It certainly will be interesting to see what Disco does with a full, healthy lineup. If Tangradi is the odd man out, he needs to to down to WBS and play, and given he has lots of waiver options left, I assume that's what we'll see, barring him turning into Kevin Stevens between now and Staal's return.
Engelland has blown me away. I had no idea he was such a tough customer. I think we'll see a rotation there, as Orpik and Michalek will both eat lots of minutes, so the third pairing may not get much ice time no matter who it is. But what a blessing in disguise those blueline injuries are turning out to be. The more minutes the other guys play, the better they look.
I say we have some fun with the lines now. They mentioned last night that Letestu is getting work in practice learning the wing. It certainly seems he could wind up there once Staal returns. Would it be crazy to try some combo of him and Crosby and Malkin together?
Letestu-Crosby-Malkin (though that puts both guys on the off wing, wonder how Malkin would handle the left side)
Kunitz-Staal-Comrie
Cooke-Talbot-Kennedy/Asham
Dupuis-Adams/Rupp-Kennedy/Asham
Godard
You're right, odd man out pretty much has to be Tangradi. Unless they are ok risking losing someone on waivers. Actually, with so many scrappy guys willing to drop them and the emergence of Engelland, is there any need to keep Godard at this point?