Goaltenders
Mike Smith, Dan Ellis

This is the only position where I think everything is set in stone.  Stevie brought in Dan Ellis, and retained Mike Smith.  Barring Steve Yzerman ripping off some other GM besides Paul Holmgren this month, these are going to be our two keepers for 2010/11.

Line 1
Steven Stamkos, Steve Downie, Martin St Louis

Following last seasons 95/46/94 point seasons, I think we can expect this line to stick for this season.  Downie is the perfect complement to the highly skilled tandem of Stammers and Marty.  I would also expect his point total to eclipse the 60 point barrier this season having had a full season of playing on a top line under his belt.

Line 2
Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Malone, Simon Gagne

Just writing those two lines out gets me pretty excited. This line has a chance to be as good as any in the NHL in my very non-expert opinion. Just like on line 1, Malone provides the skilled Gagne and 4, with a guy who is willing to throw down the gloves and protect our teams assets. Vinny4 caught a lot of shit last year for his point total, but when you’re playing with Alex Tanguay and Stephane Veilleux a lot, what can you really expect out of the guy. I’m glad that Vinny is going to get a chance to show people again why he is one of the higher paid players in the game today. I expect a 90 point season from him and a 75 plus point season out of Gagne if he can play 70 games or more. If Bugs can stay healthy, you can expect him to eclipse the 60 point barrier as well.

Line 3
Dominic Moore, Teddy Purcell, Marc Andre Pouilot

Moore was one of the more underated signings of the offseason in my opinion. Moore is the perfect 3rd line center. He can score at a decent clip and certainly isn’t afraid to do some of the grimey work associated with being on a 3rd or 4th line. He should also provide some help on both the power play and the PK. He’s not going to blow anyone away with a 60 point season, but is the solid role player that all teams need to compete in the NHL. The winger spots on both of the last two lines should be very competitive. Aston Carter, Blair Jones, James Wright, Teddy Purcell, Juraj Simek, Chris Durno and Marc Andre Pouiliot should all be competing for time at the 4 winger spots. That’s going to leave 3 guys ultimately on the Norfolk roster. I’m going with Purcell and Pouilot here because I like their combination of experience and upside. Pouilot played in 35 NHL games last year and Purcell played in 60. The Bolts are going to be forced to move a few centers to winger spots if our current roster stays as is, and Pouilot is the first player to be moved out of position.

Line 4
Nate Thompson, Chris Durno, Paul Szczechura
I think Nate is too good of a face off man to leave him out of the C spot on line 4, so Szcz gets moved to a winger spot i.e. Pouilot. Durno will help provide some grit on this line which isn’t going to get more than a couple shifts a game and help provide some grit on the ice.

Defensive Pairing 1
Pavel Kubina and Brett Clark

Kubina and Clark make the perfect complement to each other on the blue line. Clark might have been signed for a little high of a salary, but should be a great grinding dman for the Bolts. Look for Kubina to put up some of his better offensive numbers of his career on a team that looks pretty damned good on paper.

Defensive Pairing 2
Mattias Ohlund and Victor Hedman

Victor caught some heat for his seemingly unimpressive rookie season, but anyone who went to the games knows this kid has a bright future ahead of him. People forget that he was 19 years old last year. I have never seen a player as big as him, skate and pass so effortlessly as he does. Ohlund won’t provide much punch in the scoring department, but as Hedman develops into an offensive force on the blue line, Ohlund and his physical nature will lend themselves perfectly to Hedman’s game.

Defensive Pairing 3
Matt Smaby and Mike Lundin

Mike Lundin is one of the players that I thought in 2010 showed the most development (sans 91 the beast). He isn’t going to be a physical player, but is a very solid man defender. It looks ugly on the ice sometimes for Lundin because he gets crushed a lot and doesn’t do much of his own crushing, but his man defensive abilities make up for his lack of physical play. Smaby on the other hand is a giant beast. I don’t know if hell ever have more than 15 points in a season, but he will do plenty of crushing to make up for it. Another perfect complementary pair of defenders in my eyes.

We put up a post a few weeks ago about some of the things that new GM Steve Yzerman had done at the onset of Free Agency (Meszaros, Kubina, Dan Ellis, Martin St Louis).  We were a fan of everyone of those moves.  Phase 2 of Free Agency (after week 1 through about this time) is the tougher part for most of the GM’s in the league.  You’ve made your big splash move, and now is the time to fill out the roster with the 3rd and 4th line offensive guys as well as the 3rd line Dmen and maybe the 2 way contract players who will see some time for both Norfolk and the big club in 2010/2011.

Let’s take a look at those moves.

Bolts Trade Matt Walker and a 4th Round Pick to Philadelphia Flyers for Simon Gagne

UMMMMMMMMM…Hell yes.  The Bolts were in desperate need of a winger to play on the Vincent Lecavalier and Ryan Malone line, and a winger who wasn’t an awful sorry ass bum like Alex Tanguay.  They got that and more in Simon Gagne.  Other than being a bit injury prone (10 NHL seasons, 664 games played, 15.6 games missed per year) Gagne has been a monster.  His lowest goal total of any year in which he played more than 60 games, was 20 goals, and that was in 1999 when he was 19 years old.  He had a 47 goal season in 2005 and a 41 goal season in 2006 as well as a 34 goal season in 2008.  He only played in 58 games last year for the Flyers but managed to put in 17 goals in that frame.  Mr “I never got a real chance in Tampa” Tanguay had 10 goals in 80 games last year, primarily on a line with Vinny 4.

If Gagne can play more than 65 games, I would expect no less than a 75 point 30 goal season from him playing with Vinny and Bugs.

You can also cement in stone that if our top 6 are healthy, we have as good of a top two line top 6 as any team in the league.  Yup, any team.  All 6 guys could put up 75 points.  I know you might not think Steve Downie has that potential, but in his first full year of playing hockey for an NHL team, he had 46 points with 22 goals in 79 games.  As he gets more comfortable playing with the best scorer in the league in Steven Stamkos and Martin St Louis, his point production will only go up.

Lightning sign center Marc-Antoine Pouilot

Pouilot has been up and down between the NHL and the AHL over the past 5 seasons, but in his one prolonged stint with the Edmonton Oilers in 2008, he had 20 points and 8 goals in 63 games.  Since I like bashing on Alex Tanguay, thats no worse than Tanguays numbers last season.  I expect Pouilot will once again have to battle for a roster spot with James Wright and Dana Tyrell, but he has a chance to make the NHL club.

Lightning sign LW Chris Durno to a two way one year contract

Durno is not going to be a points producer for the Bolts if he were to make the club, but he is a big boy who can bang some bodies.  He has spent the majority of his career in the AHL and the ECHL but put up career highs last year in points, goals, assists and shots with the Avalanche in 41 games.  Durno is another guy who is going to have to battle some of our younger guys like Ashton Carter, Richard Panik and Blair Jones for a roster spot, but he like Pouilot has a chance to make the roster, or at least be one of those aforementioned guys who sees time with both the Norfolk and big club.