Linkens Mastery
Conductor of the TankTown Express
As expected it Looks like MacMac, Skinner, Laferriere, and McGing are on waivers so we can add them to the other 14 sent down.
Totally. So far, given Zherenko's health, Ellis has the upper hand. He's taken advantage of Zherenko's misfortune. Smart. Now Vadim needs to get healthy.Neither Ellis nor Zherenko had a chance to earn role. Sometimes you are just road blocked and after how our Goalies played last year, that is the case. Ellis could have made every save and made them all look easy. But its just pre-season. He was going down eventually. He got more games than Zherenko so far. They till want to get Zherenko another couple periods, so Ellis got sent down first.
That's the direction I'd go in terms of roster construction for the forwards. Kapanen is just kind of there. Not good, not terrible, just there and he doesn't seem to be one of those character guys that can give the boys an emotional boost either like a Sunny or a Walker.Right now my lines would be:
Bolduc-Thomas-Kyrou
Neighbours-Buch-Holloway
Saad-Schenn-Texier
Toropchenko-Faksa-Joseph
Walker, kapanen as extras until Sunny is ready, then Kapanen is waived
I kinda feel like we’re more likely to see Faksa at 2C and Schenn at 3C before we see a trade. Which is gross. But we’ve got Dvorsky on the way up, and you don’t really want to block him long-term with another big acquisition. I’m also not sure that any of the pieces we’d want to give up could get us more than a 3C at best. It’s a tricky situation.
Our wingers are set for a long time tho, so that’s nice.
Is there another center who may be available on waivers?? Brudzinski (rangers) might be a 4c type available come last cuts.
Yeah. Doesn’t make sense to spend assets to get a middle 6 center in the short term. If they manage to work into a playoff spot, I could see a cheap trade deadline acquisition of a non-glamorous rental as a reward for the team. But Dvorsky is the answer…eventually.I kinda feel like we’re more likely to see Faksa at 2C and Schenn at 3C before we see a trade. Which is gross. But we’ve got Dvorsky on the way up, and you don’t really want to block him long-term with another big acquisition. I’m also not sure that any of the pieces we’d want to give up could get us more than a 3C at best. It’s a tricky situation.
Our wingers are set for a long time tho, so that’s nice.
We’ll hear from McGing again!As expected it Looks like MacMac, Skinner, Laferriere, and McGing are on waivers so we can add them to the other 14 sent down.
Faksa maxes out as a 3C on any team in the league with the majority of them being a 4C. In no scenario should he be our 2C...and I like the guy.
Schenn should be on the wing but is the defacto 3C. We could do much worse than that.
The problem with that is Buch really needs another winger on his libe to take draws and Neighbours, Saad, Bolduc, aren't it. Texier and Holloway are the only other forwards that could play up with any kind of faceoff experience and neither has much at all. This is why I like Holloway on the 2nd line.
Right now my lines would be:
Bolduc-Thomas-Kyrou
Neighbours-Buch-Holloway
Saad-Schenn-Texier
Toropchenko-Faksa-Joseph
Walker, kapanen as extras until Sunny is ready, then Kapanen is waived
I'd also be cool with swapping Bolduc and Saad if you want to add some more speed to the Schenn line while also giving time for the frenchmen to gel.
You don’t play Faksa on the 3rd line to provide scoring. You play him on the 3rd line to eat tough defensive minutes to free up your top 6 can score more. This idea has worked in the past, Faksa was a borderline elite defensive 3C for Dallas for a number of years.Also, I'd like to see Faksa on the 4th line. I don't see enough offensive production from him to justify keeping him on the 3rd line.
Thats also why I suggested a Bolduc Saad swap as well. It brings a better defensive forward to the top line.So which forward line takes the most difficult defensive matchups? By putting Thomas with Bolduc and Kyrou, I think that line would get eaten alive by other team's top lines on defense. I'm also not sure sticking Buch with two relatively inexperienced guys is the best way to use him as he's learning how to play center. I'll be surprised if Schenn doesn't start the year somewhere on one of the top two lines. Holloway, Texier and Faksa will compete for 3c most likely. Plenty of time to find the right formula.
Everyone is making good points because the roster is so flexible. It's almost like each answer is correct.You don’t play Faksa on the 3rd line to provide scoring. You play him on the 3rd line to eat tough defensive minutes to free up your top 6 can score more. This idea has worked in the past, Faksa was a borderline elite defensive 3C for Dallas for a number of years.
You don’t play Faksa on the 3rd line to provide scoring. You play him on the 3rd line to eat tough defensive minutes to free up your top 6 can score more. This idea has worked in the past, Faksa was a borderline elite defensive 3C for Dallas for a number of years.
Thats also why I suggested a Bolduc Saad swap as well. It brings a better defensive forward to the top line.
Why wouldn't the 4th line be considered the shutdown line? All 3 are good pkers, good speed, etc. And if Saad is on that 3rd line that line can hold their own as well as Texier is also good defensively.
So in your idea, if Schenn plays top 6, I imagine you feel that's with Buchnevich and thats fine...so that makes Faksa the 3C which imo is ok at best at this point. So who is your 4th line C in that scenario?
Yeah I do love the depth they have to be able to move any number of pieces around across all lines.I'm ok with Faksa as the 3C for now until someone pushes him down the depth chart. The 4th line can take some matchups but they're only gonna play ten minutes per game or so. I'd also prefer to let the younger guys like Bolduc and Holloway to work their way up the lineup rather than giving them so much responsibility right off the bat. I could see one in the top six to start but not both.
There are a lot of possible combinations though and I'm still not sure what I'd go with. I guess right now I'd go with
Neighbours Thomas Kyrou
Bolduc/Holloway Buch Schenn
You could also swap Schenn and Kyrou to make the Thomas line more of a crash and bang line, or even put Schenn with Thomas/Kyrou to see if he can find his offensive game again. So many options that it's hard to even decide what's best. A lot of it depends on how Buch does at center and if he needs more support on his line.
Faksa can still end up on the 4th line if Holloway or Texier show they are capable enough to play 3C. A third line with some combination of Saad, Holloway, Texier, Bolduc looks pretty decent as well. Sunny will be back soon so he'll be a 4th line option.