By and large, media day press conferences are uneventful.
But when Cam Atkinson spoke on Wednesday following the formal sessions with management, he revealed a succulent little nugget: he's likely to form one-third of a new No. 1 line on the right side of Artemi Panarin and Alexander Wennberg.
"From the look of it, it looks like I'm on a team right now with (Wennberg) and Panarin," Atkinson said. "I'm looking for any opportunity to get better, and guys like Panarin are going to push every single player to reach their potential. I know he's going to push me and hopefully I push him."
Such an offensively-gifted line has been rare in Columbus. Perhaps never in the history of this franchise has so much of the offensive firepower been placed on one line; from seven to nine, then 21 to 22, and most recently 27 to 35, Atkinson has increased his goal total every season.
Panarin has yet to not score 30 goals or total fewer than 70 points in each of his first two seasons. Wennberg's 46 assists in 2016-17 tied for 15th most in the NHL.
Early indications are that RW Cam Atkinson will get the first chance to play on a line with LW Artemi Panarin and C Alexander Wennberg.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 13, 2017
Panarin and Atkinson share several similarities: both are smallish right-handed wingers with a knack for scoring goals. They feast on the power play and don't require a ton of room to be effective. Both were recently named two of the top 20 wingers in the NHL.
These similarities are cause for optimism, but also could be a cause for concern.
Many lines around the NHL are successful because of their uniqueness; that is, they help balance each other out. A line with so much talent could be dynamite, to be sure, but could realistically fall flat on its face due to an inability to effectively retrieve pucks.
There's no way to truly know for sure until the puck is dropped, which, lucky for us, will be soon. John Tortorella will have a few weeks to officially determine line combinations (and even then it's fluid), but for now, it looks like Atkinson will be the first domino to fall into the lineup.
Follow 1st Ohio BatteryFacebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube
