Line Combos: 2021-22 lines

[Kosseca]

“We” don’t matter, it’s about Dom Dom making combos to fit his system - assets acquired & shipped out had to be aligned w that fit in mind

The point remains... there is not "natural" flow to this line up. There is a C missing and this is obbious

 

[Miller Time]

CBJ offered Anderson the exact same contract term minus $250K which he turned down and led to the deal per their beat writer

not budging on 250K tells you about all you need to know about how hey viewed the risk.

 

[salbutera]

not budging on 250K tells you about all you need to know about how hey viewed the risk.

Oh pls , the $250K upping is necessary to attract anyone to Mtl aka s*ithole central of the NHL

 

[NORiculous]

Top 9:
Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Drouin-Dvorak-Hoffman
Anderson-Evans-Gallagher

 

[Miller Time]

Oh pls , the $250K upping is necessary to attract anyone to Mtl aka s*ithole central of the NHL

i would wager that players in general would require a bigger premium to go to Columbus, than to montreal...

in any case, Anderson's 1x20 goal season, and first year dud with us, don't bode well for the big deal he got from MB, regardless of what Columbus did or didn't offer. On him to make it right and not go the Drouin route (who, even as bad as he's been for us the last 2 seasons, still put up 45pts in 81 games.. compared to Anderson's mighty 30 in 74... but hey, he hits things sometimes (ending up out of position and giving up transition space or not retreiving the puck, but hey, rock'em sock'em rigth

 

[salbutera]

i would wager that players in general would require a bigger premium to go to Columbus, than to montreal...

in any case, Anderson's 1x20 goal season, and first year dud with us, don't bode well for the big deal he got from MB, regardless of what Columbus did or didn't offer. On him to make it right and not go the Drouin route (who, even as bad as he's been for us the last 2 seasons, still put up 45pts in 81 games.. compared to Anderson's mighty 30 in 74... but hey, he hits things sometimes (ending up out of position and giving up transition space or not retreiving the puck, but hey, rock'em sock'em rigth

Hell yeah I’ve had enough of Habs and their tinker bell players, let the Leafs keep stockpiling their rollerena’s

 

[BenchBrawl]

Toffoli Suzuki Caufield
Drouin Dvorak Anderson
Hoffman Evans Gallagher
Lehkonen Paquette Armia

Obviously as usual we lack the high-end 1st line superstar firepower, but other than that this is a deep line up, and who's to say depth isn't a recipe for success in the playoffs? We remember how Josh Anderson was a ghost for the beginning of the playoffs until he woke up and became one of the best players in an important stretch. This is what depth gives you. Players waking up at different time so you always have someone who is on.

Drouin and Caufield are the biggest question marks. If both can have strong seasons, we're in business.

 

[SakuKoivu11]

Any of the wingers could play with each other. We just need to move Evans down and we look for 3rd line center

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

The more I think about it, the more Drouin as a center looks like a possibility. Ducharme did use him there at times in his Halifax days and might feel more confident about it than most. I'm not quite sure how to feel about that TBH but I might like it better than expecting Evans to center an offense oriented line

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher
Perreault-Drouin-Anderson
Lehkonen-Evans-Armia

Maybe ? I don't know

 

[Lebowski]

Any of the wingers could play with each other. We just need to move Evans down and we look for 3rd line center

I have faith in Evans. Can’t wait to see the kind of season he can have with a consistent set of decent wingers and a bigger role.

I think he could make us forget about Danault rather quickly.

 

[Captain97]

I have faith in Evans. Can’t wait to see the kind of season he can have with a consistent set of decent wingers and a bigger role.

I think he could make us forget about Danault rather quickly.

I'm interested as well, if Evans can become a legit 3C say 30-35 points then I really like our forward group. Playing with say Drouin and Anderson should help him do that as well.

 

[Hannibal]

Would give a long-hard look at Poehling for our third line center with good wingers. Than Evans on fourth line for defensive coverage

 

[Captain97]

The more I think about it, the more Drouin as a center looks like a possibility. Ducharme did use him there at times in his Halifax days and might feel more confident about it than most. I'm not quite sure how to feel about that TBH but I might like it better than expecting Evans to center an offense oriented line

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher
Perreault-Drouin-Anderson
Lehkonen-Evans-Armia

Maybe ? I don't know

I'm certainly open to try that lineup but I'd consider swapping Lehkonen for Paquette. I know Lehkonen prbly has a little more offence but Paquette is decent at faceoffs and would provide another centre for the PK. Allowing Suzuki/Dvorak to play it a little less.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Top 9:
Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Drouin-Dvorak-Hoffman
Anderson-Evans-Gallagher

1) Drouin with Hoffman on the same 5/5 line is a bad idea. Asking Dvorak to do to much IMO.

2) I believe Lehkonen will be paired with Evans.

Either Drouin or Hoffman will play on the last line but both will get PP time. That's the smart way to manage guys like that. Who does Gallagher play with? It's either with Dvorak or back on a shut down line with Lehkonen and Evans. Like it or not, Ducharme is going to have a shutdown line and if I had to guess, it will be Lehkonen / Evans / Galalgher

 

[Goalfield13]

Any of the wingers could play with each other. We just need to move Evans down and we look for 3rd line center

Poehling, hopefully, sometime during the year. If we were willing to give that spot to KK, I don't see why Poehling doesn't get a shot.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Any of the wingers could play with each other. We just need to move Evans down and we look for 3rd line center

I'm not buying the we need to move Evans down narrative. Ducharme had him with Lehkonen and Byron in a 2nd shutdown line against Tampa and they did very well. Do you think a declining Bozak at age 35 is better than a rising Evans at age 25? I don't.

Don't ignore it, management is high on Evans just like they were with Danault when they traded Eller back when. And I have no doubt they will trust him in a 3C shutdown role. Either Paquette or Perreault play on the last listed line and Poehling as insurance. No more cap room to add anybody else at this stage.

 

[Pompeius Magnus]

I'm certainly open to try that lineup but I'd consider swapping Lehkonen for Paquette. I know Lehkonen prbly has a little more offence but Paquette is decent at faceoffs and would provide another centre for the PK. Allowing Suzuki/Dvorak to play it a little less.

Lehkonen has a new contract and all, it feels like he's got a pretty solid spot on the roster. I see Paquette more as a utility 13th forward/injury reserve/competition for Evans.

 

[SOLR]

Any of the wingers could play with each other. We just need to move Evans down and we look for 3rd line center

I'd say move Suzuki and Dvorak down, look for 1st line center, but that's just me.

 

[Goalfield13]

1) Drouin with Hoffman on the same 5/5 line is a bad idea. Asking Dvorak to do to much IMO.

2) I believe Lehkonen will be paired with Evans.

Either Drouin or Hoffman will play on the last line but both will get PP time. That's the smart way to manage guys like that. Who does Gallagher play with? It's either with Dvorak or back on a shut down line with Lehkonen and Evans. Like it or not, Ducharme is going to have a shutdown line and if I had to guess, it will be Lehkonen / Evans / Galalgher

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher
Lehkonen-Evans-Anderson
Drouin-Paquette-Armia

To start the year. Drouin gets PP time. If it works out, Poehling can take Paquette's place, and likely the role of that line changes considerably. I like the speed of the Evans line with Anderson getting outlet passes when Lehk or Evans create a turnover.

Armia gives Drouin someone to pass to, and they have had chemistry together in the past. Armia is pretty underrated. You can pretty much put him anywhere.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Hoffman-Dvorak-Gallagher
Lehkonen-Evans-Anderson
Drouin-Paquette-Armia

To start the year. Drouin gets PP time. If it works out, Poehling can take Paquette's place, and likely the role of that line changes considerably. I like the speed of the Evans line with Anderson getting outlet passes when Lehk or Evans create a turnover.

Armia gives Drouin someone to pass to, and they have had chemistry together in the past. Armia is pretty underrated. You can pretty much put him anywhere.

Very close to the 2 or 3 variations I have.

 

[x15Kotkaniemi15x]

What do you guys think is the Habs biggest question mark next season? Just posted a video on this and would love for you to subscribe and share thoughts! Cheers, GHG!

 

[Habs Halifax]

What do you guys think is the Habs biggest question mark next season? Just posted a video on this and would love for you to subscribe and share thoughts! Cheers, GHG!

1) Lots of roster turnover. Don't know how it will mesh together.
2) Back in the east (both the Atlantic and Metro are tough)
3) Don't have battle tested guys in the trenches like Perry, Staal, Weber. Savard helps. But when the game gets rough, how do we sustain pressure down low and in front of the net? It's better than previous years before last season but not sure how we hold leads by keeping the puck in the other end.
3) Where will our PK and team D end up? In the playoffs, we were elite but in the past regular season, we were average or worse.
4) PP should be better but we lack puck possession guys to carry it in the zone.

 

[tooji]

I think to start the season Suz - Caufield is a safe bet, but won’t be surprised to see caufield put with Dvorak just to spread the firepower at some point in the season

 

[Habs Halifax]

I think to start the season Suz - Caufield is a safe bet, but won’t be surprised to see caufield put with Dvorak just to spread the firepower at some point in the season

Right now, we are all penciling Caufield with Suzuki but it can change for sure. Lets face it, a lot of us has projected line-ups in the past and we know things change as the season moves along depending on loosing streaks, injuries, match-ups, and who's hot/who's cold.

Nobody has the balls to pencil Drouin in as the 4th line center and that may or may not happen and it may or may not end up well. Right now, the easy reply is... "That's ridiculous". If we are board and waiting for the season to start, maybe we should predict bold unpredictable or unexpected line-ups?

Unexpected line-up:
Toffoli / Suzuki / Hoffman
Anderson / Dvorak / Caufield
Armia / Drouin / Gallagher
Perreault / Evans / Lehkonen
* Paquette, Byron (IR)
* Poehling as center insurance

Kulak / Petry
Romanov / Edmundson
Chiarot / Savard
* Wideman

 

[SakuKoivu11]

I'd say move Suzuki and Dvorak down, look for 1st line center, but that's just me.

You mean

Eichel
Suzuki
Dvorak
Evans

?