Post-Game Talk: Bruins @ Perds - Save us L'Heureux you're our only hope edition - 10/22/24

[Porter Stoutheart]

I don't buy into this whole "4th line absolutely must be grinders" deal. There is value in grit- when used correctly- but that can be used on any line. The reason 4th lines tend to be filled with those types of players is, as much as anything, that in a 32 team salary capped league you either can't afford or can't find better skilled players. But to me that doesn't mean we need to be playing Michael McCarron every night just because he's huge if we have better options available.

Yeah, the idea that you want to just "safely" fill 10 minutes of icetime while the big guns rest, or alternatively even just have some hits wear the other team down for 10 minutes, that's a bit of a cop-out to me. It's a holdover from the days of enforcers when you sort of needed a lineup excuse to house a player who wasn't there to play hockey. And then with our team which lacks a superstar up front, we really need bona fide contributions from all 4 lines, we shouldn't be just trying to "kill time". (And it sure hasn't been working very well so far either, definitely not "safe" with the goals against that line in early games).

 

[wmupreds]

Yeah, the idea that you want to just "safely" fill 10 minutes of icetime while the big guns rest, or alternatively even just have some hits wear the other team down for 10 minutes, that's a bit of a cop-out to me. It's a holdover from the days of enforcers when you sort of needed a lineup excuse to house a player who wasn't there to play hockey. And then with our team which lacks a superstar up front, we really need bona fide contributions from all 4 lines, we shouldn't be just trying to "kill time". (And it sure hasn't been working very well so far either, definitely not "safe" with the goals against that line in early games).

I was gonna say, some guys are legitimately really good at killing time as you say, and there's value in that tbh. Our 4th line is.... not doing that, to say the least.