Bone Breaker
Registered User
nine games in and dude is already a healthy scratch. lol thankfully it wont hurt much because Tufte appeared and Kovalenko is coming soon.
Confirmed with Link: Avs sign Jonathan Drouin (1 year, 825k)
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Spilot23
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- Dec 30, 2014
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- Apr 25, 2006
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Never seeing a line with a checking forward on it wasn't a great chance. Bednar never trying Drouin, Mack and one of Lehky or Nuke while he had momentum was basically a death blow.
The entire idea is that while flawed his ability to make plays would fit with Mack and someone who forchecks. Playing next to Mikko and Mack zeroes him out lol.
It doesn't really matter, but Bednar is an idiot on this one if he ever even remotely wanted Drouin to work in the top 6.
- Apr 25, 2006
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Almost everyone here agrees that the most logical top 6 has always been:
Lehky - Mack - Drouin
Nuke - RyJo - Rants
Yet for some reason Bednar never tried it. Pretty strange.
JoeSakic13
Registered User
- Aug 25, 2006
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Personally I would go:
Drouin - Mack - Nuke
Lehky - RJ - Mikko
Lehky plays better on the left side and has good chemistry with Mikko. Nuke has always played well with Mack.
But I agree with your post in general. I have pretty well always defended Bednar on these boards but it is very puzzling that he has yet to try one or both of these lineups before scratching Drouin and Tatar. It makes so much sense to all of us but the coaching staff.
I'm definitely one of the "almosts" because I don't agree with that at all.
- Apr 25, 2006
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Why on Earth would you hate such a well balanced top 6?
You yourself said Drouin can't shoot the damn puck anymore (and I agree), so you're pairing him with Lehkonen? Lehks doesn't have a muffin or anything but he's hardly what I'd call a sniper. Poor Nate would have to fire about 90 times a night for that line to work.
- Apr 25, 2006
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Lehky is the defensive/board battle guy on that line. He also has better hands than Nuke so there's that.
I get that, he also is not really a consistent scorer. Puts more pressure on Nate to put the puck in the net. I don't think it's a terrible idea by any means but I don't see it working either.
- Jan 18, 2016
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I know people hated Bura(and I was very very against the trade initially), but this team desperately misses him right now. The depth is much improved from last year, but there's too many either hard working 2 way guys that don't have quite enough skill or goal scoring ability. I get why they went for Drouin but the dude can't shoot. Nuke and Lehky are great in the top 6 but they need to compliment the skill guys and play drivers instead of being relied on for offense as much as they are currently.
Foppa2118
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- Oct 3, 2003
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Switch Lehky and Val for the best and most logical lines IMO. Lehky has proven chemistry with Mikko and Val has proven chemistry with Nate.
expatriatedtexan
Illegitimati non carborundum
- Aug 17, 2005
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Bednar really is a lineup idiot.
I like so much of what he does, but his lineups man, oof. It'll take him all god-damned season to try what every poster in here was saying in August...
Drouin-MacK-Lehky/Nuke
Nuke/Lehky-Johanson-Rants
Foppa2118
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- Oct 3, 2003
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What they really miss from Bura is the controlled zone entires from the wing. He was great at it.
Drouin's good at it too but he got bumped off Nate's line pretty quick, and him and RJ aren't a combo that are going to have instant chemistry, so his role got reduced to the third line, and then a scratch pretty quick because Bednar wanted to send an early message to the team.
The Avs are missing that zone entry specialist on the 2nd line specifically. This is another reason why Mikko should be playing with RJ to build chemistry, and Drouin should get more time with Nate.
Foppa2118
Registered User
- Oct 3, 2003
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His insistence on playing Mikko with Nate out the gate really hurt the chances of Drouin working with Nate, who was his best chance at success, because he didn't have the puck on his stick enough to make plays. He basically turned into a sniper which isn't his role.
Even Drouin talked about how he had to change his game with them earlier in the season.
“I think I have the brain to play with those guys,” Drouin said. “I know what they want a little bit now. I know when they want the puck. I used to be that guy a little bit where I had those moments where I wanted the puck. I know (Rantanen) likes it there, so you give them the puck as much as you can and go find some open areas because you know they’ll find you too.”
- Jan 18, 2016
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That is definitely missed as well. Bura was very capable of sniping a goal from anywhere in the Ozone. There's a real lack of create something out of nothing outside of 29/96/8. Having Bura on the 2nd or 3rd line was great because he could get momentum going by starting a good sustained OZone attack or ripping a shot by the keeper. No one on the roster is capable of that currently outside of the big 3 really and it's been one of the bigger problems plaguing this team following the cup year imo.
Drouin living up to my expectations of not doing much of anything, getting booted down the line up and being healthy scratched. I wonder how long the cheapness of the contract and the hopium that Drouin can be fixed will last before the optimism wears off around here.
Tommy Shelby
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- Feb 26, 2012
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I said he wouldn't make it past November and will only be back in the lineup as a regular when we have injuries.
Turns out all those years of y'all rosterbating to JD and Tatar will end in disappointment and shame.
Good guess. I thought he was in position to succeed. Surprised he is struggling.. I still have small hope though.
Yeah it basically took him about that long to finally f***in try Nuke next to Kadri I wanted to pull my eyeballs out every time I seen the lineup card while he tries every other f***in thing to try to get the second line to work.
Bednar was obsessed with having Nuke basically run the third line.
On another note.. Uh Tufte looked legit, that kid is strong on the puck like Nuke, and loves to shoot. You can tell he's a rookie, but hot damn keep that line together for a minute.
At the end if the day they're depth. We'll appreciate having them both when injuries hit.
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