As Grier mentioned in his last post, we will both be posting our opening day 23-man roster predictions, then laugh and point at each other when we get them wrong. I just read a story about the 7 guys jockeying for position for the last D spot, and it inspired me to give my predictions now, what the hell.

By the way, I’m only grouping them into lines because I don’t want this post to be 20 pages long. The actual line combinations are too tough to call.

Forwards
1. Joe – Clowe – Cheech
2. Patty – Setoguchi – Michalek
3. Grier – Brown – Little Joe
4. Rissmiller – JR – Goc

Defense
1. McLaren – Ehrhoff
2. Rivet – Carle
3. Vlasic – Ozolinsh

Goalies
1. Nabby
2. Greiss

Spare Parts
1. Davison
2. Bernier
3. Murray

As you can see, I’m predicting Ozolinsh to make the team, which is my most controversial prediction. At this point, with all the cuts they’ve made, they clearly have seen something out of Ozolinsh. With Davison, Murray, McLaren, Vlasic, and Rivet all being solid D-first defensemen, I think the Sharks will take a flyer on the Oz, and hope he contributes some offensive spark.

This means Semenov is the odd man out. As Grier has said, he’s too reminiscent of Mike Rathje. Too slow, and not really any bone crushing hits. He’s got a 6-6, 235 lb frame in a division with the Ducks; he has to be a physical force to have a shot to make the club. At least Murray tries to level people. I put Davison at the top of the healthy scratch list because he’s been willing to play a wing position as well, and unlike Bernier, is unafraid to get his hands dirty. Bernier we’re stuck with- he’s too valuable to release or send down, but not good enough to play every day. He’s trade bait.