Speculation: 2024-2025 General Lightning Discussion II: Happy New Year!

[Lightning1995]

When are we gonna talk about how our top line really isn’t all that good together? We’ve been trying to force it to work the whole season and it’s just not happening, and no i don’t care how many points they are putting up. When you have all your best players on a line they need to dominate.

Should go back to Hagel-Point-Kucherov and try Guentzel-Cirelli-Paul

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Agree it’s worth a shot, they’ve looked dominate at times but not generating much at all lately. Also it gets Geekie out if the top six, where he does not belong yet.

 

[bov]

Still think the team needs a true shutdown line. One that you can trust against the best lines in the world. Hagel-Cirelli-Paul can be that, but if it's Geekie or even Guentzel on the wing instead, I don't think it has the same effect.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

When are we gonna talk about how our top line really isn’t all that good together? We’ve been trying to force it to work the whole season and it’s just not happening, and no i don’t care how many points they are putting up. When you have all your best players on a line they need to dominate.

Should go back to Hagel-Point-Kucherov and try Guentzel-Cirelli-Paul

View attachment 956494

Almost like I spent the whole offseason after getting Guentzel telling people that we don’t need to stack the top line.. but OMG hurr durr think of the points.

Put Guentzel with Cirelli and Hagel..

 

[Rschmitz]

Almost like I spent the whole offseason after getting Guentzel telling people that we don’t need to stack the top line.. but OMG hurr durr think of the points.

Put Guentzel with Cirelli and Hagel..

Why? Our top two lines have played amazing this season, Geekie is the only guy who looks out of place at times.

Paul on line three is an attempt to not stack the top two lines, it’s the bottom 6 that need help if anything.

 

[Point21]

Please JBB

 

[Stammertime91]

Please JBB

Calm down, we have Atkinson and Sheary

 

[bov]

Red flag. With his age, draft pedigree and tools, makes you wonder why the Kings are willing to have him taken for free at 825k including his RFA rights. Especially with decent production in limited time.

 

[These Are The Days]

I'm gonna be amazed if this kid makes it past a team like Ottawa, Chicago or even Buffalo. Unreal talent

 

[creg]

I’m not very high on most waiver fodder, but I can’t think of a player who would benefit from a change of scenery more than Kaliyev. Would love for the bolts to take a chance on him in the unlikely chance he makes it to us.

 

[These Are The Days]

Red flag. With his age, draft pedigree and tools, makes you wonder why the Kings are willing to have him taken for free at 825k including his RFA rights. Especially with decent production in limited time.

If I had to guess, he probably got the Drouin treatment and rightly told the coaching staff to go f*** itself. A meathead like Crombeen can turn the puck over 3 times in a shift because he handles it like a f***ing hand grenade and get all the ice time he wants but Stamkos rides the bench because he made a blind pass that didn't connect. That craps needs to be abolished. It's not one or the other when teaching young players defensive responsibility

Idk if that's the case with Kaliyev but if so he is welcome here with open arms as Cooper learned that lesson years ago and does not actively try to coach the skill out of young players games anymore.

 

[Felonious Python]

I’m not very high on most waiver fodder, but I can’t think of a player who would benefit from a change of scenery more than Kaliyev. Would love for the bolts to take a chance on him in the unlikely chance he makes it to us.

If a guy is on waivers, it's very likely that all the GMs already knew Kaliyev might be on the move, but no one wanted to make a deal. It's probably why there are so few actual claims.

In a vacuum, I'd be claiming guys all the time. Low risk for what the rewards could be.

 

[JoVel]

We should start saying "Marty St. Louis was on waivers" about every player the same way people say "Gretzky was traded".

 

[Stammertime91]

We should start saying "Marty St. Louis was on waivers" about every player the same way people say "Gretzky was traded".

"Buffalo was relegated"

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

I would claim him. But I don’t think he’ll make it to us.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

Why? Our top two lines have played amazing this season, Geekie is the only guy who looks out of place at times.

Paul on line three is an attempt to not stack the top two lines, it’s the bottom 6 that need help if anything.

To me Point and Kucherov are going to do theyre thing regardless. If we need a goal sure put Guentzel back on Line 1. But Guentzel - Cirelli - Hagel would be an elite elite 2nd line.

Have 41-20-14 play big body posession hockey

Barkov and Reinhart have Evan f***ing rodrigues on their line and Point and Kuch are both better than them.

 

[Rschmitz]

To me Point and Kucherov are going to do theyre thing regardless. If we need a goal sure put Guentzel back on Line 1. But Guentzel - Cirelli - Hagel would be an elite elite 2nd line.

Have 41-20-14 play big body posession hockey

Barkov and Reinhart have Evan f***ing rodrigues on their line and Point and Kuch are both better than them.

I get what you're saying, if the second line was struggling this would definitely be the move, but I would argue that Cirelli and Hagel are doing their thing too. I think this is one of the reasons Guentzel and Paul’s chemistry has been talked about this year, we could get that third line going, but we should also try and maximize Guentzels minutes.

Edit: I see you have Geekie and Paul on the third line, I may have missed who you wanted on the top line to replace Guentzel then

 

[JTBF81]

They could roll
Hagel-Point-Kuch
Guentzel-Cirelli-Paul
Ace-Geekie-Chaffee
The 3rd line/bottom 6 could then add someone like Armia, Donato, Gourde etc and solidify the top 3 lines, while also a little more depth and ability to try new configurations in the bottom 6. Guentzel has been very good with Paul as well, and they can always go back to the current top 6 when needed

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Just not scoring enough. They need to get back to producing offense and actually creating more in the offensive zone

 

[These Are The Days]

Might be time to put Hagel and Cirelli on a line with Mike Evans

 

[bov]

I expect Utah to make a strong playoff push with all that cap space, but if they underachieve, Crouse would be a good target. Solid contract and his numbers are a bit down this season, so the asking price might not be impossible to meet.

I don't see any appeal whatsoever in these vanilla depth pieces people keep mentioning. Armia? Come on. Donato and Evans are half decent but you're trying to win a cup here...go after someone who will actually move the needle and make an impact. If you're aiming for more depth, how about someone who can actually bring something a bit different to the table? Imagine thinking Evans and Donato will get you past a team like Florida come playoff time.

This team is in serious need of some players who can excel when the going gets tough. The forward group as it stands now is too small and susceptible to being battered and bullied around, even though they have plenty of heart. Give them some backup.

 

[Point21]

Of course they do

 

[JTBF81]

I expect Utah to make a strong playoff push with all that cap space, but if they underachieve, Crouse would be a good target. Solid contract and his numbers are a bit down this season, so the asking price might not be impossible to meet.

I don't see any appeal whatsoever in these vanilla depth pieces people keep mentioning. Armia? Come on. Donato and Evans are half decent but you're trying to win a cup here...go after someone who will actually move the needle and make an impact. If you're aiming for more depth, how about someone who can actually bring something a bit different to the table? Imagine thinking Evans and Donato will get you past a team like Florida come playoff time.

This team is in serious need of some players who can excel when the going gets tough. The forward group as it stands now is too small and susceptible to being battered and bullied around, even though they have plenty of heart. Give them some backup.

Donato.and Evans are exactly the type of additional scoring depth pieces that win teams cups, just like Goodrow and Coleman were. Armia isn't as flashy, but would also provide solid bottom 6 depth, as he can add some offense as well as be quite good defensively and on the pk. Crouse isn't likely to be.moved unless a team presents an amazing offer to Utah, and Tampa shouldn't be moving the pieces that would probabaly be required to get him. There's also the fact that he makes 4.3 for another two years, which Tampa would be hard pressed to make work, and no chance Utah is retaining for two additional years unless Tampa pays a very severe price no doubt.

 

[creg]

Our third line is really the only forward line that I have an issue with, our first has been pretty snakebitten of late but when I look back at the amount of open nets that we've whiffed on the last few games I have to wonder if perception would be different if we finished on some of those chances. Our 4th has been very solid defensively and is able to hold possession in the offensive zone but has 3 people that are completely incapable of finishing and our second line has been far and away our best line.

Our third line just doesn't do anything, can't generate offense and pretty bad on defense - I don't particularly like either of Chaffee or Goncalves, so if I had to choose how we move forward I'd want to acquire a defensively responsible, physical 4th line RW so we can move Mikey up to the 3rd and then target a 3rd line LW who can score.

I do think we need a 2RW but I really don't like any of the available options on expiring deals - most are either too old or too small. I honestly can't see anyone who feels like a JBB target, so I'm assuming he'll go completely out of left field on someone with term or will choose a stopgap like Duclair was last year and try to fix the issue in the off season with some of the expiring UFA's on playoff teams (maybe someone like Boeser would make sense if the cap goes up as a right shot RW for the pp).

One left field player I think about is Nichuskin, Colorado is unbelievably cap strapped and given his off ice issues maybe management is over him? Don't know if I want to bring that in the locker room even if he was available though.

 

[Stelio Kontos]

I get what you're saying, if the second line was struggling this would definitely be the move, but I would argue that Cirelli and Hagel are doing their thing too. I think this is one of the reasons Guentzel and Paul’s chemistry has been talked about this year, we could get that third line going, but we should also try and maximize Guentzels minutes.

Edit: I see you have Geekie and Paul on the third line, I may have missed who you wanted on the top line to replace Guentzel then

I forgot about Guentzel and Paul being good together. Regardless this is a good problem to have I was just trying to spread out depth.

 

[JTBF81]

If Tampa is looking to add both a top 6 scoring threat and a middle/bottom 6 depth piece, one of the better top 6 options that may be available is Palmieri. He's still on pace for another 25+ goal season, on the last year of his deal, and fills the 2RW spot nicely. With full retention, he's only 2.5, so it would be within what Tampa can slend.

For the middle/bottom 6, while either Evans or Armia would be good, given that Montreal may still be pushing for a playoff spot and that they're a division rival, a trade seems less likely. Donato seems like a good target, as Chicago will be sellers and he could cost as low as 1 million with retention.

Finally, they could go after a depth dman such as Dumolin. Tampa would have to send some salary back in at least one of these three hypothetical trades (or a separate one), but that's not a crippling problem to solve. Afterwards, this could be one possible configuration:
Guentzel-Point-Kuch
Hagel-Cirelli-Palmieri
Donato-Paul-Geekie
Ace-Glendening-Chaffee

Hedman-Moser
McD-Cernak
Dumolin-Raddysh/Perbix
Lilleberg

The F lines could be blended as needed, but there would be more depth ans versatility there for, hiefully, another deep run.