RE: 09-10 Crystal Ball Time. Yeah, I added the Sedins.

I took the road less traveled and I probably successfully alienated the majority of you.

So yeah, basically I tried to take a look at this like the original post suggested, from the eyes of BB. I had to prepare myself for this by mainly watching Slap Shot about 6 times in a row, which in all fairness I would have done anyway.

See, I figure there are about 2 major things that you have to remember about Brian Burke:

1. His favorite movie of all time is Slap Shot- This is further highlighted by the fact that he signed the real life son of one of the Hanson brothers, so yeah, this guy is seriously awesome.  

2. He's a man known for pulling two Swedes out of his hat.

Let's face it, BB is famous pretty much for his trade day shenanigans that landed those Swedish Fish, without those trades and some other dull stuff (see: Ducks winning Stanley Cup) he probably wouldn't have the job that he has now. Having said that, I pretty much am going to assume that he's going to try and bring them to Toronto, because honestly we need a top line center, and since the Sedin's come in pairs, let's just add that LW too.

 So now you're all prepped for what most of you are probably going to hate, here goes nothing.

FORWARDS

1st line- Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, and Jason Blake ($6, $6, $4)- The $16 million line.

Henrik passes, Daniel scores, and Blake races around the net as fast as he can to make the goaltender dizzy for the next line. In all seriousness, I think that although ageing; Jason Blake can easily break his point record for last season. Especially with the kind of playmaking skills that Henrik has. Yes, I said it.

Justification of UFA signings- Havlat put up the kind of numbers that the Sedins did this past season and got paid about $6 million. Considering the ties that the Twins have with BB and because they want to play together but not for the LA Kings, I'm going to go ahead and say they'll get their raise, but also keep it rather reasonable for the possibly shrinking cap number. I think they'll get a two year deal at this price.

2nd line- Jiri Tlusty, Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak ($.855, $1.75, $2.5)- These kids skate like the wind!

I think with Tlustys performance in the AHL this last half of the season shows he's ready to actually break in and stay in the NHL. He can make some pretty goals, especially with Stajan dishing to him.

Let me defend Matt Stajan for a second. A lot of these posts have him traded away for next to nothing, and a lot of fans seem to hate him. Here's why I think he'll work. Look at Scott Gomez's age, stats, and salary. Now look at Stajan's. He has the same kind of problems that Gomez does (other than the rolling around in cash problem) he relies heavily on dishing the puck, which accounts for his assists. Plus he's younger, and still has a lot of potential. I like the way he skates, and I think I have a fool proof plan on getting him to score. All we have to do is pull a Waterboy (see: Adam Sandler) on him, and convince him to take out his anger at the soccer ball that side-lined him last season, on the puck. BOOM! he suddenly has an amazing slap shot that burns holes through goaltender's gloves.

Stempniak purportedly had a problem scoring because he didn't really have anyone decent dishing him the puck. I think the kinks will work themselves out if Stajan works more on being a playmaker, and continuing to play that two way game we've kept him around for. Ever notice how playing with better players just raises everyone's stats?

3rd line- Niklas Hagman, Tyler Bozak, Nikolai Kulemin ($3, $4, $1.48)- Because I don't think we're paying Bozak $4 million a year to suck.

Not too much to say about this lineup. I think Kulemin played well with Hagman, plus he has a little bit of size considering he's relatively fast. Bozak has some size too, and presents a scoring threat and adequate shut down skills. Frankly, I just love Hagman. I thought he played pretty well considering the team we put on ice last season. Not terrible, but not too terrific either.

4th line- John Mitchell, Christian Hanson, Jamal Mayers ($.488, $.875, $1.333)- The sit down and shut up line.

More size, abrasiveness, and reasonable scoring threat that Burke loves. Mayers isn't just a jerk skating around and hitting people, I don't think that's what hockey needs, especially this team. Add some grit to a team without being a complete dink about it (see: Chris Neil).

13th forward- Boyd Devereaux ($.5)- because he skates really fast and demoralizes Ottawa just by being on the ice.

DEFENSE

1st line- Our Luke and Savior, Tomas Kaberle ($2.975, $4.25)- What do you mean Kubina got traded?

Here's our number one defensive line. Schenner is going to rock some socks off this year, as he will every year. Kaberle will pick up on some of OLAS' youthful exuberance and magically transform him into his prime. Kabby can dish the puck, and I'll be damned if a hockey team doesn't absolutely need a complete package like Kaberle. He wasn't as impressive as he has been in previous years, but I feel like this is a new year for him, and he's going to recognize that. Plus it helps your stats out a lot when the pass you just made then makes it to the back of the net (and not our own, thanks Florida for taking McClutz off our hands. Too bad you gave us a fragile little egg to play in his place.)

2nd line- Ian White, Jeff Finger ($.85, $3.5)- Or WhiteFinger as I like to think of them.

I think Jeff Finger is going to come back from the off season with a magical mustache just like Ian White's. These two will become fast friends as a result and become an amazing defensive pair. Just like any good defensive tandem, one will stay at home while the other (preferably The 'Stache helps out on the attack).

3rd line- Anton Stralman, Jonas Frogren ($.732, $1.065)- The Frogman line, because Mike Van Ryn is injury prone, and we can't trade him away.

I've always been a fan of Stralman and I think that Van Ryn won't stay healthy long enough to stay in the lineup. I also think that Frogren isn't going to go anywhere especially with the supposed wealth of defensive knowledge he has gained from being abroad and whatnot.

7th Defenseman- Mike Van Ryn ($2.9)- I think he'll try and play the season and then promptly be injured. Burke and Wilson will be on their last straw and make him sit in the corner, or send him to the minors(my vote is for the minors. Maybe someone will pick him up and we can give Oreskovic another try or maybe Harrison.)

 GOALTENDING

#1- Vesa Toskala ($4)- I've got an Owwwie!, but it's better now, thanks for asking.

My sneaking suspicion has been that Vesa played last season with that groin/hip injury and that's why he hasn't been so fresh. I would love that to be true.  Allaire and many doctors help him to become even more awesome than ever before.

#2- Jonas Gustavsson ($1.5)- I say 1.5 because I saw it on another post and it's extremely convenient for fitting him under the cap.

Yeah, I'm pretty confident we're landing this Monster fish. I think that Toronto will encourage more of a goalie tandem like Boston did last season and San Jose has done in the past. Gustavsson will meet expectations, but we, the public, will not put undue and absurd expectations upon him. That's something new, isn't it?

So, with the cap hit of the two buyouts, Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft ($.733, $1)- it will come in under the wire at about $56.3 million.

Kubina, Ponikarovsky and Grabovski all take a trip to somewhere, for something. Possibly all to the Kings, or different teams. I like Kubina and Ponikarovsky, and would have liked to keep them, but we do need a younger lineup, and Burke wanted to fit the Sedins in. Besides, I hate Grabovski. Pass the damn puck and the guy that had cancer won't punch you during two different practices(see Jason Blake). I don't care how many goals you score, unless it's 100, you're still a dink. At 100 goals you're just a 100 goal scoring dink. He doesn't bring a good side into this team, that needs, and I mean absolutely needs to be a non whining, team oriented team. Not a charge blindly toward the goal and get stripped of the puck by even a five year old with a branch type of team. Anyway, enough of a rant on that.

I used two different sites for the numbers, www.nhlnumbers.com and www.hockeybuzz.com, so if any of the numbers are wrong, I blame them for it. I kind of designed the lines around some of my own preferences from playing with some of the players on NHL2K9, and familiarizing myself with what some people believed to be their potential.

So have at it and pull it apart, let me know how much you think the Sedins suck and don't belong on the team, etc.