Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Best NHL Team Money Can Buy: Fourth Line
My fourth line would be seeing a ton of defensive zone starts so that the first and third lines can get as many offensive zone starts as possible. However, I’d still want them to be somewhat productive on offense. I think I got a nice blend here.
Fourth Line Left Wing: Michael Raffl
Raffl is one of the most underrated forwards in the NHL. I really like what he brings to the table offensively. His $1.1 million cap hit pretty much sealed the deal for me. His 120.17 dCI ranked 11th among left wings. He scored 28 points despite playing just over 14 minutes a game. I’ll take that from my fourth liner. It’s a tad bit of a risk having Raffl who has never been a heavy defensive zone start guy in the NHL on the fourth line, but hey, I can afford to take it with his offense.
Fourth Line Center: Marcus Kruger
Kruger is what I like to call a “defensive zone specialist”. He had just a 25.25% offensive zone start percentage in 2014-2015. Despite that, his CF% relative was just -1.67%. That’s insane. That tells me that Kruger is an expert at creating offense despite not getting favorable minutes or zone starts. His dCI was the third highest in the NHL (236.11). Granted, he’s a fourth liner so he didn’t have terribly difficult expectations to beat. But still, that’s extremely impressive. I’ll take him as the fourth line center on my team any day of the week. I renewed his contract at $1.35 million (his AAV from last season) since he hasn’t signed an NHL contract for next season yet.
Fourth Line Right Wing: Erik Condra
Condra, like Kruger, is a defensive specialist. His dCI of 98.09 was 12th among right wings. He can provide a little bit of offense, but he’s more known for his defensive prowess. He’s also one of the best penalty killers in the league.
Now, let’s take a look at my defensemen.
Next: First Pairing