A few weeks ago we ran a poll asking our readers their thoughts on who should make the opening night roster, and where players fit in the lineup. After collecting over 1,000 ballots, here are the results.
Question #1- Who Should Be Backup?
No real surprises on the winner here. It was clear from the outset that Al Montoya was signed with improving the backup role in mind. Michael Condon would have needed to be lights out in training camp in order to keep his role, which unfortunately he wasn’t.
What’s surprising is that Charlie Lindgren received more votes than Condon, even though he is still a rookie, and has a very minimal body of work to support the claim to the role.
Zach Fucale finishing last was not a surprise at all, as he struggled last season, and struggled this pre-season as well. He will need a lot of seasoning before being considered for the backup job.
DEFENSIVE DEPTH
Generally the fan vote was quite accurate in terms of where each defenceman fit in team depth on the blue line. Weber and Beaulieu were correctly identified as the first defensive pairing for the team.
Mikhail Sergachev making the cut certainly was a surprise for the majority of voters, but 31% did vote that he would make the team in some capacity. Marc Barberio was chosen over Zach Redmond in the battle for extra defenceman, and yet with Sergachev making the team it was Barberio who was cut and sent back the American Hockey League despite nearly 85% of the voters keeping him on the roster.
FORWARDS DEPTH
Congratulations to the fan vote for essentially nailing the line combinations right down to the very close battle on the third line between Daniel Carr and Sven Andrighetto, and the precarious position that Brian Flynn finds himself in as 13th forward on a deep roster.
Despite his growing unpopularity, David Desharnais was correctly identified as the best candidate for the third line, although there was some opinions that would have liked to see him cut by the team.
Michael McCarron was the big undecided vote by the group, as 50% selected him to make the team in some capacity, while the other 50% thought he needed to be cut. In his case it’s clearly a numbers game that determined his fate to start the season.
