For me, it’s Top-5 + Xhekaj. I would sit Kovacevic and Wideman before X. He’s invaluable and should always be a starter.
Yeah for sure at this point Wideman is the guy who should be sitting as the #7 once Edmundson returns. Then if everyone is still healthy when Matheson returns we probably send one of those 3 down to the AHL and keep Wideman in the pressbox as it's better to have those guys playing in the AHL then sitting in the pressbox watching the NHL.
So you are playing Kovacevic over one of the three younger rookies? Because if not, then Kova would be #7 and Wideman can be sent to Laval. Or we keep 8D and waive two floating forwards instead of one.
Shutting up gasbags like Tkachuk is exactly why X is an absolute fixture. Tkachuk will be yapping, acting like he owns our goalie’s crease, sucker punching, yapping some more and giving our Ds two-handers. Our players just look down and take it. Tkachuk does his clown show so much, that the refs most of the time don’t penalize him.
Yes I would play Kovacevic over one of the other rookies. It's not perfectly fair but the other guys can go down and play big minutes so it won't be bad for their development in the short term.
Ghule has been overmatched statically, which may be in part the effects of Savard despite all the praise that has been heaped on him for some eye-catching plays, and Xhekaj has appeared tough but raw and could benefit from more seasoning. Either of them swapping out for Edmonson, as they are all left defense, makes more sense than sitting Kovacevic and forcing someone to play out of position.
Well, if it's not fair, then Kova can be 7th.
Harris has played on the right side a lot in his career, and IK guess you have him there as well. But I would probably put Edmondson there too, as we did with Chiarot last year.
So you'd be ok sacrificing long term success just to be fair to a couple of rookies?
That's funny, because I'm thinking of keeping the younger players in the lineup with the exact reasoning. I'd play Harris on the right side instead of Kovacevic because Harris has played tons of RD at lower levels and may end up finding his niche in Montreal on the right side rather than the left side.
Because your sitting Kovacevik and therefore likely to lose out on his development.
Tkachuk is going to do all those things with or without Xhekaj in the lineup.
With X in, guaranteed Tkachuk won’t park in the blue paint and stay there chirping after the whistle.
I pretty much guarantee he will. You don't become a star player, especially a pest/instigator type if you wilt in the face of an opponent's tough guy. Chara and Lucic didn't prevent Cooke from head hunting Savard, no goon/tough guy stops Gallagher from heading to the blue paint and mixing it up with the goalie, nothing stops Marchant from being a major pest and throwing cheap shots and chirping, etc...
Throughout the preseason, Harris looked as if he was struggling mightily on the right side, and now that he's been our most impressive defenseman, though he's accrued far less overt praise than Guhle, I'm loath to force him to adapt and throw him off while he's still acclimatizing to a role in which he's excelled.
If Kova at 25 is not better than Xhekaj at 21 right now, then I do not think they should prioritize Kova's
Your argument that on-ice deterrence of pests is a myth is obviously a debatable point. Gorton was specifically fired because Rangers ownership believed that this myth was actually a real life thing. Gorton was not protecting his team from cheap shots from the likes of Tom Wilson. He was fired.
The only people wanting Xhekaj sat are opposing forwards. Its been a long time since we had a menacing presence on our blueline.
By sending Xhekaj you aren't prioritizing one players development over another becuase Xhekaj and Harris for that matter have things they can learn in the AHL so whether they learn them in the AHL or NHL it doesn't hurt their development.
So sitting Kovacevik for a long period of time won't impact his development? That's a novel take.
