Now I've heard it all.

I've seen people who want Souray over Lukowich. Ok, so they had one too many drinks. Understandable. Then there are people who would trade Gionta for Pyatt (did they remember to take their medication?). But the craziest I've seen is not Souray over Rafalski, but Oduya and Fraser over Raffy. Huh? Those two over our top scoring D man? Why not toss Elias or Langenbrunner to the curb for LaCouture or Ryznar? And we'll send Brodeur down to the AHL and make Parise our starting goalie, too. Nothing against those who would like Rafalski to leave, but it wouldn't work in our favor. Granted, not signing Raffs would leave room for Gomez, but the the chances of him staying, even if Lou does offer the most are very slim.

I think, the best line up would be (if we could get the players that are UFAs and what not):

Elias/Sykora or Briere/Gionta
Parise/Zajac/Clarkson
Pandolfo/Madden/Langenbrunner
Pelley/Dowd or Rupp, if Jimmy retires/Brylin
Rupp (if Dowd plays for another season) and Bergfors or Vrana (both if Dowd's gone)

Martin/White
Rafalski/Matvichuk
Greene/Lukowich
Fraser or Oduya. I'm not too fond of any UFA defense men, or any in Lowell.

Brodeur
Clemmensen or Parise

If the coach, whoever it may be, makes Parise play center and splits our little dynamic dou of him and Zajac up, the dude's got issues. Sykora had a..not good season, but maybe if we pair him with Captain Patrik, that will change. I think it's time for Dowd to retire. I like him, but he's the best, and he won't get better with age. With him gone, we could make room for some younger players (i.e.: Bergfors, Vrana and Pelley).