over the next few weeks until the trade deadline. If so, what defenseman does that bump? Does Eaton become our 7th dman while Allison is sent down? Is a center and a physical dman enough to be a legimate contender for the cup?
Discuss.
