Speculation: Caps Roster General Discussion (Coaching/FAs/Cap/Lines/etc) | 2024-25 Summer Edition

[qc14]

The easiest play is putting Protas at 3C I think, Mangiapane 1RW and then calling up Miro for 3RW. They need to get Mangiapane going and it's very hard to expect that on the third line. That does make the top line smaller and perhaps easier to play against but that may be worthwhile for a sturdier third line. If they wanted to I guess they could give Miro a shot on the top line here or there. Ultimately 1RW seems obviously where Leonard ought to end up...

There's a lot of merit to letting McMichael lead his own line at center based on what we've seen. How much more could he create from the middle with softer usage? Their options at 3W aren't great currently so it is a matter of priorities. They need to be willing to sacrifice elements in the top six for the sake of more depth and better balance. Better strength up the middle and more balance would seem to be the play. Even if Lapierre gets it going somewhat it's very tough to believe he will be the hardest-to-play-against option any time soon.

I like that more than dropping McMichael but only slightly. I just feel like you finally have a top 6 that seems to be clicking both by the eye test and by actual and expected goals. Ovi -- the man that has not put up good underlying stats since like 2016 -- is at a 60% xG at 5v5! Ovi-Strome-Protas and McM-Dubois-Wilson are 9th and 17th in the league respectively for 5v5 xG share for lines with >50 minutes.

Yes it kind of sucks for Mangiapane to have to babysit the third line but I just don't think it's worth it at this point to mess with what is clearly working during the other ~45 minutes of 5v5 a night just to slightly better optimize 7 of them.

 

[Langway]

Sgarbossa recalled. There's the answer I guess.

Edit: Yup:

https://x.com/i/web/status/1850917577700057504