I think Panarin will be a 40-50 point player this year, and think of it this way--what other options do the Hawks have for the 1st LW? Versteeg on the top line? No. Maybe Dano although I think he works better 2nd/3rd.
As for Tikhonov, he's a fairly known quantity physically and defensively, and he has NHL/North American experience. I like him on the 3rd line because it keeps Shaw's energy and offense on the 4th line, but they could flip.
I'm in agreement with you. I think you have an option of Teuvo, Panarin, or Versteeg at 1LW.
I do like the idea of Teuvo and Dano together on the third. I actually love those lines with Tikhonov, Teuvo, Dano.
But like I said this team is fascinating in line pairings. You have the hockey set line pairing, but given what we saw in playoffs we have some interesting things to see next year.
Kane-Teuvo with either Toews or Panarin or Dano.
You have the Slovakians to try. Dano and Hossa. That might be the least likely of these. We have an entire Russian line.
Panarin-Asinimov-Tikhonov
Of course the exploration of Kane with different centers, its tough to project who fits Kane best so this year is exciting as we have 4 NHL centers and two 20 year olds who might be ready plus the farm. Find Kanes soulmate!!
What I saw with Teuvo-Kane was a ton of pressure not he defense to the point of them almost being frozen. Tuevo could absolutely be Kane's soulmate from what we saw in playoffs. Whether he needs a center in the middle is yet to be known. But that big russian between them could be pretty. Its autocorrect that switches the ue in Teuvo