Ah, when we start to speculate about who is going to be playing where, life gets a whole lot more exciting doesn't it?
That's what I started to think yesterday as I read about some mildly surprising developments -- talk that NHL rookie Nicklas Backstrom might see most of his ice time next season on the wing, and that career minor leaguer Dave Steckel might be ready to take charge as the right wing on the team's checking line with Matt Pettinger and Boyd Gordon.
With this in mind, let's re-shuffle the deck up front:
Ovechkin-Nylander-Clark
Semin-Kozlov-Backstrom
Pettinger-Gordon-Steckel
Brashear-Laich-Sutherby
Those are four lines packing seven natural centers. It's always nice to know that you have options. All of a sudden, the team has some serious depth.
Also notice that I've yet to mention a number of names who at one time or another have been ticketed to play big minutes over the course of their careers. My guess is that they wouldn't be happy that their names aren't on this admittedly preliminary list.
I'd expect those players will probably come into camp with a fire lit under their butts. And that's always a good thing.
