So, I'm kind of trying to do this under something of a time crunch, so I hope it'll be coherent. I may even be up and down while I'm trying to write it.
Anyway, I'm glad everybody loves our first line. We're proud of it. Love the way it came together.
As for the workings of the top three lines, we've discussed a left wing lock there, to support the LW position providing the defensive conscience. We feel that Moore, Lehtinen, and Tikkanen can cover that role just fine. Malone and Mogilny should provide the goalscoring for the second and third lines, and we believe that Alfredsson and Oates offer even range in their games to be their setup guys as well as contributing a bit of goalscoring and defense on their own.
This might come off as weird, but I'm not going to try to defend Coffey. He's one of those guys that opinions are set on. You either love him or hate him, and nothing I can say is going to change your mind. One thing is certain though: when it comes to a defenseman stirring the drink for offense, it's hard to think of anybody not named Bobby Orr that does it better. A guy I will defend is Vasiliev. As CTP said, I think he fits in very nicely with the #1 RD's in the division. He's obviously going to be asked to take on a defensive role in this lineup, but we feel that he can do it. Yes, it's still going to be like having one defenseman back there as far as the first pairing is concerned, but when we're on defense, Moore will be back there to support too. Make no question, this is still an offensive first unit, and we know that. But I don't think that Lehman is going to be hanging out to dry any more than say, Fuhr did. We're at least trying to have some measure of defensive responsibility among our forwards as well.
As for goaltending, yes, we're the weakest in our division there. I'm not going to try to argue that. It would be crazy to do so, since it's a who's who of netminding in our division. I almost get the feeling that Lehman is being viewed as a scrub though, and I don't think that's fair. I don't think there's any question that he's a solid regular season guy, and his playoff reputation has gotten something of a rehabilitation through things like the pre-consolidation project. Ultimately, his job isn't to outduel the big guns in the division in defensive struggles, but to keep us in games, which I think he can do quite well. Again, Grant Fuhr comes to mind. The numbers weren't always stellar, but he did his job, and there's no questioning the success that the teams had with that setup.
Anyway, as I said, I did this with some distraction, so if I didn't say something clearly, let me know and I'll try to clarify. Thanks to the folks who have reviewed our team. This is one of the sections of the draft that can sting if you don't take it the right way, but it's also one of the best opportunities to learn, and ultimately to me, the ATD is just a fun way to learn about a fun hobby.