Sitting in his newly rented apartment after the last pre-season game, Ellis Lee felt a sense of relief. Following the game, the GMs had pulled him aside. They liked his performance in the exhibition games, particularly his strong defensive effort in game 3. While he had only a single point in seven games to show for it, they liked his solid and dependable play. He played up and down the lineup in the pre-season as the coaching staff tried to figure out what lines fit best.

When he could sense the conversation wrapping up, Lee piped in, “uh, coach? I was, um, just wondering about the lines and who I’ll be playing with?”

Ultimately, they saw the chemistry that Atticus Hale, Patya Perevalov, and Lee had together. The three rookies fit neatly into archetypes that would define their roles on the newly formed “Rookie Line”. Hale, with his strength on face-offs and his playmaking abilities would play the part of a playmaking center. Perevalov, with his slick offensive skill would play the part of finisher. And Lee, with his size and strength would play the part of a punishing power forward. The coaches detailed to him a few notes: drive the net, create space for your teammates, make the defenders panic when you’re on the forecheck, and get open to chip in and provide another offensive option for Perevalov and Hale. Ellis grinned.

“How does that sound kid?”, asked the general managers.

Lee gave them a thumbs up, “forecheck, backcheck, paycheque.”