Unless he has made some major strides over the summer, AA is not suited for a 2nd line C role, particularly not with a rookie and a defensive liability for wingers. He'd be fine for a depth center role though, where he could be sheltered. But most likely Larkin, Nielsen, Helm, Glendening will be the centers if Z is done. We can do three scoring lines:
AA-Larkin-Mantha
Zadina-Nielsen-Nyquist
Ras-Helm-Vanek
Abby-Glen-Bert
AA is probably better at this point than Bert, and Helm is a better center than AA. Probably even better to swap AA and Ras, but I think Ras should be eased in a bit. Four scoring lines would be even better but without Z I don't think we can pull it off.