Ladd-Little-Wheeler
Kane-Schremp-Stapleton
Thorburn-Antropov-Stewart
Boulton-Burmistrov-Dvorak
Enstrom-Bogosian
Hainsey-Stuart
Oduya-Postma
I fully expected Zach Bogosian to be reunited with Tobias Enstrom on the top pairing, and for Mark Stuart to be bumped up a pairing to go with Ron Hainsey.
A pleasant surprise was Rob Schremp being bumped up to the second line with Evander Kane. This should provide a bit of speed and scoring potential. Schremp has so far been used on the third and fourth lines here despite having ten goals on the season and a reputation for being effective when paired with fellow goal-minded individuals. Radek Dvorak is not goal minded.
Something that is confusing, though, is why Schremp isn’t centering Kane and Anthony Stewart. Perhaps Ramsay’s trying to send a message to Stewart regarding his play, but Tim Stapleton has exactly one goal and one assist, is slow, does not set up plays, and is generally a placeholder. He usually manages one to two shots on goal, and is an even +/- rating for eight of the last ten games. He’s not doing anything amazing, and yet he’s not doing anything terrible, either. He’s just there.