July 1st - Current roster situation

July 1- 2007, Washington DC

We look ahead. We see a team with all the talent in the NHL to become highly successful but its a matter of not if they will emerge and become successful, but when?

Current Roster Thoughts as of July 1st

Brown - Richards - Kane
Dusty is due for a break out year offensively after a better offensive year. 50 points is what we expect out of him, nothing less. Richards, we thought was going to gain a stronger role but it looks more and more now that he will be stuck wit ha 3rd line role, mayeb a little pp time but mostly probably playing the penalty skill. Kane, if he makes it, could flourish with the new people around him, potential top 10 rookies this year. This line should break through atleast somewhat this year..

Line expectation out put: 900-1000 pts

Upshall - Williams - Filppula

Upshall we also thought was going to gain some ground on a scoring line, but with philly adding a few people, we dont know anymore what his role really might be, he might just see minutes with richards. Williams could be destined for top minutes if he shows hes got the skills to hang with some of the best. Could see time with Kane if he makes it, or might just dwindle on the bottom line. all in all, this line could make or break the team. Filppula will get a ton more time this year, probably top 7 forward minutes and more PP time. Should become a regular on the top 6 by seasons end with a late season emergence..

Line expected out put: 800 points

O'Neill - Hudler - Eriksson

Until ONeill is traded, he is on the roster and will be put into consideration for predictins. He could flourish and regain his career. He very well could still notch 50 pts easily on a team somewhere where scoring lacks or needs a sniper. Hudler, rumors have it could sign back in russia, but if he can be dealt out of detroit, he will dominate elsewhere. we hope it happens. Eriksson, with dallas letting a lot of players go, he should gain top 6 minutes by mid way point and flourish highly.

Line Expected Out Put: 700 points

Pouliot - Bergenheim - Bulis

Pouliot, with lupul leaving, could become a more offensive player he was drafted to be. We all hope so, we dont like busts in Washington. Bergenehim is back with vengence. He could emerge in NYI since no one is left and lead the team in something offensively. A new Jason Blake would be fine by me. He had a good year over seas and we expect the same back here. Bulis is still on the roster. If he can find the right linemates elsewhere he could flourish still offensively, or anything better then last year.

Line expected out put: 600 Points

Potential trades: Bulis and Oneill
Potential rookie call ups: Marek Zagrapan, T.J. Hensick, Michail Grabovski, Konstantin Pushkarev, Tomas Fleischmann, Alexandre Picard, Roman Voloshenko
Likely only first called up: Grabovski

Offensive out put: 3000 points and we are a happy group!

Defense:

Liles - Seabrook

Liles is still the best offensive defensemen on colorado, we expect him healthy and better then last year. He dominated the offensive standpoint on the blueline last year and we hope he will dominate and be one of the better offensive defensemen this year! Seabrook is going to be the number 1 or 2 defenseen this coming season. His offensive should sky rocket with the new cast infront of him, he could even be better then liles points wise in the "U" this year.

Potential output on defnese: 900-950 points

Hamhuis - Kronwall

Hamhuis will get his PP time back. Timonen logged a lot and now he should get some back and score more this year and show his club hes the number 1 guy. He could very well become a 25-30 minute man that he was drafted to be, which is amazing. Kronwall, if healthy and finally realizes his potential should become the 2nd line pp QB and score more then 1 damn goal. All in all, PP time for these two will be huge in there point totals.

Potential output on defense: 650-700 points

Beauchemin - Letang

Letang will be behind some of the best young forwards in the game. He should have a matt carle like year in pittsburgh, 30 pts is highly likely, he could even emerge as a top 4 for us, if he beats out one of the others, i dont know if that good or bad. Beauchmin is a very underrated defensemen, capable of 20 pts, high plus, a few pims here and there along with all the GP you could imagine. we hope, tho we also hope his value goes sky high as he is the most tradeable asset on the blueline that we want to risk trading for a better piece of the puzzle.

Potential output on defense: 550 -600 points

Potential trades: Beauchemin
Potential rookie call ups: Matt Niskanen, Kyle Quincey, Derek Meech
Potential first call up: Kyle Quincey

Expected defensive out put: 2000+ and we are happy, with emergence


Rookie / Enforcers

Scott Thornton - Igor Grigorenko

We dont Know how this works yet. Grigorenko could become a top 6 player by seasons end and become that rookie like player detroit hasent had since zetterberg or datsyuk years ago. Domination is in his blood and this skilled kid will show how good he was projected to be before his injury. A healthy year from Scott could be all we need to pump into the playoffs. A lot of fights, Game misconducts is all we can ask for.

Potential Out put: 400 points, as we dont know how rookies get there points yet

Goaltending:

Fleury - Howard

If hasek isnt signed, Howard will get the call up possibly. He could become first called up and see atleat a few games and wins, we atleast hope so as our patience is growing thin. Fleury should continue to be great and show hes ready for allstar form. He had one of the best seasons last year and should dominate:

Projected out put: 750 points

Season total output: 6200 roughly and we are looking like we are moving in the right direction.

If we score big, next years line up this time next year should be:

Brown - Zagrapan - Kane
Filppula - Frolik - (Lots of assets trades for top notch winger)
Grigorenko - Filppula - Richards
Pouliot - Hudler - Eriksson

Liles - Hamhuis
Seabrook - Kronwall
Niskanen - Letang

First rounder - Thornton

Fleury - Howard